Congressional Democrats today promoted their plan for smaller tax cuts and bigger debt payment, saying US President Mr George W. Bush's 1.6 trillion tax cut proposal will put the nation's finances at risk when baby boomers retire.
In the Democrats' weekly radio address, Rep John Spratt of South Carolina said Mr Bush's plan devotes too much of the projected surplus to offsetting tax cuts and not enough to shoring up Social Security and Medicare and paying the nation's 3.2 trillion publicly held debt.
"The president is calling for tax cuts twice as large as we proposed. His cuts would have an impact on the surplus of more than 2 trillion and leave only a fraction for other needs," said Mr Spratt, who is senior House Budget Committee Democrat.
He said Mr Bush's plan could bring back deficits if the surplus falls short of the 10-year 5.6 trillion forecast, leaves little room for priorities such as education and defense, and does not help prepare Social Security and Medicare when baby boomers begin to reach retirement age in 10 years.
The Democrats want to use most of the projected 3.1 trillion in projected surpluses in Social Security and Medicare to pay off national debt to help prepare the nation economically for retiring baby boomers, Mr Spratt said.
He said Democrats want to use one-third of the remaining 2.2 trillion surplus for tax cuts, another third for priorities such as education and prescription drug benefits under Medicare, and another third to be held in reserve to implement measures keep Social Security and Medicare solvent in the long-term.
The committee approved the centerpiece of the president's tax cuts - reductions in income tax rates that will lower federal revenue by about 958 billion over 10 years - and the full House is expected to consider the measure next week.