Secretary of the Treasury John Snow sent a letter to Congress Monday saying he has taken "all prudent and legal actions” to stay under the $8.184 trillion debt limit and again strongly urged passage of an increase “immediately." Congress, which must act or else they could default on payments to bond holders or fail to make other scheduled government payments, will most likely pass a debt limit increase. This will mark the fourth time the debt limit has needed to be increased under President Bush. If this new hike is approved, the limit will have jumped by $3 trillion since he took office.

The Congressional Budget Office has completed a preliminary analysis of the President's FY07 Budget.

• Analysis
• Supplemental Data

The report found that the President's proposal will:

• Spend about $925 billion on discretionary programs in FY07;
• Add $35 billion to the CBO's current deficit projections, putting the deficit projection at $371 billion;
• Reduce revenues by nearly $9 billion for FY07;
• Reduce revenues by $282 billion from 2007-2011 if some of the President's expiring 2001 and 2003 tax provisions are extended;

The Treasury Department sent a report to Congress in December, reporting the FY05 federal deficit on an accrual basis as being $760 billion, a far higher number than $319 billion, which is what is generally accepted as the deficit level for FY05. The $319 billion number uses the government's accepted barometer of cash outlays versus revenues, while the $760 billion number takes into account accrued benefits owed to veterans and federal employees. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, said:

The other day Vice President Cheney said before a group of conservatives: "The evidence is in, it's time for everyone to admit that sensible tax cuts increase economic growth, and add to the federal treasury."