President Bush's annual budget request that will be released on Monday is likely to be so fiscally irresponsible that folks in Washington are already bracing themselves for the tidal wave of red ink.

Despite all the President's rhetoric focusing on the importance of cutting spending and reducing the size of the government, since he took office in 2001 federal discretionary spending has increased by about 25%, from $634 billion to an expected $780 billion this year. It looks like President Bush has learned to spend like a Democrat!

So far this year, the President has only paid lip service to one of the biggest political challenges before him. The current national strategy for reducing our massive federal deficit is to simplistically assume that America can grow itself out of our budgetary woes. However, history teaches us that the only recipe for getting our fiscal house in order is to combine aggressive cuts in wasteful spending with stabilization of federal revenue.

Since he has been in office, the President has proposed many excellent cuts and spending reductions to wasteful programs in his budget, but hasn't shown the courage to bring them to fruition. In the past two years, the President has requested many common sense cuts to billions in politically popular spending programs like highway funding and water projects, knowing full well that Congress would fight tooth and nail to restore these funds, and he's yet to be presented with a bloated appropriations bill that he was willing to veto.

The 2004 budget request will call for increasing federal discretionary spending by 4%. But, unless the President starts vetoing spending bills that don't toe that line, Congress is more likely to treat this 4% figure as a floor than as a ceiling. The President will also announce next week a $400 billion defense budget for fiscal year 2004. This is almost a five percent increase in spending and does not include any of the major defense cuts that have been promised.

Under the cloud of growing federal deficits, President Bush is burning the budget candle at both ends. He has announced plans for 20 new federal spending initiatives and a $674 billion “economically-stimulating” tax cut. He's proposed billions in funding for a litany of programs that sound as though they can provide a massive public benefit: mentors for kids of prison inmates, AIDS prevention in Africa, pollution-free vehicles, prescription drugs for seniors, just to name a few. But, no indication has been given as to how the administration plans to pay for these new programs and tax cuts in an era of staggering budget deficits.

The Congressional Budget Office projected a $200 billion deficit in 2003 and the Office of Management and Budget released their projection of a $300 billion deficit. Some private economists are forecasting that this year these figures could skyrocket to more than $400 billion. Since the President took office, budget surplus figures have deteriorated by more than $5.6 trillion.

These projections don't even take into consideration the $80 billion or more that our nation will likely spend this year to pay for the war in Iraq. Nor do they include the new tax cut, prescription drug benefit, or any of the other bacon the big spenders in Washington want. Contrary to the administration, large, persistent deficits do matter. Bigger debt has a corrosive impact on the economy's ability to grow by driving up interest rates and crowding out private investment.

Unless the President comes up with a clear plan to confront this fiscal crisis, it's guaranteed to be passed on to future Congresses, future Presidents, and future generations of American taxpayers. Talking a good game on fiscal responsibility isn't enough, now it's time for President Bush to step up to the plate and hit a homerun for taxpayers.