Bush plans $2.4 trillion budget

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President Bush yesterday proposed a $2.4 trillion budget for next year that holds most discretionary spending to a half-percent increase and terminates 65 federal programs in an effort to trim the federal deficit from $521 billion to $364 billion.

For the 2005 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, spending on defense would rise 7 percent and the homeland security budget would increase by 10 percent, but all other discretionary spending would be held to the half-percent increase.

The overall budget, with massive entitlement spending such as Medicare and Social Security included, would rise by 3.5 percent -- about three times as fast as the projected rate of inflation.

Homeland defense would be one of the big budget winners for the fiscal year. Overall spending is set to rise 14 percent to $47.4 billion, which includes an 11 percent increase in FBI funding for counterterrorism, a 9 percent increase for the Coast Guard, more money to protect the nation's food supply and a large increase to battle biological threats.

The Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services program would be one of the Bush budget's big losers, dropping from $481.9 million in funding in 2004 to $97 million in fiscal 2005. The Clinton-era program never achieved success, administration officials said.

The Agriculture Department and the Environmental Protection Agency also were targeted for the biggest reductions in discretionary spending.

Sixty-three other programs would receive reduced funding under the Bush proposal. In addition, 65 government programs -- 38 of them education-related, including those focused on alcohol abuse, the arts, dropout prevention, school counselors and school leadership -- would be terminated for a savings of $4.9 billion.

"The president's request focuses on the most urgent needs of our country: protecting our homeland, winning the war on terror, and maintaining economic and job growth," said House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Nussle, Iowa Republican.