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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gao seng who wrote (224533)	2/2/2002 9:42:31 PM
From: gao seng	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769669

Bush Eyes Budget Cuts for Oil Drilling, NASA By Adam Entous WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday will propose budget cuts for federal programs deemed wasteful, including one that funds research and development of offshore oil drilling. He will also put programs with major cost overruns, including the International Space Station (news - web sites), on notice that they will be ``reinvented, redirected or retired'' if they do not shape up, according to budget excerpts obtained by Reuters on Saturday. Responding to the unprecedented demands of the Sept. 11 attacks and a recession, Bush will propose a 9 percent increase in federal spending for fiscal 2003, which begins on Oct. 1, to fund the war against international terrorism, homeland defense and a new round of tax cuts aimed at stimulating the economy. His $2.13 trillion budget will also bring an abrupt end to a four-year string of surpluses that began in 1998, projecting deficits of $106 billion in fiscal 2002, $80 billion in 2003 and $14 billion in fiscal 2004. ``The budget for 2003 is much more than a tabulation of numbers. It is a plan to fight a war we did not seek, but a war we are determined to win,'' Bush will say in the budget, which is scheduled to be released on Monday. Accordingly, Bush will propose boosting defense spending by more than $45 billion in fiscal 2003 and by $120 billion over the next five years. That represents the biggest increase -- 12 percent -- for defense since former President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites)'s Cold War-era buildup 20 years ago. Bush will also propose nearly doubling spending on homeland security to $37.7 billion in 2003, with the goal of combating bioterrorism and stopping foreigners at the border who might try to launch attacks like those on Sept. 11 against New York and Washington. SHIFT RESOURCES To offset these large increases, Bush will call for ''curtailing unsuccessful programs and moderating the growth of spending in the rest of government'' to shift resources to the war on terrorism and away from taxpayer-backed programs the White House deems wasteful. A battle is already brewing in Congress over many of the proposed cuts, especially those affecting job-training and other health and social programs. Under Bush's budget, so-called ``youth opportunity grants,'' which support job training in poor communities, would feel the budget ax. Its funding will fall to $45 million in 2003 from $225 million this year, administration officials said. An oil and gas research and development program run by the Department of Energy (news - web sites) will see its budget slashed nearly 45 percent. Administration officials said the private sector should take over funding the offshore drilling research. Shortfalls in actual and projected fuel tax receipts will also result in a $9 billion reduction in highway spending next fiscal year, federal and state officials said. Several other programs will be put on the administration's watch-list, including the $95 billion International Space Station, which has come under fire for huge cost overruns. ``From the beginning of my administration, I have called for better management of the federal government,'' Bush will say in his budget message. ``Now, with all the new demands on our resources, better management is needed more sorely than ever.'' ``Where government programs are succeeding, their efforts should be reinforced, and the 2003 budget provides resources to do that,'' Bush said. ``When objective measures reveal that government programs are not succeeding, those programs should be reinvented, redirected, or retired,'' he added. But Democrats have vowed to fight for their spending priorities, setting the stage for a budget showdown ahead of the congressional elections in November. ``The president's coming assault on job-training programs won't stand in the Senate,'' declared Minnesota Democrat Sen. Paul Wellstone. The administration defended its proposed cutbacks, saying Bush's budget would provide a total of $9.3 billion to help the unemployed, an increase of 36 percent. dailynews.yahoo.com