Bush Reveals Budget Amid Record Deficits

[Judi Lynn]

Bush Reveals Budget Amid Record Deficits
4 minutes ago

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) proposed a $2.4 trillion budget on Monday slicing scores of programs from prisons to arts education in the face of record federal deficits and the costs of war. His budget chief warned a future request for operations in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) could add $50 billion.

The election-year blueprint would pour funds into the military, domestic security and some education and health initiatives. It provides the first dollars for what ultimately could be a hugely expensive effort to visit Mars, and renews his call for making permanent the tax cuts he has shoved through Congress.


Handcuffed by shortfalls he projects will surge to an unprecedented $521 billion this year, the spare plan for 2005 offers few dramatic initiatives. It is aimed mostly at familiar Bush priorities like war, terrorism, the economy and struggling schools plus a new goal: Halving the deficit in five years, which he projects he will achieve with a 2009 shortfall of $237 billion.


"I'm confident our budget addresses a very serious situation," he said at a Cabinet meeting. "And that is that we are at war and we had dealt with a recession. And our budget is able to address those significant factors in a way that reduces the deficit in half."


Last year's deficit hit $375 billion, the highest ever in dollar terms. Though Bush projects next year's red ink at $364 billion, that excludes a forthcoming request for U.S. military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, which White House budget director Joshua Bolten said could hit an "upper limit" of another $50 billion.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20040202/ap_on_go_pr_wh/budget

[DebJ]

1. Halving the deficit in five years means the national debt clock will be

spinning out of control. Most people I talk to don't understand the diff between the national debt and the annual deficit, sorry to say.
I saw a line across my tv that said bush was going to cut over 250 domestic programs. 'starve the beast' and WE are the beast, you know.

[Born Free]

2. Paul Krugman says it's the tax cuts

I recently read an article by Paul Krugman, it's the tax cuts creating the big deficits, domestic spending really is up that much.

[hippiechick]

3. $100 BILLION in Defense Contracting ....

on edit: (Or Million ... either way it's obscene !!)

Guess whose pockets THAT will be lining ?!?!?!?


:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:



:hippie: