President George Bush has called for a new budget that is the most ambitious that any president has proposed in years. He wants to cut taxes and increase spending for the military and domestic security. A balanced budget or a smaller government is no longer an important goal. A few interest groups [anti-tax, pro-spending, anti-regulation and pro-environment] reviewed the budget line by line and gave their suggestions. .
Corporations on the Dole?.
The Bush administration has proposed to spend $1.5 billion over a five-year period to develop the hydrogen-powered car. The Clinton administration before that spent more than $1 billion to create hybrid (gas and electric) cars. But companies like Honda and Toyota have brought the cars to the market even before the Big Three produced any. The Export-Import Bank gives about $10 billion in loans and loan guarantees to corporations every year to finance their foreign projects, for example, Enron was one of their biggest clients. The Agriculture Department spends about $109 million to promote the products of companies like Sunkist, the Watermelon Promotion Board and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. There would also be a 6% increase in spending on highways, for example the Bud Shuster Highway in Pennsylvania. .
Cut the Tax Cuts.
The tax exemption for dividends was $364 billion, and only the top 1% of taxpayers would get most of the tax breaks. Only a few people can afford to put in $60,000 each year into the tax-sheltered accounts can afford the new tax-free savings account. President Bush also agreed to remove the 2001 income and estate tax cuts after 2010 (because they cost too much), and wants to extend the cuts to $231 billion a year.
Trains, Cars and Electricity.
The power marketing administrations were created to bring cheap electricity to the rural areas, and the agencies crowd out the private companies, but their total gross budget would rise 5%.
