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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Giordano Bruno who wrote (250032)	7/15/2003 6:50:55 AM
From: Giordano Bruno	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Budget Deficit Expected To Exceed $400 Billion By JOHN D. MCKINNON Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WASHINGTON -- The White House Tuesday is expected to widen its estimate for this year's federal budget deficit to more than $450 billion, a figure that would boost its earlier projection by $150 billion or more. The administration also is likely to widen its deficit estimate for fiscal-year 2004, which begins Oct. 1, when it gives its midyear update of the government's finances Tuesday. The Congressional Budget Office, which uses different calculations than the White House, last month projected the 2003 deficit at $400 billion. With President Bush up for re-election in November 2004, his economic and budget policies will come under closer scrutiny during the next year. Democrats already were accusing Mr. Bush's budget aides of using optimistic economic and spending scenarios to make the budget picture look brighter than it is. Much of the projected wider deficit comes from initial outlays for the Iraq war. But Democrats said the White House projections may exclude costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations -- currently pegged at $5 billion a month -- as well as other long-range expenses. Congressional Republicans were bracing for a grim report. In a memorandum Monday, Republican staffers on the House Budget Committee conceded that projected deficits "are likely to be the highest we've seen in nominal terms." The Republican talking points that were prepared to address Tuesday's release contend that deficits continue to be driven primarily by congressional spending and not by Mr. Bush's big tax cuts. The memo, a likely preview of 2004 campaign rhetoric, also said the economy would be in even worse shape if the administration hadn't acted. "With the tax cuts, private forecasters are now expecting a return to higher [gross domestic product] growth, increased jobs, and lower unemployment over the next year and a half," the memo said. "Without the tax cuts, job losses would continue." In February, the White House Office of Management and Budget estimated the U.S. would run a $304 billion deficit for fiscal 2003 and a $307 billion deficit for 2004. Those estimates took into account a stimulatory effect of the tax cuts, including the latest round, which were aimed at spurring growth. They didn't figure in much of the cost of the war in Iraq, which began in March. Tuesday's deficit projection for 2003 will include at least $40 billion of outlays for the war, analysts estimated. The economy could be contributing to the altered deficit outlook. It has continued to bump along this year and might well fall short of the 2.9% growth rate the White House projected in February when it released its budget for fiscal 2004. The consensus of private forecasters surveyed by the publication Blue Chip Economic Indicators puts growth at about 2.3%, which would widen the deficit beyond Tuesday's projection. Lagging tax collections also have been a factor. Though a $450 billion deficit would far surpass the largest U.S. deficit in absolute terms, it is well short of a record when compared with the overall U.S. economy. The record post-World War II deficit as a percentage of GDP was 6% in 1983; a $450 billion deficit in 2003 would be 4.6% of GDP. Some experts believe the deficit could get substantially worse in 2004, particularly if the economy doesn't respond quickly to stimulus spending and tax cuts. The Concord Coalition, a bipartisan group that advocates a balanced budget, took the opportunity to blast the administration and Congress, saying the first six months of the 108th Congress "were the most fiscally irresponsible in recent memory." It added: "The crux of the problem was a schizophrenic pursuit of small government tax policies and big government spending initiatives." Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com Updated July 15, 2003

To: Giordano Bruno who wrote (250032)	7/15/2003 6:57:07 AM
From: Giordano Bruno	Respond to of 436258

Daily Poll - What would Jesus really drive in today's society? worldnetdaily.com

To: Giordano Bruno who wrote (250032)	7/15/2003 7:19:29 AM
From: MythMan	Respond to of 436258

LOL

To: Giordano Bruno who wrote (250032)	7/15/2003 8:12:15 AM
From: MythMan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

speaking of autos look at this sh*t!! They say ignore all bad news...no shame. Even Cramer doesn't pump autos. >>8:09AM JP Morgan sees upside to auto stocks : JP Morgan expects the mkt to mostly look past weak Q2 earnings (and probably weak Q3 earnings as well), to focus on what will likely be a positive trend in U.S. industry demand; after a weak start to the year, the avg Q2 SAAR rose to 16.2 mln, and firm's early read is that the SAAR in July may be as high as 17 mln and and they expect a further rise in Q3-Q4. Firm thinks that F and LEA could beat Q2 consensus, F based on the strength of its Q1 earnings momentum, and LEA because of the likelihood of continuing mkt share gains; firm also expects GT to disappoint.<<