Daily Briefing, Part 1: The Budget Gets Spun
•$2.57t budget sent to Congress.Bush: "Our priorities are winning the war on terror, protecting our homeland, growing our economy. It's a budget that focuses on results."Pelosi: "The president's budget is a hoax on the American people." [ WP , NYT , WSJ , USAT , WT ]
•Congress has other ideas for budget -- and it isn't the first time. Economist: "It is ambitious, and if history is any guide, it's not going to happen." [ WP , WP , WT ]
•Budget based on assumptions and omissions, including expectation that non-defense spending will be stable over next five years. [ NYT ]
•Budget downplays long-term costs, says economist: "There's a lot being swept under the rug from a longer-run standpoint. . . And people really aren't looking at the scary arithmetic in the longer term." [ WSJ ]
So much, much more follows...
•Budget designed to show conservatives, economists, traders, and world markets thatBushis serious about deficit. Scholar: "I don't think this approach will look very credible. . . The message here is that the underlying trend, contrary to the administration's assertions, is a steady increase in the deficit." [ NYT ]
•Budget pressures lawmakers to enact cost-cutting. [ WSJ , USAT ]
• Rumsfeld's budget proposal based on reform of Defense Department; 5% jump in spending from last year. [ WSJ , NYT , WT ]
•FBI wins 11% budget increase; spending for Amtrak nearly eliminated. [ NYT , NYT ]
•Budget proposes 1% reduction for Education Department, 2% cut for Energy Department. [ NYT , NYT ]
•White House looks to skim staff. [ NYT ]
•Cultural groups and museums spared ax. [ WP ]
•Assistance for poor and veterans sliced. [ NYT , NYT ]
•Budget directorBolten: "I actually enter into this with a happy spirit." [ WP ]