WASHINGTON — President Bush unveiled a $2.4-trillion election-year budget Monday that promised a new effort to limit the growth of government but still embraced deficit spending for years to come.
The budget, which provides a window into what Bush would do if elected to a second term, calls for continuing the robust expansion of defense and homeland security spending that has been the hallmark of his administration.
Bush also called for consolidating one of the biggest accomplishments of his first term in the White House -- the tax cuts enacted in 2001. He proposed making permanent the sweeping cuts, which are to expire before the end of the decade
The budget is the opening shot of an election-year battle as Bush's proposals make their way through the Republican-controlled House and Senate. It will set up the debate between the parties, and will help Bush build support within his own party.
For conservative Republicans, Bush's budget is intended to show a renewed commitment to their cause of fiscal discipline. Many of them have been disillusioned with budget policies that they consider profligate. But the budget also includes increases for education and arts funding, which appeals to swing voters and moderate Republicans.
Bush built his new budget for the year that begins Oct. 1 around the goal of reducing this year's $521-billion deficit by half within five years -- mostly by imposing a virtual freeze on spending for everything but national defense, homeland security and federal benefits.
"The government must exercise fiscal responsibility by limiting spending growth, focusing on the results of government programs and cutting wasteful spending," Bush said in his formal budget message.
Some conservative critics remain unimpressed, saying Bush's budget does not go far enough to curb Medicare, Social Security and other big benefit programs.
"I see almost nothing good about this budget," said William A. Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research group. "This is big-government conservatism."
Even if Bush succeeded in his proposal to reduce the deficit to $237 billion in 2009, the gap would still be bigger than in all but three years over the last generation. But the cuts Bush proposes -- including the elimination of 65 programs -- may go too far for many in Congress, where even Republicans warn that it is unrealistic to expect lawmakers to squeeze popular programs in an election year.
