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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JakeStraw who wrote (53277)	2/8/2006 3:21:19 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 93284

that would be a nice change Bush defends spending cuts By Caren Bohan 37 minutes ago President George W. Bush on Wednesday defended domestic spending-cut proposals that have been greeted warily in the U.S. Congress, saying the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina had forced tough decisions. He also pushed anew for extension of his first-term tax cuts and warned that if they were allowed to expire, growth and government revenues would suffer. Two days after unveiling a $2.77 trillion budget plan that would cut or eliminate 141 programs, Bush said he had targeted programs that either were not performing well or were no longer needed. He has also proposed squeezing $36 billion in savings over five years from the Medicare health program for the elderly. At a business luncheon in New Hampshire, a state that prides itself on low taxes, Bush called on lawmakers to enact "sunset" provisions that would force periodic reviews of federal programs to see if they are still needed. "Families set priorities, individual Americans set priorities, business people set priorities all the time when it comes to setting the budget, and that's what the federal government needs to do," he said. In a congressional election year when Democrats hope to reverse Republican dominance in both the House and the Senate, Democrats blame Bush and his allies for bloating budget deficits with huge tax cuts and fault the president for underestimating the Iraq war's costs. The White projects the budget deficit will hit a record $423 billion this year. "There's no question the war and the hurricanes have stretched our budget -- all the more reason to set priorities and to be wise with your money," Bush said. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada sharply criticized Bush's proposals to rein in Medicare and cut programs from housing to education and medical research. He charged Bush was forcing the middle class to bear the brunt of fiscal recklessness. Some Republicans, including Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record), have also expressed qualms about some cuts in his proposed budget for fiscal 2007, which begins October 1. While seeking nearly $15 billion in savings by trimming programs in cancer research, community policing and other areas, Bush would give a record $439.3 billion to the Pentagon, up 4.8 percent from last year. On top of that, the White House will seek new financing for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush later was to sign a measure to cut $39 billion over five years from social welfare programs, including the Medicaid health program for the poor and student loans. Back in Washington, White House budget Director Joshua Bolten faced a second day of tough questioning from Democrats on Capitol Hill. "This budget shows no sign of deficits abating or disappearing," said Rep. John Spratt (news, bio, voting record) of South Carolina, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee. (Additional reporting by Patricia Wilson, Rick Cowan and Tabassum Zakaria)