The entire Republican leadership endorsed the Hastert plan, but the conference was far from unanimous. One standing committee chairman after another rose to take issue with the speaker's plan. Rep. Don Young, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, is the reigning King of Pork in the House. It is inconceivable that Young would meekly slim down the pork-filled highway bill (especially earmarks for his state of Alaska) at the speaker's behest.
On the floor of the House Friday, Pence issued a polite victory statement. "Some of us thought we should pay for the big cost of Hurricane Katrina by cutting big government," he said, adding that "we're beginning to do just that." However, speaking "on behalf of House conservatives," he said, "we are pleased but not content, we are encouraged but not satisfied" because the actual cutting will be harder than winning the debate. Pence sounded a little like Ronald Reagan's "trust but verify" reaction to Mikhail Gorbachev.
Pence and the other conservatives have sound reason to want verification. Even if acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt is able to tame the standing committee chairmen, other obstacles loom. Hastert and the other Republican leaders have no intention of abandoning their earmarked pork. Bush has no intention of trimming the elephantine Medicare prescription drug subsidy.
Had House members been able to attend the National Review banquet at the National Building Museum, they would have gotten an earful. While there to honor the magazine's founder William F. Buckley Jr. and all he has done for the conservative movement, these faithful conservatives were not shy about privately expressing their intense unhappiness. I could find nobody there who was not disappointed by the Miers nomination, but they also were aggrieved by the record of spending and big government by the Republican president and the Republican Congress. Denny Hastert's somersault is just the beginning of what is needed to satisfy them.
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In a recent column, I incorrectly listed Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona as self-term limited. I was unaware that a year ago he reneged on his promise to serve only three terms in Congress.