In his State of the Union address, President Bush proposed cutting income tax and ending the double taxation of corporate dividends, both actions that would reduce government income. He then went on to propose initiatives with heavy price tags–$400 billion for a health-care plan that provides prescription drugs, $1.2 billion for automotive research, $1 billion for faith-based initiative, for example–which could give Congress a severe case of heartburn as it tries to enact legislation in the face of mounting deficits. The Congressional Budget Office has projected deficits of between $165 billion and $175 billion for 2003, and those figures may rise considerably should the situation with Iraq take a turn for the worse.
• The 107th Congress failed to address fiscal-year 2003 appropriations for 11 of 13 government agencies last October. That inaction led to a series of continuing resolutions to allow those bodies to continue functioning at 2002 funding levels. The supposed plan would make those appropriations a priority matter for the 108th Congress and preserve the $385.9 billion cap that President Bush set for non-defense discretionary spending. The poet Robert Burns made a point about the best laid plans of mice and men many years ago, and so it has been with Congress on this matter.
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