The Triumphant Return Of Reaganomics!  

Beloved Broadcaster Paul Harvey always claimed to have invented the term “Reaganomics,”  and the sponsor of a proposed Reagan Centennial Commission is marking Harvey’s death with some classic Reagan-style accounting.

With 19 heroes opposing, the House of Representatives has just passed a power grab by Ronald Reagan’s heirs, allowing them to control all federal observation of Reagan’s Centenary.  Representative Elton Gallegly’s bill  creates a Reagan Centennial Commission controlled by the Reagan Library foundation, in contrast to the broad public boards directing all previous presidential centennial commissions .

The Congressional Budget Office says a Reagan Commission will cost a million dollars, but Gallegly claims  “No federal money can be spent on the commission or its activities,” a story he got his home town paper to buy into.  What voodoo economics does Gallegly perform to lose the costs?

The CBO says:

“All commission members would serve without pay but would be reimbursed for travel expenses. In addition, the commission could hire staff and use volunteers and personnel detailed from other federal agencies. Finally, the bill would authorize the appropriation of $1 million over the 2009-2011 period.“

The Representative may be drawing unexplained distinctions between this Bill’s authorization and a later appropriation, or the CBO says the Commission might be free if takes in donations to cover its costs.

Gallegly may want to get this done while he can.  He’s identified with the Reagan Library to the extent that it’s in the header for his web page, but he’s announced and rescinded his retirement before, and Barack Obama carried his district.