Monday, February 07, 2005

Spend, Spend, Spend

Whitehouse releases budget proposal today:

The spending document projects that the deficit will hit a record $427 billion this year, the third straight year that the red ink in dollar terms has set a record. Bush projects that the deficit will fall to $390 billion in 2006 and gradually decline to $233 billion in 2009 and $207 billion in 2010.
[...]
Bush’s 2006 spending plan, for the budget year that begins next Oct. 1, counts on a healthy economy to boost revenues by 6.1 percent to $2.18 trillion. Spending, meanwhile, would grow by 3.5 percent to $2.57 trillion.
[...]
The budget also does not include any new spending for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The administration has said it will seek in coming weeks an additional $80 billion for the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for this year.

Yes, the Bush plan does include alot of cuts in discretionary spending, namely in Medicare Benefits, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, and the Army Corps of Engineers. But these are just small pieces of the overall budget. Meanwhile, military spending will increase by 4.8%, not including the extra $80 billion to be asked for Iraq and Afghanistan. Not the least of issues is the fact that choosing to sunset the 2000-2004 tax cut provisions would have probably paid for everything anyway.

Yet again, the GOP knows how to spend money they don't have.



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