I have a technical question concerning the budget.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080204/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush... By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON - President Bush unveiled a $3.1 trillion budget proposal on Monday that supports a sizable increase in military spending to fight the war on terrorism and protects his signature tax cuts.
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The budget proposal, which shows the government spending $3 trillion in a 12-month period for the first time in history, squeezes most of government outside of national security, and
also seeks $196 billion in savings over the next five years in the government's giant health care programs — Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor.--- SNIP ---
The 6 percent overall increase in spending for 2009 reflects a continued surge in spending on the government's huge benefit programs for the elderly — Social Security and Medicare, even with the projected five-year savings of $196 billion over five years.
Those savings are achieved by freezing payments to hospitals and other health care providers. Does that mean that the government will save money by not paying its bills?