January 3, 2005
PERHAPS THEY MEAN HE HAS TO GO FURTHER INTO THE RED?:
Bush legacy tied to budget (Rob Hotakainen and Kevin Diaz, January 3, 2005, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
After a year of relatively light lifting, Congress will return to work on Tuesday, facing a busy domestic agenda that could signal major changes in the way that Americans pay taxes and plan for their retirement.President Bush plans to focus on two big-ticket items in the 109th Congress: He wants workers to be able to invest part of their Social Security payments in private accounts, and he wants to simplify the federal tax code.
Both plans are ambitious, and their success or failure could go a long way toward shaping the president's legacy. [...]
Bush, who will be sworn in Jan. 20 for a second term, is promising to cut the national deficit in half in five years. And as war costs mount, that could mean big cuts in most domestic programs when the president presents his new budget to Congress on Feb. 7.
"It's going to be a tough budget, no question about it," Bush said. "And it's a budget that I think will send the right signal to the financial markets and to those concerned about our short-term deficits."
Legacy tied to the budget? We've had four great presidents--Washington, Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan--all four blew massive holes in the nation's budget. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 3, 2005 4:06 PM
OJ - I don't think I've ever heard you refer to FDR as a "great" PotUS before. What gives?
Posted by: Foos at January 3, 2005 5:04 PMI don't personally think he was much of a president, but he's credited with restoring American spirit during the Depression and he did defeat the Axis powers. Hard to say that's not "great" in at least the way Pat Buchanan once called Hitler a great man.
Posted by: oj at January 3, 2005 5:09 PMWe're in a Clash of Civilizations and these goobers are concerned about balance sheets? That's just embarassing, even more so from people in a city on the verge of bankruptcy.
Posted by: Bart at January 3, 2005 6:11 PM