Posted on 01/31/2008 12:14:18 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush's 2009 budget will virtually freeze most domestic programs and seek nearly $200 billion in savings from federal health care programs, a senior administration official said Thursday.
The Bush budget also will likely exceed $3 trillion, this official said.
Bush on Monday will likely present his proposed budget for the new fiscal year to Congress, where it's unlikely to gain much traction in the midst of a presidential campaign.
lol.. freeze is such an ugly word.
title changed to
Official: Bush budget to be tight
update follows...
WASHINGTON - President Bush’s 2009 budget will virtually freeze most domestic programs and seek nearly $200 billion in savings from federal health care programs, a senior administration official said Thursday.
The Bush budget also will likely exceed $3 trillion, this official said.
Bush on Monday will likely present his proposed budget for the new fiscal year to Congress, where it’s unlikely to gain much traction in the midst of a presidential campaign.
The president will propose nearly $178 billion in savings from Medicare — a number that’s nearly triple what he proposed last year. Much of the savings would come from freezing reimbursement rates for most health care providers for three years. Another $17 billion would come from the Medicaid program, the state-federal partnership that provides health coverage to the poor.
The official, whose spoke on condition of anonymity because the budget has not yet been released, said the budget for domestic programs would look like last year’s.
“It’s a very small increase,” he said. “Very small.”
A second official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that domestic discretionary spending would increase by less than 1 percent under Bush’s proposal.
Best way to grow out of the deficits and debt is to freeze total spending until the debt is gone.
7 years too late. It’ll never happen.
The stupid stimulous package is already getting loaded up with $30 billion more than Bush asked for.
Call me a cynic, but I have to question the timing on this one. (Plus the fact that pigs would fly before it would happen.)
Yep, now Bush is a budget hawk....we would still own congress if Bush acted like this 6 years ago.
Is it really a freeze or just a growth to match inflation? (Of course, anything less than what the RATS say they want for a program is called a cut.)
Indeed
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