With the expensive war in Iraq and a recession at home, Senate Republican leaders were forced to strike a deal to keep their tax cuts last Friday when Congress passed a new federal budget.
House representatives passed the measure just before daybreak, and later on that same day the Senate narrowly approved the $2.27 trillion dollar budget, when their deadlock vote, tied at 50 to 50, was broken by Vice President Dick Cheney. Primary concerns from opposition to the resolution lay in the area of President Bush’s tax cut plan of $550 billion.
In order to gain enough support in the Senate, Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, made a deal with Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, that any tax cut bill brought to the floor would not exceed $350 billion.
Grassley acknowledged that it was unlikely the bill would have passed had there not been an agreement limiting the tax cuts to about half of the amount President Bush and the House were seeking. The goal by legislators was to keep Congress on the right track regarding spending and balancing the federal budget.
In a statement released Friday, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, expressed his opposition to the resolution.
“This budget resolution is a prescription for fiscal disaster. The tax cut and spending policies it provides are grossly irresponsible,” Feingold said in the statement, citing his concern with the budget rules imposed in the resolution he feels should have been extended to further restrain government officials from overzealous spending.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, disagreed with Feingold, voting yes for what he sees as a compromised measure between all parties.
“While holding the line on spending, this budget provides funding for a strong national defense, tax relief to create jobs and grow the economy, and a host of other key priorities including education, health care and veterans’ benefits,” Ryan said in a statement. “Though it is far from perfect, overall this is a budget that keeps Congress on the right track, by bringing us to a balanced budget.”
This tax relief, which is designed to inspire consumers and stimulate the economy, is projected to reduce the deficit each year, balancing the budget within the next nine years.
The budget for the 2004 fiscal year focuses on trying to protect the United States while stimulating and strengthening the economy. The resolution maintains funding levels for national defense spending as well as providing total supplemental appropriation covering the war in Iraq, with a $5.6 billion reserve fund for protecting the nation from chemical and biological weapon threats.
Other priority allocations went to the Department of Education, Medicare, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, all increasing from the previous budget.
