Freedom Line Blog

This week heard two U.S. Senators – Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Jim Webb (D-VA) – announce their retirements.  In 2012, Kyl will complete his third six-year term; Webb his first.  Their time spent couldn’t be more different.

Kyl leaves as the number two Republican in Senate leadership.  He compiled a record of legislative achievement on tax and defense policy unrivaled by his colleagues.  Moreover, he did it by laboring outside the media limelight.

Though Webb helped pass a major G.I. Bill, he didn’t seem to emulate Kyl’s ability to balance the demands of being a senator (endless fundraising, piecemeal victories) with the drive to be a successful politician.

It’s obvious from his record that Kyl wanted to be a senator to enact programs like pro-growth tax policy and missile defense.  Webb ran for office in 2006 because he was against the Iraq War and the continued marginalization of his Southern Scots-Irish clan.

Reflecting on the editorials that have been written about both men, it seems that there is at least one lesson to draw from Kyl’s success and Webb’s frustration: in the long run it’s far better to be for something than against everything.

Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott unveiled his much-anticipated budget proposal on Monday in front of a crowd teeming with Tea Party activists.  Slashing $4.6 billion from last year’s budget, Scott takes aim at many sacred cows.  AOL News lists the five most controversial:

(1)   10% cut in education spending

(2)   Eliminating 1,690 jobs from the Department of Corrections

(3)   An 8,700 overall reduction in the state government workforce

(4)   Tax cuts worth $4 billion

(5)   A $4 billion Medicaid reform

None of these changes, however, may be as consequential as Scott’s proposal to require state public employees to start contributing 5% of their paychecks to their pensions.  If state retirement funds are ever to become solvent the employees who benefit from them will have to put some money in the kitty.  Scott also wants to put new state hires into a 401(k)-type retirement system, a shift that would move the state toward a pension system of defined contributions instead of defined benefits.

If Scott is successful in Florida other states might follow suit.  For the sake of taxpayers in the Sunshine State and beyond, let’s hope he prevails.

Representative David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced Wednesday he will not seek reelection this November, leaving a well-worn seat occupied since 1969.  Mr. Obey is the most recent on a lengthy list of long-serving Democrats seeking to “begin a new and exciting chapter” of life, in the words of fellow retiree, Bart Stupak.   Surely this has nothing to do with the widely expected revolt against the party in power.

Still, Obey wants there to be no confusion:

“I’ve won 25 elections. Does anybody really think I don’t know how to win another one?  Or, for that matter, has anybody ever seen me walk away from a fight in my life?”

Even so, after four decades in office, bowing out on one’s own terms is a far more desirable option than being battered or possibly blown away in the storm that’s brewing for this fall election.  Sen. Chris Dodd saw the writing on the wall and accepted his “moment to step aside.”

Dodd, Obey and Stupak all took serious political hits in the last year and a half.  Dodd was at the helm of oversight on Wall Street when things went south.  Obey spearheaded the wildly unsuccessful $787 billion economic stimulus.  Stupak infamously caved during the final ObamaCare vote.  Each has made a career contributing to a legacy of spending that has our country on the brink of financial ruin.

Now, each rides off into the sunset.  Enjoy retirement, fellas.  Don’t worry about the mess.  Our grandchildren will pick it up.