|
|
|
Email this citationCIAO DATE: 10/05
Articulating a Policy Framework for Long-Term Federal Entitlement Reform
James C. Capretta
July 2005
Introduction
President Bush's top first-term objectives—in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks—were waging and winning the global war on terror, significantly enhancing our homeland security systems, and strengthening economic growth.1 With sluggish economic growth following the 2001 recession persisting in 2002 and 2003—due, in part, to the revelation of several corporate governance scandals and the aftermath of technology stock "bubble burst"—the President placed a high premium on tax relief proposals aimed at accelerating the pace of short and long-term economic growth. In this context, it is not at all surprising that large federal budget deficits emerged.
In the aftermath of the 2004 U.S. elections, however, reducing the federal budget deficit in the coming years has become a major issue for the President and Congress.
President Bush has pledged to cut the deficit in half over the period 2004 to 2009 as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and the President's 2006 budget request to Congress includes significant restraint in annual appropriations for non-defense and non-homeland security domestic programs, as well as selected reforms in certain mandatory spending programs, including agriculture price supports, student loans subsidies, and Medicaid.
