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Show DIXIE 'Bush proposes $3.1 trillion budget WASHINGTON (MCT) President Bush's fiscal 2009 budget is more of the same big deficits, big tax cuts and big increases in spending on defense - and Democrats who run Congress don't like it. Bush proposed Monday a S3.1 trillion spending plan that would push the deficit near and perhaps beyond S413 billion logged m 2004, a plan the record that was quickly dismissed by even some Republicans as unrealistic. The deficit would grow partly because of the $145 billion economic stimulus agreement that Bush and House leaders agreed to push last month, a plan that includes rebates for most taxpayers this summer. The budget projects deficits of $410 billion this fiscal year and $407 billion next year - more than twice nobodys going to be taking a long, hard look at it." Bush insists that the budget can stall be balanced by 2012, even as he includes making permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, most of which are to expire in 2010. Most Democrats, notably the leading presidential candidates, oppose making the cuts permanent. The president also insists, as he has throughout his two terms, that government growth can be harnessed by curbing nondefense spending - even though domestic spending rose at the steepest rate since the 1960s during his first six years, when Republicans controlled Congress most of the time. He also conceded that "a balanced budget in 2012 will unless "entibe short-lived- " tlement" programs led by Social Security, Medicare ensuring our continued the $163 billion shortfall of last year. Among the biggest spending increases would be a 7 percent boost for Pentagon spending and an 11 percent increase for homeland security, with big increases for border security. Not included is full funding for the war on terror; Bush would allot $70 billion for 2009 but leaves spending targets for future years' up to future presidents and Congresses. With Democrats in control of Congress and elections nine months away, the budget's chief value may be political - Republicans now have a thick new book full of charts and numbers explaining why tax and spending cuts will boost the prosperity." But Democrats said the budget shows Republicans as Bush are proposes to cut a number of popular domestic spending programs, notably in education. "Today's budget bears all the hallmarks of the Bush legacy - it leads to more deficits, more debt, more tax cuts, more cutbacks in critical services, said House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, cold-hearte- d Even Sen. Judd Gregg, the Senate Budget Committee's top Republican, conceded that Democrats would pay little attention to Bush's ideas. "Let's face it," Gregg told The Associated Press. "This budget is done with the understanding that economy. Bush said in his budget message that "two key principles" guided him - "keeping America safe and and Medicaid are changed but he offered no comprehensive way to address them making tax relief permanent, federal revenues as a share of the economy average 18.5 percent over the next five years, above the historical average," the budget document states. This demonstrates that Americans are not under-taxeRather, their government needs to control "In d spending." He would make up for much of the revenue lost to tax cuts through spending cuts, largely involving health care. He would cut about $196 billion from health care for the poor and retirees over the next five years, largely by freezing Medicare and Medicaid payments to health-car- e providers for the next three years and limiting the amount hospitals for certain patients. Congress rejected ma such cuts last year, and it, unlikely to accept them an election year. The Bush plan also savings by freezing most domestic spending, including education, even though the White House has taken fire from lawmakers of both parties for not sufficiently binding hi No Child Left Behind Tl Coll took thei the In Frid on 1 Unn vine tool Cru ther boa' fash reforms. He also wants to eliim 47 different education p A grams, part of a plan to forn 151 federal prograr cut juni in all Bush and other recent presidents have ScN ed o pushed such wholesale pr but tvr eigt trims before, gram C0U cally Congress rejects . bats the-- (c) 2008, McClatchy-Tribun-e thei seas Information Services. Se Joni 5.8 million could lose Actor Wesley Snipes guilty of misdemeanor tax charges severe recession in jobs WASHINGTON (MCT) Up to 5.8 million additional workers m the United States could join the ranks of the unemployed by 2011 if the economy were to fall into a severe recession, accordmg to a report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The report comes on the heels of the government's news on Friday that U.S. employers are already cutting back on hiring. January marks the first monthly contraction in nonfarm payrolls in four years - data that may be the smoking gun showing that the economy has entered a reces- -- sion. Lawmakers are working on a stimulus plan, which could be passed in coming weeks, that they hope will boost the economy and stave off recession. A recession technically occurs if the economy contracts for two consecutive quarters: The U.S. economy grew at a weak 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary