Democrats Slam Budget Director Over U.S. Deficit

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

Democratic lawmakers told budget director Joshua Bolten on Wednesday they were dismayed over the lack of White House plans to combat deficits that are now projected to hit $455 billion this year.

The top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, South Carolina Rep. John Spratt, told Bolten that not only did the Bush administration have "no plan, no process" to reduce the deficit but he believed the numbers would get much worse.

"If we're skeptical of your projections, it's because we've been burned before," Spratt told Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat, added he was taken aback by the administration's "lackadaisical" approach to billions of dollars being added to the nation's debt. Emanuel served in the Clinton administration when the budget returned to surplus. ---

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool