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Bush's $3.1T proposal spreads pain across agencies |
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President Bush asked Congress today to spend more money on "clean energy" technologies and environmental satellites while cutting funds for a range of farmland conservation and land management programs.
Bush's eighth and final spending plan -- a $3.1 trillion proposal -- includes increases for the Energy Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But it also would mean cuts at U.S. EPA, the Interior Department and the Department of Agriculture.
In his State of the Union speech last week, Bush emphasized his efforts to squeeze discretionary spending and balance the budget by 2012. Today, he sent Congress a budget primarily posted on the Internet, a move that saves nearly 20 tons of paper, or roughly 480 trees.
"This is a good, solid budget," Bush told reporters following a meeting in the White House Cabinet Room. "It's not only an innovative budget, in that it's coming to Congress over the Internet, it's a budget that's balanced, gets to balance in 2012 and saves taxpayers money."
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill welcomed some of the spending increases for energy but didn't take kindly to the overall plan.
"For seven years, President Bush's budgets have weakened our economic security," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). "Today's budget blueprint is no different."
Reid specifically called the Bush budget "fiscally irresponsible and highly deceptive" for not including the full costs of the Iraq war.
On the other side of the Capitol, House Budget Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.) complained of growing federal deficits.
"As the Bush administration begins its last lap, one looks for a mea culpa for its dismal fiscal record, and looks for a budget that acknowledges its mistakes that have left us a mountain of debt," Spratt said. "But today's budget bears all the hallmarks of the Bush legacy. It leads to more deficits, more debt, more tax cuts, more cutbacks in critical services."
HighlightsBush spread his proposed increases and cuts across the government.
DOE would see a slight boost to $25 billion compared with the fiscal 2008 spending bill signed into law after Christmas. The DOE budget includes a major increase for science programs and a continued emphasis on the expansion of nuclear power and "clean coal" technologies.
At NOAA, the White House's $4.1 billion proposal would boost funding for environmental satellites, the National Weather Service and fisheries programs. That is the largest-ever proposed outlay for NOAA and a roughly 5 percent increase over the $3.9 billion Congress approved late last year.
EPA gets targeted with a roughly $400 million cut from fiscal 2008, from an estimated $7.5 billion to $7.1 billion. Again, EPA's low-interest wastewater loan program, also known as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, sees a significant funding cut.
Within the Department of Agriculture, Bush's budget would clamp down on spending for some key farmland conservation programs and reduce overall spending for the department. It also seeks to advance some of the administration's farm bill proposals in the midst of a legislative stalemate between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the White House.
Bush's Interior Department budget includes about a $400 million cut from fiscal 2008, from $11 billion down to $10.6 billion. Most agencies are kept stable or receive slight cuts, including $65 million less at the Fish and Wildlife Service and $183 less million at the Bureau of Reclamation.
The north slope of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would be opened up if Bush's budget made it into law -- an unlikely scenario with the current Capitol Hill dynamics. Bush's budget maintained that opening ANWR by 2010 could bring $7 billion to split between the state and federal governments.
For the Forest Service, non-fire programs once again see cuts. The agency would see a $337 million cut to $4.1 million in fiscal 2009. Wildland fire management programs, however would see a $34 million increase to just under $2 billion.
Gulf Coast recovery from the devastating 2005 hurricane season gets top billing in Bush's budget plan for the Army Corps of Engineers. Spending on southeast Louisiana levees would receive $5.8 billion in additional funding, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The Army Corps' budget proposal also calls for a $231 million increase in operations and maintenance spending for ports and inland waterways, and a $71 million boost in funding for restoration of the Florida Everglades and coastal Louisiana wetlands.
Spending at the Transportation Department includes the same amount of funding for a highway congestion-reduction program.
The Transportation budget proposal includes $41.6 billion for the highway construction fund -- a slight cut from this year's $42.7 billion. It includes nearly $2.1 billion for congestion mitigation and air quality improvement. Rail service, buses and other mass transit systems are funded at $8.4 billion this year, compared to $7.8 billion in fiscal 2008.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 February 2008 )
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