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Most of the Growth Would Go for Military and Homeland Security;
Increases Planned for Domestic Appropriations Are Small

by Richard Kogan

• Despite the Administration’s sharp criticism of the planned congressional appropriations levels, the overwhelming bulk of the $53.1 billion increase in appropriations that Congress plans for 2008 — 81 percent of it — consists of increases the Administration itself has requested in military and homeland security programs.
  
  
• The main dispute between the Administration and Congress is over a $21 billion difference in domestic appropriations.
  
  
• The Administration proposes to cut these programs $16 billion below the 2007 levels (after adjusting for inflation) and threatens to veto bills that do not contain these cuts. Congress would reject these cuts and instead provide a modest increase for these programs of $5 billion, or 1.4 percent. The main dispute between Congress and the Administration is thus whether to cut programs funded in domestic appropriations bills, not whether to make large increases in them.
  
  
• Under the funding levels that Congress plans, domestic discretionary programs would grow more slowly than revenues, and thus would not create pressure for tax increases.

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