This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, August 24th, 2007. I'm Caleb Brown.

State budgets and state debt has shot up in recent years, so why don't more states limit their spending?

What are the policy implications of state spending caps?

Michael New is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.

He says spending limits that follow a few guidelines can work wonders to keep

lawmakers from spending too much of your money.

Why have states considered limitations on spending?

I think one of the things we've learned especially in recent years is that simply electing Republicans at certainly the federal level and in many many states

provides no guarantee to fiscal conservatives

that they'll be able to one, cut taxes,

two more importantly, limit spending.

I think we've seen at the federal level,

we've seen spending increased substantially.

Maybe programs were eliminated shortly after the contract with America in the mid-1990s

have actually been reintroduced and there's some cases getting more and more funding than ever.

Overall we've seen government grow during the administration of George W Bush faster than at any point since

that the great society.

So I think one thing we've seen at the federal level and again in many states is that simply

electing Republicans provides no guarantee to fiscal conservatives that

they'll see their limited government or cuts in spending and as such,

fiscal conservatives are interested in trying to find other strategies to limit spending.

And one strategy that many have been turning to in recent years

...