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Republicans Wednesday pointed to new deficit projections as evidence that their economic policies are working, while Democrats ridiculed the GOP for applauding that the federal government would be $205 billion in the red this year. “Despite the unprecedented challenges we face, the United States is going to be back in the black,” President Bush said of the new projections. He has set a goal of returning to a surplus by 2012 and said the new figures show that his administration is on track to meet that target. “The policies of low taxes and spending restraint have produced a clear and measurable record of success,” Bush said. “You can’t argue with what I’m telling you.” The president then criticized Democrats for wanting to spend more and increase taxes. Congressional Republicans were quick to seize on the improving budget picture and tout the tax cuts they put in place in Bush’s first term as the reason for the turnaround. “It confirms our strong economy — fueled by Republican tax relief and pro-growth policies — is helping to balance the budget without raising taxes,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said. “Now is not the time to reverse course and adopt the Democrats’ tax-and-spend policies, which will increase the size of government, stunt economic growth, and unfairly strain America’s working families,” Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) added. Democrats called the statements political spin, noting that, when Bush took office, the budget projection foresaw a massive surplus this year. “It is a sad commentary on President Bush’s fiscal record that he is crowing that the deficit will be ‘only’ $205 billion in the current fiscal year,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said. “Trying to pretend that heaping hundreds of billions of dollars of additional debt on our children is good news is the kind of Alice-in-Wonderland talk that voters soundly rejected last November.” |
