Bush Unveils Plan to Restrain Spending

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

[Huck]

non-security-related spending

By whose definition?

[windchime]

It looks like the 'averages' were based on the entire term of a President. My knowledge of budgets is minimal, but without without the full term of budgets being considered, the 'averages' of each wouldn't be comparable.

It appears that the incomplete picture is presented simply because it is incomplete. '05 numbers should allow them to make their adjustments to the chart.

[sandydipper]

No one - except government - has ever spent more money than they make? Maybe until the credit card balances catch up - but the premise is to spend less than you make and save a little for old age and your younguns. Neither Republicans nor Democrats seem to get it.

[searchandrecovery]

Cheap shot about the alcohol.

Well, Ok. But he's spending like a drunken sailor.

[windchime]

Drunken sailor. You've been watching the dems campaign, too! LOL

[searchandrecovery]

Drunken sailor. You've been watching the dems campaign, too! LOL

Nah, if I was parroting dem talking points, I'd say Bush was spending like a drunken sailor gone AWOL.

[WhiteGuy]

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

What do your two points have to do with my statement?

I'm giving the guy a lot of credit for being an expert politician.

Don't you think his strategy (or strategery) was an incredibly brilliant move?

Seriously, the "spending limits" will pacify the fiscal conservatives who are critical of big government and everyone will forget about the deficit spending of the last 3 years.

Absolutely brilliant.

[windchime]

The Real Military Record of George W. Bush: Not Heroic, but Not AWOL, Either

[prairiebreeze]

"When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it. "Compromise" was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything. "I'd learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: 'I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.'

"If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that's what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it. ~~ Ronald Reagan, in his autobiography, An American Life

kayak posted this on another thread. NOBODY states it better. Kudo's to you President Reagan, you are missed sir.

Prairie

[prairiebreeze]

meant to ping you to #49 too

Prairie

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

I know, I just hate it when I go out, and all those people are following me, telling me where I can go, what I can do, what I can say, what religion I can practice. Telling me I have to work, or not. Who I can vote for, or not.

It just frustrates me.

[Vets_Husband_and_Wife]

Just the facts:

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.

 

 

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e-mail the Tax Foundation at , or
write us at 1900 M Street, N.W., Suite 550, Washington, D.C. 20036

©2004 Tax Foundation

[prairiebreeze]

LOL!

[WhiteGuy]

Compromise.......................

I've got one vote.

One single solitary opportunity to influence the course of our government for the next 2, 4, or 6 years (depending on the office in question).

I personally don't think that my ONE vote matters to anyone except me.

The politicians who appear as candidates on the ballot at my community polling place, don't know me, my family, or my neighbors. They know about demographics and polls, but not necessarily about real people.

What they are seeking is power and money. I don't blame them for this, we all need both in some form in our lives.

They receive power and money, and in exchange they "serve" the people. Their service tends to usually only enhance their own desire for power and money. (Getting re-elected is the primary objective of almost ALL politicians).

So if the candidate for office, who wants more votes than their opponent, wishes to influence the largest number of people to vote in their favor, what do they do?

They pander to the largest number of people in their district (or country). This is obvious to anyone who is remotely aware of current events.

Pandering is a tough business, it requires a candidate to be an expert at the art of compromise.

Compromise, for a politician usually means compromising the spirit of the law for the benefit of a group of voters or a group of political contributors.

This is the system as it exists today. it's all about compromise, isn't it.

I encourage everyone to vote for whomever they please.

I've got one vote.

I'm not willing to compromise.

[prairiebreeze]

It's not only the system, all of life is full of compromise. There are trade-offs for everything. Consequences vs. choices. Give and take exists in nearly every human relationship or experience. I'm not willing to squander my vote (which I do regard as mattering) because I'm upset that my candidate has made "compromises", or choices which neither I nor the candidate may support 100%. Yet, compromise must be reached, choices must be made.

It's very difficult in life to get everything that we want. Sometimes perhaps, but usually we are forced to choose and determine our priorities. President Bush has my vote because I agree with 90% of the choices he's made and actions he's taken in his presidency. The other 10% is a compromise I can make.

Prairie

[WhiteGuy]

Good for you.

It sounds like you can rest easily with the choice you are making.

If I agreed with 90% of the positions and the consequences of an incumbent politician, I could possibly compromise on a few minor issues.

I think for some it's more a matter of the scope of the areas of disagreement than the concept of the good outweighing the bad.

We all have our list of nonnegotiables.

[windchime]

"They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't get it all, some said, don't take anything."

I think that used to be called a 'spoiled brat'.

[Miles Vorkosigan]

Keep your face buried in your philosophy textbook. I'd hate to have you break your own heart by looking up and actually seeing what a great country you actually live in.

[Mulder]

NOT FREE? Compared to what? Heaven?

This is not a Free country.

Sure, you're free to obey the law and free to pay your taxes.

But you're not Free to travel, or Free to bear arms. In many places, you're not even Free to speak your mind. You're really not even Free to do what you please with your own property.

[Mulder]

I'd hate to have you break your own heart by looking up and actually seeing what a great country you actually live in.

If you're happy and you know it, clank your chains....