PERSPECTIVES ON THE FEDERAL BUDGET : Guts, Injustice and a Blow to Bubba : A Congress prepares to vote on the federal deficit-reduction and taxation package, some excerpts from commentary, pro and con: : Reaganites Routed

In breaking his pledge of “no new taxes,” in surrendering his capital gains tax cut for a budget “deal” imposing new taxes on the people who elected him, George Bush has defined himself. He is a Big Government man all the way.

What was the alternative to $134 billion in new taxes? The federal government would have had to accept $85 billion in spending cuts next Monday. To President Bush, this was as intolerable as it was to liberal Democrats. He simply could not face the “chaos.”

Inescapable conclusion: President Bush believes that the U.S. government, which takes a fifth of America’s income in taxes, and spends closer to a fourth, must grow. It cannot be reduced in size. Political conclusion: No major party in America still believes in reducing the size of government.

The Democrats were gracious in victory, as befits champions who have just humiliated their rivals on the field. They talked of what a hard-fought game it had been. But, everyone knows the real score. After a decade of dealing with Reaganite Republicans, the city is rid of them. We were routed, horse, foot and dragoons; George Bush, Big Government Republican, is prince of the city.

Who gets hit? Bubba gets hit. The price of Bubba’s smokes is going up; the price of his Lone Star Beer is going up; the price of the Texaco he needs to commute 80 miles a day is going up. The price of Sunday at the Legion Hall watching Joe Montana lead the ‘Niners to glory is going way up. Why? Because our congressional incorrigibles are unable to hold federal spending to that 20% of gross national product they annually consume in taxes. And because George Bush has thrown in with them. If Bubba takes a walk on the GOP next time out, who can blame him?

Our most successful citizens face an added income tax wallop of $18 billion. Washington is going to skim off the cream of America’s investment capital from the individuals who earned it,so Teddy Kennedy and the Democratic Congress can invest the money more wisely. Good Republican doctrine, eh?

There is no modern economic theory--Keynesian, Friedmanite, supply-side--that argues for hitting an economy that is tottering on recession with new taxes. But there is a Republican precedent for what Bush has done: Herbert Hoover, rest his soul.