President Bush unveiled his first budget today, describing his plans to increase federal spending on education and biomedical research while curtailing what he described as "recent explosive growth" in other federal programs.
Under Mr.
President Bush unveiled his first budget today, describing his plans to increase federal spending on education and biomedical research while curtailing what he described as "recent explosive growth" in other federal programs.
Under Mr. Bush’s proposal, federal spending would rise by $104 billion, or 5.6 percent, to a total of $1.96 trillion in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.
In the last eight years, under President Bill Clinton, federal spending grew an average of 3.5 percent a year, as military spending was held down, the growth of health spending slowed and the Treasury reaped the fruits of deficit-reduction efforts begun under Mr. Bush’s father, President George Bush.
Two-thirds of the entire increase next year would go to six programs: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, the National Institutes of Health and the Pentagon.
By contrast, Mr. Bush would sharply reduce farm programs, especially those that supplement the income of farmers.
"This budget offers a new vision of governing for our nation," Mr. Bush told Congress, which will carefully weigh his proposals as lawmakers write appropriations bills in the coming months. After a brief meeting with his cabinet this morning, Mr. Bush added: "It’s a budget that protects taxpayers, protects children, protects our surplus. It represents compassionate conservatism."
The shape of the budget was heavily influenced by Mr. Bush’s top priority, a commitment to reduce taxes by $1.6 trillion over the next decade. The Senate voted last week to scale back the tax cut; the amount of that cut, to be worked out with the House, will affect decisions on the budget.
Eleonora Panto
Dario Zucchini