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President George W Bush asked for federal spending cuts in Medicare, education, environmental programs, NOAA, Department of the Interior, agriculture, and transportation funding for fiscal year 2007. The White House will submit spending increases for key military advancement initiatives in Iraq and for Afghanistan, according to a Pentagon leaked memo.
During the week ahead President George W Bush will seek $129 billion in additional financing for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new spending request covers expenses for calendar year 2006. The additional request is the third interim request for dollars following the United States' invasion of Iraq in March 2003, which is not included in fiscal budget requests.
In addition to military maintenance costs, President Bush will request additional money to finance long-term operations in the Middle East; figures of which cover contractor labor and Halliburton-subsidiary KBR Inc.'s maintenance expenses. Those figures have not yet been disclosed, however Halliburton reported $2 billion in profits for fiscal year 2005 -- a triple recovery from its more than $1 billion reported loss for 2004.
President Bush plans to propose a 5 percent across the board increase for defense spending for the 2007 fiscal year. The White House plans to submit a $439.3 billion spending bill.
For White House known expenses, $84 billion is earmarked for weapons programs, representing an 8 percent increase from fiscal year 2006. President Bush has ordered new fighter jets, Navy ships, helicopters, and unmanned aircraft.
The Army will get $5 billion extra for fiscal year 2006 for weapons spending. The White House earmarked $16.8 billion for 2007 for the Army.
The House of Representatives passed student loan cuts of $13 billion in the week ahead of President Bush's increased military spending bills. Proponents of the bill say cuts hold lenders responsible for student loans and end high yields on returns. Proponents of the bill say the cuts will in no way prohibit students from seeking loans. The provisions reduce the amount of award or freeze the amounts at 2003 levels.
Halliburton holds exclusive military contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Halliburton released its fiscal results for 2005, showing profits rose up from a loss of $1.1 billion in 2004 to net profit of $2.4 billion in 2005. Halliburton's KBR revenue for fourth quarter of 2005 decreased 3 percent o $3 billion.
KBR has been awarded a contract by the United States Department of State to design and build a new embassy in Skopje, Macedonia. KBR was also awarded a contract announced by the Department of Homeland Security for indefinite delivery and quality control for emergency influx of immigration into the United States.
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