Negotiations between the House and Senate on the FY 2002 supplemental spending bill (H.R. 4775) broke down after the White House threatened to veto the bill if spending was much more than the $28.8 billion requested by the President and consisted primarily of spending for defense and national security and aid to New York City.

OMB Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy group that seeks to promote government accountability and citizen participation, strongly supports the Fair Taxes for All Coalition in its opposition to the Bush tax cut proposal. The Bush tax cut plan is inequitable and too expensive. It will primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans and the cost will unwisely use up the budget surplus without properly investing in our future. In fact, the Bush tax plan is likely to cause actual cuts in important government services and activities that benefit us all.

On June 28, after much public and bipartisan hand-wringing, the President quietly signed a $450 billion increase to the debt limit, and thereby allowed the federal government to continue to sell Treasury bonds to help finance its current spending needs. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill had warned that without this increase, the U.S. would have to default on its debts for the first time in its history.