Bush Aims to Balance Budget by 2012

[Frodo]

Bush Aims to Balance Federal Budget by 2012;
President Also Calls on Congress to Curb Pork Barrel Spending

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 3, 2007; 3:16 PM

President Bush today pledged to submit a five-year budget proposal next month that would balance the federal budget by 2012, and he called on the new Congress to adopt key reforms, including the curtailment of lawmakers' pork barrel projects in spending legislation and committee reports.

In a statement in the White House Rose Garden after a Cabinet meeting, Bush said his budget proposal would "address urgent needs" -- such as winning the war on terrorism and maintaining a strong national defense -- while also making his tax cuts permanent. To do so, he said, would "keep this economy growing."

Speaking a day before the new Democratic-controlled Congress is sworn in, Bush said an important lesson from the November midterm elections was that voters want to end the "secretive process" of inserting pet projects known as "earmarks" into spending measures, costing taxpayers billions of dollars each year. He said some earmarks are not even slipped into legislation but are "stuffed into committee reports that have never been passed and are never signed into law."

Bush praised the incoming Democratic leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees for pledging to maintain current spending levels and place a moratorium on all earmarks.

"But we need to do more," he said. "Congress needs to adopt real reform that requires full disclosure of the sponsors, the costs, the recipients and the justifications for every earmark. Congress needs to stop the practice of concealing earmarks in so-called report language. And Congress needs to cut the number and cost of earmarks next year by at least half."

[Bono]

This is a joke right?

[Deano963]

YAWWWNNNNNN........

how many times before has this President promised to cut the budget deficit in half only to end up increasing both the deficit and the national debt every single year of his Presidency?

[Gabu]

YAWWWNNNNNN........

how many times before has this President promised to cut the budget deficit in half only to end up increasing both the deficit and the national debt every single year of his Presidency?

Well, you have to admit that, politically, it's a good tactic.  That way, if the budget doesn't get balanced, he can always blame it on the Democratic Congress.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

A bit too late now, Bushy boy - should have taught of that agggesssssssssssss ago.

[Angel of Death]

Check out the big brain on Gabu. Obviously Bush is trying to frame the Democrats.

[Moooooo]

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[Democratic Hawk]

Yes, I'm sure you will George

Dave

[Yates]

I am certainly no fan of the President.  However, I do applaud his initiative.  It is certainly an improvement.

[Gabu]

I am certainly no fan of the President.  However, I do applaud his initiative.  It is certainly an improvement.

I would applaud it if I thought it was sincere, but I've grown extremely cynical with regards to Bush over the years, and as such, I will believe this when I see it.  I don't expect much from him.

[TheresNoMoney]

Funny how he takes this position after the Democrats have taken back the Congress.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Monkey say and monkey do are two different things.

[Democratic Hawk]

Funny how he takes this position after the Democrats have taken back the Congress.

Deliberate I'd say. Bush seemed quite happy to allow Republicans a free-hand with the spoils. Yes, I'm aware Democrats do too but they're not quite so sanctimoniously hypocritical on these things since it's Republicans who preach fiscal responsibility yet wilfully run up huge deficits. Now he's trumpetting this, and if the Democrats don't play ball, they'll be God-dam obstructionists, big-spenders and all the lousy things under the Sun

As John Kerry said Bush lecturing him on fiscal responsibility was like him taking advice from Joey Soprano on law enforcement (or words to that effect anyway)

I hope it doesn't wash but I do hope a Democratic Congress is committed to fiscal responsibility, of its own volition, and with a larger Blue Dog contingent, I'm optimistic

The surplus Bush inherited would have gone some way towards paying for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

Dave

[Mr. Paleoconservative]

So President Bush is of the mind that we can still have guns (record military spending) and butter (tax cuts), and somehow balance the budget?  What does he expect to cut besides the ever increasingly vague "pork?"

One President's pork might well be a Congressman's desperately needed public works project in his/her district to build infrastructure for economic development or reduce safety hazards, etc.  Of course there are some absurd pork projects out there, but certainly not enough that by eliminating them we can keep the tax cuts (as they are now), and a record military budget, all while getting a balanced budget by 2012.

This proposal is patently disingenuous and absurd.

[CARLHAYDEN]

I have a modest counterproposal (which I will be pitching to my new Congresscritter).

Lets cut the funds appropriated for White House staff to a level ten per cent below the current appropriation.