With election time nearing, look for presidential candidates to fuss, fret and be defensive about government spending. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report that took issue with President Bush’s promise to cut the budget deficit in half in five years. Bush predicts a budget drop from $521 billion this year to $239 billion in 2009. But the CBO said the deficit would be $478 billion this year, fall to $258 billion in 2009 and climb to $289 billion by 2014. CBO figures are significant because legislators must use these estimates rather than those offered by the White House.
Following the CBO report, the Senate Budget Committee revealed a 2005 tax and spending plan that would shave $7 billion from Bush’s defense spending proposal, reduce domestic spending by $16 billion and cut billions of dollars for entitlement programs with the expectation that the federal deficit could be cut in half by 2007.
Whether the full Senate will approve the plan remains to be seen.
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