On April 28 Congress passed the $2.6 trillion budget resolution. The non-binding agreement between the House and Senate calls for $70 billion in tax cuts protected under reconciliation and $35 in cuts to mandatory programs. While most Republicans note that these strides will begin work towards reducing the deficit, Democrats have cited that the cuts to mandatory programs would significantly cut funding to safety-net programs that many low- moderate-income people rely upon, and that the tax cuts would raise the deficit significantly. Last friday House Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) proposed more extreme cuts, and called for the House to make a "far bolder statement" in terms of spending cuts and tax reductions. He said that the spending cut numbers in the budget should be viewed as minimums and not maximums, while the amount set aside for tax cuts (most of which will go to the wealthy) should be viewed as a maximums and not minimums. The final budet resolution included more in tax cuts and less in mandatory savings than the House had originally passed in their resolution. The tax cut reconciliation bill is slated to be completed in September.

In President Bush's news conference last night on energy and Social Security reform, he stated, "I know some Americans have reservations about investing in the stock market, so I propose that one investment option consist entirely of treasury bonds, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government." (the entire transcript can be read here. This statement is interesting given the fact that on his "60 day, 60 city tour" Bush spent much of his time discussing how the treasury bonds in the trust fund are little more than IOUs which the American people expect will be paid back by the government someday. He has been discrediting the trust fund as nothing more than IOUs, just last week he said, "You see, a lot of people in America think there's a trust, in this sense -- that we take your money through payroll taxes and then we hold it for you, and then when you retire, we give it back to you. But that's not the way it works. There is no "trust fund," just IOUs that I saw firsthand, that future generations will pay -- will pay for either in higher taxes, or reduced benefits, or cuts to other critical government programs." He has been criss-crossing the country saying this, yet last night said the trust fund has the full faith and credit of the United States Government. Bush spent much of his press conference discussing the need for responsible reforms to Social Security; reforms that he says won't cut benefits for people and that will keep retirees receiving benefits out of poverty. Yet in the same breath he says he believes the best way to do this is to have workers divert a percentage of their payroll taxes into a personal account. Hundreds of economists, policy analysts, and Social Security experts have come out over the last few months and said that personal accounts will add a level of risk to the benefits being paid to recipients. Bush is still trying to market a bad plan to the American people, yet disguising it as one that is both necessary and progressive. Private accounts are neither necessary nor progressive, and luckily, polls have shown that more and more Americans are believing this to be true.

Tonight at 8:30 PM (EST) the President will hold his first publicly broadcasted evening news conference since the start of his second term. At the news conference he will discuss plans for overhauling Social Security, and he will also discuss the high gas prices which have been plaguing the nation in recent months. Press Secretary Scott McLellan has noted that Bush will speak more specifically about his plans for Social Security reform than he has been. The President has been criticized by many for not speaking specifically enough regarding his exact plans for reform. During the conference Bush is also expected to urge Congress to pass his energy reform plan. High oil and gas prices are beginning to take a toll on the the level of national economic growth, as well as on Bush's approval ratings. Click here to read Sierra Club comments on his energy plan.

An article on the OMB's "Sunset Commission" appeared in the last issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Gary Bass and Bob Shull are quoted in the article discussing the Program Assessment Rating Tool and Bush's Sunset Commission. Check out the article: Bush's Most Radical Plan Yet The article has also been widely discussed on the blog "Daily Kos." To read the discussion on the article, click here.