Federal Spending Growth Between 1999 and 2003 Expected To Be Largest Since 1960s

Federal spending on government programs is expected to grow 22% in inflation adjusted dollars between 1999 and 2003, the largest increase since the United States simultaneously funded the Vietnam War and the domestic war on poverty in the 1960s, according to a Washington Post budget analysis. Economists say that while in the short term the higher spending -- the result of expenditures at the beginning of President Bush's term as well as at the end of the Clinton administration -- may dampen the effects of the recession, over time it may be a "drag on the economy," limiting lawmakers' "maneuvering room" 10 years from now, when they must find a way to "fund the baby boomers' health care and retirement needs." And the 2003 budget's total spending may still grow as election-year pressure grows to add measures such as a Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Post reports. But White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mitchell Daniels said he believed that much of the current spending would be "one-time expenses" such as creating a stockpile of vaccines to protect against a possible bioterror attack. Daniels said, "[Increased spending] is an important phenomenon that needs to be closely watched," adding, "We cannot make the 'guns and butter' mistake" of the 1960s, when military and domestic spending both increased (Kessler, Washington Post, 4/15).