WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday proposed a $2.57-trillion budget for 2006 that continues to shift government priorities from domestic programs to national security and tax cuts.
Reflecting the military and domestic security programs that took on new importance after the Sept. 11 attacks, the president's budget would give big increases to the Department of Defense -- which is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- as well as to the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
At the same time, Bush would slow the growth of Medicaid and food stamps, two favorite Democratic programs. But he also would attack some Republican constituencies by cutting farm subsidies and medical and disability services to veterans.
Bush budget -- An article in Tuesday's Section A said President Bush's 2006 budget proposal did not include the full cost of making his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent. The budget included 10-year projections of the cost of making most of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent.
The budget would require air travelers to pay an additional $3 fee on each segment of a flight, on top of the current $2.50 federal fee, for anti-terrorism protections.
It also proposes to extend Bush's first-term tax cuts, which are due to phase out over time.
The budget anticipates a deficit of $390 billion for 2006, down from this year's expected record level of $427 billion. The 2006 figure does not include war spending in Iraq and Afghanistan; this year, the administration has sought $105 billion for those efforts.
The spending plan includes a range of restraints that would fall most heavily on education, environmental protection, farm subsidies and housing, although a few domestic programs would come out ahead.
Maximum Pell Grants to needy college students, for example, would be boosted by $100 per student, per year. At the same time, a loan program for college students would be scaled back, and federal spending on vocational education in high schools would be eliminated.
At nearly $2.6 trillion, the spending plan for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would be the largest ever.
In his budget message to Congress, Bush repeated his pledge to cut the deficit in half by 2009. Bush anticipates a deficit in 2009 of $233 billion, down only 43% from the 2004 deficit of $412 billion.
The president is measuring his progress by a different yardstick: His budget plan anticipates the 2009 deficit will equal 1.5% of the nation's gross domestic product, one-third of the 4.5% his administration estimated for 2004.
But the 2006 budget plan omits some major items that could confound that projection.
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