2003 Budget Completes Big Jump in Spending

By Glenn Kessler- Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, April 15, 2002; Page A01

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President Bush has regularly warned against the perils of federal spending, declaring last year that "excessive federal spending threatens economic vitality." Although administration officials vow to control spending once the current emergency has passed, many experts believe that will be difficult, if not impossible. Last year's tax cut and the recent recession may result in the first back-to-back years of falling revenue since the late 1950s.

Now, the military is slated to get the biggest increase in two decades, matching the previous Bush administration's budget when adjusted for inflation. Homeland security needs dominate the nonmilitary budget in 2003, but nonmilitary spending had already risen dramatically in recent years as the nation briefly enjoyed budget surpluses.

Measured another way, federal spending, minus interest costs on the debt, will have grown by nearly 2 percentage points of the overall U.S. economy from 1999 to 2003 -- from 16.6 percent to 18.5 percent.

The total for the 2003 budget likely will go higher as pressure builds in Congress to add to the administration's budget requests in this election year and to enact new benefits such as a prescription drug plan for Medicare recipients. The calculations also do not include the effect of the administration's recent $27 billion supplemental spending request for fiscal 2002.

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