Republican Lawmakers Remain Divided Over 2005 Budget

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

30 April 2004

Disagreement between Republican lawmakers over tax cuts is continuing to frustrate the progress of President Bush’s 2005 budget proposals.

Opinion remains divided between those who consider the extension of tax cuts an essential component of the Bush administration’s economic goals aimed at fuelling investment and consumer spending, and other more fiscally conscious GOP members, who fear the consequences of a growing budget deficit, estimated to be in the region of $477 billion this year.

House Majority Leader Tom Delay emerged from a private meeting between House and Senate leaders on Wednesday to declare: “We don’t have a deal yet.”

The two chambers of Congress have approved two different versions of the budget. In March, the Senate voted in support of a $2.66 trillion budget that requires any tax cuts to be paid for by savings in other areas.

The $2.4 trillion House version, meanwhile, does not place any limits on tax cuts.

Senate aides revealed on Wednesday that the upper chamber was prepared to accept a compromise plan that restricted tax measures for three years and exempted three tax cuts expected to pass Congress this year. However, the offer was rejected by the House.

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