TotalAnarchy
01-09-2002, 04:11 AM
Quite rich really. You are supposed to spend lots of money AFTER you get the surplus, not before.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0201/09/world/world7.html
President George Bush has warned that the budget he is preparing to send to Congress soon is likely to be in the red, saying the cost of the war in Afghanistan, defence and the recession means his spending plan might show a deficit.
Presidential aides had signalled in recent weeks that hopes of a balanced federal budget were slipping away. But until now Mr Bush had not publicly acknowledged that likelihood.
"We had a national emergency, we're trying to win a war and we're in a recession," Mr Bush said on Monday when asked about the budget for the 2003 fiscal year that begins on October 1. "Those will be the priorities of my budget ... recognising that we may not balance the budget for this year."
The White House budget director, Mitchell Daniels jnr, warned late last year that there might not be a balanced budget until the 2005 fiscal year. The economic boom of the 1990s had reversed years of deficit spending and produced budget surpluses, he said.
Mr Bush made his comments before he began a meeting with key economic aides and the chairman of the Federal Reserve board, Alan Greenspan, that had been convened within two hours of his return to Washington from his Texas ranch, reflecting White House efforts to spotlight Mr Bush's increasing focus on solving the nation's economic problems.
The economy was also Mr Bush's central theme during a day of appearances in California and Oregon on Saturday. Senior members of his economic team took part in television interviews on Sunday pushing the Administration's efforts. In other comments on Monday, Mr Bush signalled a renewed determination to press Congress for an economic stimulus package.
He said his budget proposal would include measures intended to help pull the economy out of recession - proposals thwarted by Senate Democratic leaders last month.
The plan calls for a mix of large tax breaks for business, an accelerated cut in income tax rates and expanded benefits for the unemployed. It specifically includes reducing the 27 per cent income tax rate to 25 per cent this year, four years ahead of schedule. The plan would also provide 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs since March, and a new tax credit to help the unemployed pay for health insurance.
But the Senate Democrats said the package was too skewed towards business and failed to address health-care needs for the unemployed adequately.
Los Angeles Times
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<IMG SRC="http://a9.cpimg.com/image/63/E2/5744739-4aac-01DD006C-.jpg" border=0>
"Savagely circling
His sword on all sides
Strikes his foes
Crushes them down
Thus drops each man
On whom its blow falls"
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0201/09/world/world7.html
President George Bush has warned that the budget he is preparing to send to Congress soon is likely to be in the red, saying the cost of the war in Afghanistan, defence and the recession means his spending plan might show a deficit.
Presidential aides had signalled in recent weeks that hopes of a balanced federal budget were slipping away. But until now Mr Bush had not publicly acknowledged that likelihood.
"We had a national emergency, we're trying to win a war and we're in a recession," Mr Bush said on Monday when asked about the budget for the 2003 fiscal year that begins on October 1. "Those will be the priorities of my budget ... recognising that we may not balance the budget for this year."
The White House budget director, Mitchell Daniels jnr, warned late last year that there might not be a balanced budget until the 2005 fiscal year. The economic boom of the 1990s had reversed years of deficit spending and produced budget surpluses, he said.
Mr Bush made his comments before he began a meeting with key economic aides and the chairman of the Federal Reserve board, Alan Greenspan, that had been convened within two hours of his return to Washington from his Texas ranch, reflecting White House efforts to spotlight Mr Bush's increasing focus on solving the nation's economic problems.
The economy was also Mr Bush's central theme during a day of appearances in California and Oregon on Saturday. Senior members of his economic team took part in television interviews on Sunday pushing the Administration's efforts. In other comments on Monday, Mr Bush signalled a renewed determination to press Congress for an economic stimulus package.
He said his budget proposal would include measures intended to help pull the economy out of recession - proposals thwarted by Senate Democratic leaders last month.
The plan calls for a mix of large tax breaks for business, an accelerated cut in income tax rates and expanded benefits for the unemployed. It specifically includes reducing the 27 per cent income tax rate to 25 per cent this year, four years ahead of schedule. The plan would also provide 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs since March, and a new tax credit to help the unemployed pay for health insurance.
But the Senate Democrats said the package was too skewed towards business and failed to address health-care needs for the unemployed adequately.
Los Angeles Times
------------------
<IMG SRC="http://a9.cpimg.com/image/63/E2/5744739-4aac-01DD006C-.jpg" border=0>
"Savagely circling
His sword on all sides
Strikes his foes
Crushes them down
Thus drops each man
On whom its blow falls"