EDITORIAL
Reckless U.S. budget is our biggest danger

It no longer is farfetched to argue that the greatest threat to America is not in Iraq or Afghanistan but in Washington, given the new federal budget released this week.

It's hard to imagine a more dishonest document, given that it fails to include the cost of our continued military and reconstruction effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, and leaves out the cost of announced initiatives like Social Security privatization and space travel to Mars.

Meanwhile, it does include on the revenue side surplus Social Security payments, which are supposed to be reserved to pay benefits if needed.

And while the White House would have you believe the deficits are caused by excessive pork-barrel spending by Congress, the main problem by far is federal tax revenues, which fell from 20.9 percent of GDP in fiscal 2000 to 15.7 percent this year, the lowest share since 1950.

In other words, the White House says the problem is spending on poor people, through entitlements like welfare and Medicaid, when the real problem is huge tax cuts for rich people and lax tax collection from corporations.

But even taken at face value, this budget is alarming, with its projected $521 billion deficit for fiscal 2004. The national debt has just passed $7 trillion and is on course to reach $5 trillion more in the next 10 years. Last year's debt service cost 18 percent of federal revenue.

What a legacy for our children and grandchildren!

The International Monetary Fund warns that the U.S. budget and trade deficits are a threat to the global economy.

A new study from the Brookings Institution, "Restoring Fiscal Sanity," estimates that by 2014, the average family's income will be $1,800 lower because of slower economic growth caused by these budget deficits.

Wouldn't you honestly feel more comfortable with a budget like this one:

"My budget has funded a responsible increase in our ongoing operations. It has funded our nation's important priorities. It has protected Social Security and Medicare. And our surpluses are big enough that there is still money left over.

"Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt. I listened, and I agree. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to act now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2 trillion in debt during the next 10 years. At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to retire. That is more debt, repaid more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history."

Sounds like one of the hungry hopefuls vying for the Democratic nomination?

Nope, it's what George Bush told Congress on Feb. 27, 2001.