Bush Speech to Focus on Budget

[papau]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55432-2005Feb1.html

washingtonpost.com
Bush Speech to Focus on Budget
Social Security Also Will Top President's State of Union Agenda
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 2, 2005; Page A11


President Bush plans to further his case for remaking Social Security during his State of the Union address tonight, in a speech also expected to touch on the need for strict budget discipline and to celebrate the spread of democracy in the elections in Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Palestinian territories and, most recently, Iraq.

In a briefing for reporters, a senior administration official, who declined to speak on the record, said Bush's televised address to a joint session of Congress will be divided evenly between domestic policy and foreign affairs. On the domestic front, the president plans to issue a call for fiscal discipline in preparation for an extremely tight federal budget.

The budget, to be announced Monday, will propose a virtual freeze in discretionary spending unrelated to defense or homeland security, as part of Bush's plan to cut the deficit in half by 2009 from a 2004 deficit of $521 billion. The task of cutting the deficit is complicated by the estimated $5 billion a month consumed by the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We will be putting forward a budget that reflects our times," the official said. "And that is, we've had to fund our country's government in a way that reflects the fact that we're a nation at war."

Bush also plans to rejoin the Social Security debate by highlighting the system's long-term fiscal problems and explaining why allowing workers to divert a portion of their payroll taxes into private accounts would contribute to a "permanent fix" for the program. "He will flesh out new details and how he views the personal retirement accounts will work," the official said. "He will talk about why, as I said, it's necessary that we need to permanently fix the system."
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[SCDem]

1. What budget?

That was the first thought that popped into my head when I read that. They only talk of budget and needing to stay to one if it concerns the health, education, and general social services that our nation needs. If it is anything else (like $9billion not accounted for in Iraq).... that is the cost of war, we are living in dangerous times, everything changed after 9/11, or the budget is not that bad in time it will come down with the economy improving.

Such hypocrisy :mad:

[Nay]

2. Here we go. More evidence that these bastards do indeed

plan to starve us all and throw us out into the streets under the guise of the "ownership society."

[grumpy old fart]

3. The president plans to issue a call for fiscal discipline??????????

Chimp runs up historic deficits, and calls for discipline?????? The only discipline he's interested in is the kind Laura administers to him in the dungeon where he worships Satan.....

[Ishoutandscream]

4. Fiscal discipline. Don't make me laugh!!!

These bastards spend like drunken sailors.

[cliss]

5. What is wrong with that man?

Look at the photos with BeelzeBush in a cape, obviously picking up some "Honorary Ph. D." somewhere. Look at how his head is pushed back. I have a photo of my 3-year old who is dressed up in a costume, maybe mom's bathrobe.

He looks just like that. Idiot.