Dems May Block Record $3T Bush Budget 'Til Next Prez

Mammoth budget combines tax cuts with huge security spending hikes
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 4, 2008 4:32 AM CST
Dems May Block Record $3T Bush Budget 'Til Next Prez
President Bush speaks on the state of the economy to employees at Hallmark Cards Inc., Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)   (Associated Press)

President Bush today introduces a record $3 trillion budget into opposition from congressional Democrats so fierce that they could hold up the spending plan until the next president takes office, reports AP. Bush's plan envisions at least $400 billion in deficits this year and next, twice 2007's $163 billion debt. The budget would make Bush's proposed first-year tax cuts permanent, while at the same time increasing spending on defense and national security.

Some of the president's favored programs in education would also benefit, but the plan proposes $200 million in cuts over five years to Medicaid and Medicare. "This administration is going to hand the next president a fiscal meltdown," one lawmaker warned. "This is a budget that sticks it to the middle class, comforts the wealthy and has a set of priorities that are not the priorities of the American people." (More tax cuts stories.)

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