To Cut Deficit, Bush Delays Tax Change, Iraq Funds

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=716&e=12&u=/nm/20040130/ts_nm/bush_deficit_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) will leave out of his budget widely anticipated Iraq (news - web sites)-related costs and an expensive tax system overhaul to meet his election-year goal of cutting the federal deficit, congressional aides and budget analysts said on Friday.



Bush is banking on strong economic growth and spending restraint from Congress -- neither of which is a certainty -- to reduce the deficit from this year's projected record high of $521 billion to less than $260 billion by fiscal 2009.


Congressional officials and analysts say Bush will also rely on budget gimmicks -- from stretching the definition of homeland security to sidestep spending limits to proposing only a temporary extension of provisions that prevent the alternative minimum tax from raising taxes for potentially millions of middle-class workers.


Even though the Pentagon (news - web sites) is all but certain to need $40 billion or more to fund operations in Iraq in fiscal 2005, the White House has told lawmakers that Bush's $401.7 billion military budget for next year will leave that out, congressional aides and analysts said.

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[central scrutinizer]

1. "read my lips"

Could this be Bush II's "read my lips" moment? Wouldn't that be great - he might do even worse than Poppy.

[gonefishing]

2. I belive already said it!

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/05/bush.dems.economy/

[teach1st]

5. "NOT over my dead body" ???

ONTARIO, California (CNN) -- A defiant President Bush defended his tax cut on Saturday against claims that it has contributed to the nation's economic slump, vowing "not over my dead body will they raise your taxes."

Logic escapes, film at eleven.

[Philosophy]

6. LOL!

What a doofus. :eyes:

Or maybe the statement was calculated, so when he does have to raise taxes, they can argue semantics, like they're already doing when they claim that nobody ever used the word "imminent" to describe the danger of Saddam's WMDs.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Bush is going to leave off the Iraq costs?

That isn't a surprise. It isn't really part of the budget anyway, since technically there is no "budget" when you are running a 500+ billion deficit with no plan to ever pay it back.

[Mile Hi]

4. What can you believe

[pinto]

7. spin, waffle, spin, waffle, spin, spin, waffle, waffle, spin