Posted on 02/02/2004 7:44:58 AM PST by 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."
By whose definition?
Well, Ok. But he's spending like a drunken sailor.
Nah, if I was parroting dem talking points, I'd say Bush was spending like a drunken sailor gone AWOL.
"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
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. | |||||
To comment on Tax Foundation materials, call 202.464.6200,
e-mail the Tax Foundation at , or
write us at 1900 M Street, N.W., Suite 550, Washington, D.C. 20036
©2004 Tax Foundation
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
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.
If you're happy and you know it, clank your chains....
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