I really don’t understand the difficulty over what position to take on President Obama’s proposed three-year ban on non-security discretionary spending. A modest proposal:

While we Republicans certainly applaud President Obama for taking this tiny baby step towards fiscal discipline, we contend that true fiscal responsibility can not be achieved through freezes of such small aspects of the federal budget.

The proposal would affect only non-security discretionary spending, leaving the overwhelming majority of the federal budget without a change of course. Programs from Social Security and Medicaid to Foreign Aid and National Defense would go without reform. To put it simply, the largest spending programs — those most responsible for running up the national deficit and debt — are exempt from this freeze.

Furthermore, this proposal comes only after Democrats spiked federal spending to fund their failed policies. The deficit has increased from about $400 billion to $1.4 trillion in the past year. And while this proposal supposedly saves $250 billion over the next 10 years, our monthly deficit is approaching $200 billion.

So while we would again like to applaud President Obama for his minor genuflection towards fiscal discipline, his proposal falls short of any real fiscal reform. We continue to hope that Democrats will learn from their recent electoral defeats and realize that the country is demanding real change in Washington.

Granted, I’m not a spokesman or public affairs professional. The above statement is at best a rough draft of a press release. But the general idea is there: Acknowledge and applaud the small step towards fiscal discipline, but note the reality surrounding this freeze.