Planning a Freeze

Fred Thompson may understand that the real money in deficit reduction comes from entitlements reform, but apparently he's not going to be able to resist the temptation to package together some more conventional attack-the-bureaucracy proposals aimed at burnishing his small-government credentials.

In the Wall Street Journal's opinion section today, Kimberly A. Strassel writes, "According to a campaign source, in upcoming weeks Mr. Thompson will unveil plans to reduce federal spending by limiting nondefense growth to inflation, earmark reform, and a one-year freeze on the hiring of non-essential civilian workers and contractors."

Of course, that "non-essential" part, if it turns out to be true, is a rather gigantic loophole.