Bush Unveils Plan to Restrain Spending

Talon News / GOP USA ^ | Feb. 2, 2004 | Jeff Gannon

[prairiebreeze]

Talon News) -- Like a coach preparing his team for the big game, President Bush addressed the "Congress of Tomorrow" luncheon in Philadelphia on Saturday. In the city where he was proclaimed the Republican nominee nearly four years ago, Bush thanked members of his party's congressional majority for supporting his agenda and called on them to do more in 2004.

The president praised House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) as well as members of the GOP leadership including Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rick Santorum (R-PA), and John Kyl (R-AZ), Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), and Reps. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Deborah Pryce (R-OH).

President Bush recounted the last three years during which he took the country to war "to uphold the most solemn duty of government, and that is to protect its people" and worked with Congress to heal the psyche of the country that was wounded by the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Bush was upbeat when he said, "History has dealt us a hand, and we're playing it well for the American people."

"These are historic times, because we're at war -- you're a war Congress," Bush said.

He reiterated his desire not only to fight and win the war against terror, but also to promote American values of freedom.

Bush repeated a thematic line, "Freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each person who lives in this world."

Bush pointed out that a recession was underway when he took office, with negative growth for the first three quarters of 2001. He added that the economy was further damaged by corporate scandals and the most devastating terrorist attack in American history. Bush said that because of the quick action taken, "Instead of the economy still languishing as a result of some incredible problems we face, it's now growing, and it's getting stronger."

The President emphasized the importance of keeping the economy growing.

He said, "One of the things we've shown the American people is we understand how the economy works. The economy doesn't work by growing government; the economy works by growing people's wallets so they can spend, save or invest."

Bush said that he would use the recovery he attributes to the tax cuts as a platform to make them permanent.

Bush then touched on a few legislative initiatives such as free trade and tort reform before addressing the issue of fiscal responsibility.

He began by saying, "One clear signal we need to send to the American people and the markets is we're going to be wise when it comes to the expenditure of the people's money."

Conservatives have been grumbling about the explosive growth in spending by the Bush administration. Their discontent was exacerbated last week when a new estimate for the prescription drug benefit Bush personally lobbied Congress for might cost $535 billion instead of $400 billion.

But the president boldly asked the Congress to work with him on the budget he would submit on Monday indicating their futures were intertwined.

He stated, "You spend; I propose. Together we're responsible."

The president revealed his plan in his weekly radio address. He maintains that overall discretionary spending will grow at less than four percent and non-security-related spending would rise less than one percent, the smallest such proposed increase in 12 years.

He will propose to make spending limits the law to assure that Congress observes spending discipline. His plan calls for every additional dollar the Congress wants to spend in excess of spending limits must be matched by a dollar in spending cuts elsewhere.

Bush was adamant when he said, "Budget limits must mean something, and not just serve as vague guidelines to be routinely violated. This single change in the procedures of the Congress would bring further spending restraint to Washington."

[altura]

But now we have flush toilets.

[windchime]

Don't have a clue how I accomplished this.  Computer nimble ......definitely not!

 

Comparison of Bush Budget (FY’04) with Past Budget Averages

	FY’04 Proposal	Post-WWII Average (FY’46 - FY’02)	Clinton Budgets (FY’94 – FY’01)	G.H.W. Bush Budgets (FY’90 - FY’93)	Reagan Budgets (FY’82 - FY’89)
Total Receipts as percent of GDP	17.0%	17.9%	19.4%	17.7%	18.0%
Total outlays as percent of GDP	19.7%	19.5%	19.6%	22.0%	22.3%
Deficit (-)/Surplus as percent of GDP	-2.7%	-1.6%	-0.1%	-4.3%	-4.3%
Annual growth in total receipts (average % change from previous fiscal year, FY96 $)	2.7%	2.9%	4.9%	0.5%	2.5%
Annual growth in total outlays (average % change from previous fiscal year, FY96 $)	2.2%	2.3%	1.5%	1.9%	2.7%
Defense spending as a percent of total outlays	17.5%	35.5%	17.1%	21.7%	26.7%
Non-defense discretionary spending as a percent of total outlays	19.2%	19.4%*	17.6%	16.6%	17.1%
Net interest costs as percent of total outlays	7.9%	10.5%*	13.9%	14.5%	13.2%
Other mandatory spending as a percent of total outlays	55.4%	41.6%*	51.4%	46.2%	42.9%
Debt held by public at end of fiscal year as percent of GDP	36.9%	44.0%	43.0%	46.3%	36.7%
Gross Debt at end of fiscal year as percentof GDP	64.8%	56.2%	63.4%	61.8%	45.4%
* includes only data back to 1962 since the distinction between discretionary and mandatory began only in that year.

[alwaysconservative]

Thank YOU so much for posting this! How informative and how necessary.

[TruthConquers]

bump for later read

[akbaines]

You big whiner. NOT FREE? Compared to what? Heaven?

[prairiebreeze]

You're super!! Thanks

Prairie

[searchandrecovery]

Spending OPM (Other People's Money) is W's new Alcohol Substitute. What a Buzz!

[Hank Rearden]

Interesting to note that non-discretionary spending has risen 23% over the past 4 years, though....

Yeah, but Our Rulers can't do anything about non-discretionary spending. It's non-discretionary. Not their problem. God and the Martians are forcing them to squander that money. Nothing they can do.

Sorry.

[prairiebreeze]

Ridiculous comment.

[WhiteGuy]

Bush Unveils Plan to Restrain Spending....................


You've got to hand it to this guy, what a politician!

Uses his leadership to create the biggest one term spending increase in history, then once the baseline is in place, call for restraint.

As politicians go, this guy has few peers.

[windchime]

"...... this guy has few peers."


You could have begun and ended with that portion of your statement.

Seems to some that:

A President doing ALL aspects of his job = Much to attack

[WOSG]

Kerry's ahead in the polls. Cut Bush slack and let him make the case.

[WOSG]

You neglect to mention we've had a war on and 9/11 happened.

[windchime]

Aren't ALL Presidents required to present a budget proposal? Wonder what the budgets of previous president(s) might have been substitutes for.

[windchime]

You're welcome! Informative, isn't it.

[WOSG]

Thanks for posting this....

This really punctures the balloon that Bush has taken us in some different extreme direction... Govt spending under Bush is smaller than it was under Reagan.

I know this much: The only opportunity we will have to really transform and reduce Government spending will be under a unified Republican administration and Congress.

[windchime]

"I know this much: The only opportunity we will have to really transform and reduce Government spending will be under a unified Republican administration and Congress."

I was just reading your other comments. You are so right in all of them!

[Your Nightmare]

That chart conveniently left off the averages for Bush's budgets.

I'll try to figure them out and post.

And I think as time goes on % of GDP may not be the best way to judge budget spending. The GDP is growing at a faster rate than I would want the Government to.

[Sabertooth]

[The President] said, "One of the things we've shown the American people is we understand how the economy works. The economy doesn't work by growing government; the economy works by growing people's wallets so they can spend, save or invest."

< -snip- >

He began by saying, "One clear signal we need to send to the American people and the markets is we're going to be wise when it comes to the expenditure of the people's money."

Conservatives have been grumbling about the explosive growth in spending by the Bush administration. Their discontent was exacerbated last week when a new estimate for the prescription drug benefit Bush personally lobbied Congress for might cost $535 billion instead of $400 billion

But, but...

Prescription Drug price tag Triples in just Three Years

[Sabertooth]

Spending OPM (Other People's Money) is W's new Alcohol Substitute. What a Buzz!

Cheap shot about the alcohol.

The case against the President's overspending is better off without it.