Budget blues. (Insider Report).

On February 4th, President Bush submitted to Congress a budget for fiscal 2003. If approved, it would set a new federal spending record of $2.13 trillion, besting fiscal 2002 by some $76 billion.

The budget books came wrapped in a red, white, and blue cover depicting the American flag, underscoring the president's continuing exploitation of patriotic emotion to rally support for what he describes as a wartime spending agenda crucial to battling terrorism abroad and securing the safety of Americans at home. The Pentagon budget would increase by $48 billion to $379 billion, accompanied by authority for the commander in chief to spend an additional $10 billion if deemed necessary to continue the war in Afghanistan and/or engage in other foreign quarrels. Homeland security soaks up another $38 billion, nearly double the amount earmarked for that purpose prior to September 11th.

Spending in areas other than defense and security would jump by "only" 2 percent, compared to 6 percent annual hikes in recent years, yet the consumer price index and other economic indices show inflation running significantly below that figure. Some analysts predict that the increase will climb back toward the 6 percent level once Congress adds its traditional election-year pork.

Big congressional spenders of both parties are unlikely to support many of the relatively few modest spending cuts in Bush's proposal. After all, the administration itself now deems deficits acceptable for the near future. This year's projected $106 billion shortfall is expected to be followed by deficits of $30 billion and $14 billion, respectively, in fiscal years 2003 and 2004. As staff writer Glenn Kessler noted in the February 5th Washington Post, "The president's new budget plan marks the end of a sustained period of fiscal restraint, with the White House pushing for huge boosts in military spending, Congress rushing to defend popular domestic programs, and the public willing to let both sides bust the budget parameters of the recent past."

The Bush budget also calls for additional tax cuts totalling $591 billion over the next decade, including an extension for another two years (to 2012) of last year's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax-cut package.

Finally, whereas Republicans once sought to abolish sundry government departments and agencies, virtually all have not only been removed from the hit list, but would be lavishly funded at higher levels under the proposed budget. The Department of Education would receive $50.3 billion, a 2.8 percent increase; the Department of Energy, $19.8 billion, up 3.6 percent; the Department of Housing and Urban Development, $34.6 billion, a whopping 11.8 percent increase; and the sleaze-promoting National Endowment for the Arts, $117 million, up 1.7 percent.