WASHINGTON-The government has enough money to bolster defense and education without using Social Security funds, even though projected federal surpluses have shrunk in the last month, President Bush’s budget chief told Congress Wednesday.
But in his first appearance before lawmakers since official surplus forecasts plummeted in August, budget director Mitchell Daniels heard Democrats assert that the budget crunch has left little for the spending increases that both sides want.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., emerged from a private meeting with Bush on Tuesday saying that the president had reiterated his promise to not touch Social Security money. Many economists say the government could make money in the early period of a capital-gains tax cut. Republicans say it is a moneymaker because it prompts property sales that would not have occurred otherwise.