data. In the case of a mild to moderate recession, spanning six to nine months, CEPR projects an additional 3.2 million unemployed by 2010. At the end of last year, there were about 7 million unemployed. CEPR, which applied trends from recent recessions to create a forecast for a 2008 recession, also argued that the labor market would still be in bad shape even after a formal recession ends. "The financial markets are basically sending an enormous storm over the economy," said "It raises your anxiety and makes you want your John Schmitt, a senior economist with CEPR and coauthor of the report. In a severe recession, which would last about two years, a typical family's inflation-adjuste- d income would fall almost $3,750 per year by 2011, according to the report, while the number of Americans living in poverty would grow by 10.4 million. In a mild to moderate recession, a family's income could fall $2,000 per year by 2010, and another 4.7 million would be in poverty, according to the report. There's evidence that is America's middle-clas- s already at risk. New research from think tank Demos and the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University found that only 13 percent of middle-clas- s families would have enough assets to cover most of their essential living expenses for nine months if they lost their income source. Schmitt said there should be more focus on the ill effects of a recession. The CEPR report found that at least 4 million additional people would be without health insurance coverage in a mild to moderate recession. Some workers who lose their job may still be covered by a spouse's plan. Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation in New York that sup- ports independent research on health-car- issues, said recessions focus consumers more on health care. T1 rigb take Cali Unh late fielc M - T1 aga swells. beh. Jess seve and peo- ft ple are broke and they are just not able to pay their bills. A lot of (providers), particularly e in communities, operate pretty close to the edge. If they had to cut back on services, it would mean a lot more people going without care." Schmitt noted that some effects from a recession are hard to quantify, and economic hardships spill over into other social concerns, such as family happiness. Downturns in the economy can harm psychological health, said Jason Furman, a senior fellow Actor Wesley Snipes emerges Jubilant from the U.S. Courthouse In Ocala, Fla., on Friday. A federal found him guilty of three misdemeanor charges of not filing tax returns, but not guilty of fraud, con, spiracy and three other counts of not filing a return. A He said Snipes intends to OCALA, Fla. (MCT) the results. An IRS fool ca The it. the trial of said pay spokesman . n actor Wesley Snipes ended in a split verdict Friday. federal jury found him guilty of three misdemeanor charges of not filing tax returns, but not guilty of fraud, conspiracy and three other counts of not filing a return. He faces up to three years in federal prison and will have to pay back taxes, penalties and interA est on $38 million he at the Brookings earned from movies and investments from 1999 through 2004. No sentencing date was set. Defense lawyer Robert Barnes estimated that the Orlando, star of such films as the "Blade" vampire series and "Passenger 57" owes about $8 million in taxes. Institution. "Being unemployed is not something that people want and it's not something that makes people happy," he said. Fla.-bor- MarketWatch.com Inc. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribun- day Joni Brit nice Cru rnni (c) 2008, e RBI, run: While experts say health care tends to be a more resilient industry, a recession could harm nonprofit service providers. "Their bad debts go up," Davis said. "More people are uninsured, more with two politician to do something," she said. She added that states experience a "double whammy" during recessions when it comes to health care - states collect less tax revenue as consumers pull back spending and home values decline, even as the ranks of those relying on gov- ernment support gair goir e Information Sevices. n The actor's accountant had demonstrated the gra a sc need to pay taxes, defense lawyer Robert gan able Bernhoft said the ve- goe rdicts vindicated the S actor's contention that Dal did not conspire again! the or defraud the gover- on whil-- ' and Douglas Rosile, 59, anti-taguru Eddie Ray Kahn, 64, were found guilty of fraud and conspiracy and could be sentenced to 10 years in prison. Snipes consulted the two on tax matters. Coming on the third day of deliberations, the x verdicts ended one of the tax prosecutions in the past decade. Prosecutors had labeled Snipes a rich tax protester who believed he was above the law, while defense lawyers accused the Internal Revenue Service of singling out the actor because of his most-publicize- d celebrity. Both the IRS and Snipes found victory in r 1 nment. Snipes could have faced up to 16 years prison if convicted of charges against him he left the courthouse await sentencing, he asked how he planned' spend the weekend. The actor bowed his head and said he woul: in a. A saic thei doe the M nes Tay her son teai She "commune with the of s Lord. abo (c) 2008, The Orlande vat Sentinel (Fla.). 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