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Bush plan would up defense, cut farm funds
US President Bush will propose a nearly 5 percent increase for next year's defense spending while calling for cuts in payments to farmers and work on a nuclear waste storage site in Nevada, according to documents and federal officials.
Bush also will propose boosting the size of Pell grants for low-income college students as he seeks to abolish a widely used college loan program and to shrink federal subsidies for banks that lend money to students.
"The people in Congress on both sides of the aisle have said, 'Let's worry about the deficit,'" Bush said Friday in Omaha, Neb., as he barnstormed the country for his Social Security plan. "I said, 'OK, we'll worry about it again.' My last budget worried about it, this budget will really worry about it."
Bush administration officials also revealed new details of some health proposals the president will unveil.
Among them, Bush will propose $3,000 tax credits to encourage people who don't have public or employer-provided health insurance to buy coverage. The plan, which would cost $74 billion over the next decade, would be part of $140 billion in tax breaks and expenditures aimed at improving health care over the coming 10 years.
Administration officials had already said Bush will seek $60 billion in Medicaid savings over the coming decade. These will come largely from smaller reimbursements to pharmacies, reducing payments to other health providers, and making it harder for parents to qualify for coverage if their assets have been shifted to their children.
According to documents available, Bush will propose $419.3 billion for the Pentagon for next year, a 4.8 percent boost over this year. That total, however, is $3.4 billion less than he planned a year ago for fiscal 2006, which begins Oct. 1.
Taking a major hit are his proposals for procuring weapons and other items. Such spending with total $78 billion — $2.4 billion less than he projected spending in 2006 a year ago.
Despite budget pressures, it is unclear how Bush's defense plan will play in Congress. The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, has expressed concern that Bush won't seek enough for U.S. troops and their families.
None of the figures include expenditures for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush plans in a few days to ask for another $80 billion — in a separate spending bill — for those conflicts. Congress last summer provided $25 billion for the wars in 2005.
In the longer run, Bush envisions defense spending grow steadily after next year, hitting $502.3 billion by 2011.
The documents said Bush's defense budget is designed "to implement lessons learned from ongoing operations in the war" — including more flexible military forces and beefed up special operations forces, intelligence and communications.
Weapons systems that would get less next year than in 2005 include the Aegis destroyer, the F22 Raptor fighter and the C17 cargo aircraft. The Apache helicopter and the Army's future combat system would see increases. |
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![US President Bush walks past a chart used to help explain his plan to reform Social Security during a town hall meeting Friday, Feb. 4, 2005, in Tampa, Fla. The meeting at the Tampa Convention Center, before a crowd of invited guests, was the final stop on a five-state swing to promote his plan. [AP]](xin_58020205112043328109.jpg)
