[Bush aides said the appropriation request would be only a small fraction of the cost of recovery and reconstruction to deal with the hurricane, which cut a swath of damage across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.] The $10.5 billion is, indeed, a stopgap measure, ... We do not have a good sense . . . of how much the recovery from this disaster is likely, ultimately, to cost. |
a need for additional supplemental spending. |
For the federal government to step in after the fact, ... would be to undermine the effectiveness of the system. |
Here we are at a Washington dinner hall, everybody dressed in formal attire, lots of politicians and political appointees, and not a single one of the politicians and political appointees is getting an award. It's going to the people who really deserve it. |
Right now we see ourselves on a continuing declining path in the deficit out over the next several years toward the 2009 goal that the President talked about, ... This kind of spending adds a challenge to us in meeting those goals, but I don't think it's a long-term challenge. I think the kind of spending we're talking about here is something that will be a concern in the next year or two, and not long run for the economy. |
She's as bright and capable as anybody in her generation. |
The $10.5 billion is, indeed, a stopgap measure. We do not have a good sense . . . of how much the recovery from this disaster is likely, ultimately, to cost. |
The $10.5 billion is, indeed, a stopgap measure. We do not have a good sense . . . of how much the recovery from this disaster is likely, ultimately, to cost. |
The federal budget picture is ... is steadily declining out over the next five years ... toward the President's goal of cutting the deficit in half, ... I feel confident that we will remain on that path as long as we have continued good economic growth. |
The money we are asking for today is to support all of the relief efforts for the next few weeks, during which time we can make that assessment and come back with a more informed request to Congress. |
The U.S. budget deficit is falling, and it's falling fast, |
There's no doubt that the effect of the tax cuts . . . have been an enormous factor in producing the additional income that has found its way now into the federal treasury, |
We must also redouble our efforts to reduce unnecessary spending elsewhere in the budget to help offset recovery costs and keep us on track of meeting the president's gal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009, |
While I applaud the sentiment, I think it's not likely to be practically realistic to plan to try to offset in other places of the budget the large emergency relief that's needed in this case, |
While the Administration will continue to seek entitlement reforms and the elimination of additional discretionary spending ... we recognize that this is an important first step in the congressional process. |