The Nake Emperor speaks ...

This is the like talk that really steams my shorts ...

Bush Down Plays Need for Plan on Deficit
Monday December 15, 3:38 PM EST
By Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite market volatility and pleas from his own conservative base, President Bush on Monday brushed aside the need to propose a more concrete plan to reduce record federal budget deficits.

Bush also would not rule out proposing new tax cuts, which could add to a deficit already expected to top $500 billion this fiscal year. "We'll see," he told a news conference.

When asked about the U.S. dollar's fall in value and market concerns about the deficit, Bush said: "We certainly need to send a signal to the capital markets that we're going to maintain spending discipline."

But he offered no specifics.

Some conservative groups have criticized Bush -- a fellow Republican -- for failing to curb growth in government spending and for enacting legislation, including a sweeping new Medicare prescription drug plan, that would put further strain on the budget.

"Conservatives are disappointed," said Brian Riedl, a budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation. "We were expecting a much more fiscally conservative administration on spending."

"This has been a very big spending president (and) we have yet to see a serious proposal on the spending side of the budget," added William Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute who advised former President Ronald Reagan.

The White House has pledged to cut the deficit in half over five years.

But officials have offered no new proposals and acknowledged their deficit-reduction assumptions were predicated on a quick economic rebound and the U.S. Congress holding the line on spending.

Niskanen said "there's no basis for believing (Bush) can cut the deficit in half" unless he imposes "serious specific spending restraint," particularly in the areas of defense, Medicare, agriculture and education.

Even some Bush advisers privately concede there is little chance of meeting that goal without a more concerted effort to cut spending. But that is unlikely to happen until after the 2004 election. They say Bush would have a freer hand to act in a second -- and final -- term.

Bush acknowledged that the administration's plan to shrink the deficit in half over five years "depends upon Congress to continue to hold the line on spending."

Asked if a more specific plan was needed, he told reporters: "We do have a plan."

Bush defended record spending on defense and homeland security, and said the U.S. Senate, once it finishes work on its spending bills, "will have held discretionary spending to 4 percent -- that's what we agreed to with the Congress during the budget negotiations."

Under his watch, he asserted, non-military, non-homeland security discretionary spending has fallen from 15 percent to as low as 3 percent.

The Heritage Foundation disputed those estimates. By its calculations, discretionary outlays rose 13 percent in 2002, 12 percent in 2003 and will rise 10 percent in 2004.

Riedl said Congress was "playing games" on spending and that the White House "is taking cues from Congress." He said both have an incentive in "creating the illusion of fiscal restraint."

As he did last week as the U.S. currency touched record lows, Bush said: "We fully expect markets to set the dollar. But we have a strong dollar policy, which is, in our judgment, good for the economic vitality of this country."

©2003 Reuters Limited.

 

More lies ... Hopefully, Dean et. al. with be calling GWB on them.

Budget Deficit a Concern - W.House Aide
Wednesday December 17, 2:49 PM EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top White House economic adviser said on Wednesday the United States would likely run a budget deficit around 4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product next year and said growing shortfalls were a concern.

"Next year we will probably have a deficit in the ballpark of 4 percent of GDP, a little more -- maybe 4-1/2 percent of GDP," Council of Economic Advisers Chair Gregory Mankiw told the Excheckr Club in answer to a question.

"The deficit is a concern and the president has said many times ... that he's committed to getting it down," he said.

"He wants to shrink it in half toward 2 percent of GDP over five years, and his (fiscal 2005) budget will reflect that," Mankiw said, referring to a budget plan the White House will unveil early next year.

"There are two ways to do that: one is to get the economy growing again in order to get revenues, and the other is to restrain spending," Mankiw said.

Mankiw also told the group that the large U.S. trade gap was not necessarily a problem for the economy.

"I don't view it, in and of itself, as a risk to the U.S. economy," he said, saying it was largely symptomatic of a relatively slower pace of growth among U.S. trading partners.

"Slow growth abroad is one of the major contributors to our trade deficit," Mankiw said, because it curtails U.S. exports, and it contributes to a desire of overseas investors to place their money in the United States.

Mankiw said part of an adjustment toward more-balanced trade could involve an increase in domestic U.S. savings.

He noted President Bush had early this year proposed an expansion of tax-free savings accounts, but he stopped short of saying they would resurface in the fiscal 2005 budget plan.

"One of the things I've learned in my new job is don't get ahead of the boss, so I won't suggest it will be in the next budget. But I encourage you to stay tuned," Mankiw said.

Mankiw, who noted an updated administration forecast would be released with the budget proposal, said he expected the U.S. economy to grow above its long-term historical average of 3.3 percent next year but then revert toward the long-run trend as the economy approaches full employment.

©2003 Reuters Limited.