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U.S. Response II: Bush Proposes 2003 Budget With Security Priorities U.S. President George W. Bush’s proposed fiscal 2003 budget will focus on the war against terrorism, homeland defense and economic revival to such an extent that there will little growth in other government sectors, Bush administration officials said, according the Washington Post. The budget, which the White House is expected to release Feb. 4, would increase homeland defense spending from $15 billion to $30 billion (see GSN, Jan. 14). The Pentagon would receive the second-highest budget increase with $28 billion more than the fiscal 2002 budget. The fiscal 2003 budget proposal would plan for deficit spending for the first time after four years of budget surpluses, estimating that the United States would spend almost $100 billion more than it would receive in revenue. The majority of the deficit spending would go to defense and homeland security. Some Democrats expressed concern that the proposed budget would cut into social programs at a time when demand for such services has increased as the economy contracts. “It really seems like they are throwing fiscal restraint to the wind,” said Thomas Kahn, Democratic staff director of the House Budget Committee. Administration officials and some Republicans, however, said the priorities were correct. “We’re talking about the single most important responsibility of government — the physical safety of our citizens,” said Mitchell Daniels, Bush’s budget director (Allen/Goldstein, Washington Post, Jan. 20).
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