BUSH BUDGET BUMMER BEYOND BELIEF

[The One and Only...]

The budget isn't very unrealistic. The CBO has similar projections, and they had to take into account rather unpractical things by law. For example, they had to assume that the tax cuts will expire, which they won't. Consequently, they probably assumed a little less economic growth (something which the President's budget heavily relies on). They also had to assume that military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan will continue at it's present rate all throughout the budget's length, which the President's budget does not.

To be more specific about the military spending in Iraq in Afghanistan, there were no numbers included in the President's budget for reconstruction. However, it was hinted that major spending on recontruction will not continue, will stop around 2005, and that whatever was spent there would not be so large as to drastically effect long term budget projections.