President Bush on Monday unveiled his $3.1 trillion budget proposal and touted its focus on boosting defense funding while keeping discretionary spending down.

“Our budget protects America and encourages economic growth,” Bush said of the spending blueprint following a meeting with his Cabinet.

The White House predicts that the spending blueprint would balance the budget by 2012. For the first time, the document was submitted electronically, a measure that Bush said saves paper and money.

Upon arrival, the budget received mixed reviews on Capitol Hill.

“In the face of a looming recession, the president’s budget does nothing to strengthen our economy and fails to respond to the real problems facing middle-class families,” stated Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who also accused the White House of “hiding the costs of the war in Iraq while increasing our skyrocketing debt.”

Reid especially targeted proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, which he argues “will only compound the problems facing seniors and millions of other Americans struggling amid ever-rising healthcare costs.”

He later said on the Senate floor that Democrats would “not be held hostage” to Bush’s hostage request this year. The Democratic leader added that he would be open to passing a continuing resolution at the end of the year if the White House blocks what Senate Democrats want to do. Democrats feel that they can negotiate out of a position of strength this year because they anticipate that either Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) or Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) will occupy the White House next year.

Asked about Democratic criticism of the spending blueprint, Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle told reporters that he would be “a little concerned if I got praise from Senator Reid on the budget.

“I’m not surprised at all that someone wants to score a couple of partisan point on a day like this,” Nussle stated. “But when everything is said and done, both the appropriators, the leadership, the Congress, tends to cue off of the budget that we’ve presented. And I think this is a good one that’s worthy of his consideration.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) praised the budget as an “important starting point” for the discussion on how to reform entitlement programs.

Boehner said Democrats should offer their own budget plan and not just blast Bush’s.

“Instead of criticizing the president’s budget, congressional Democrats would be well-served to join the president and Republicans in funding our nation’s priorities while protecting middle-class families and small businesses from a massive tax hike in 2010,” Boehner said.