Bush hails Black History Month

Democrats accuse Bush of raiding retirement benefits in budget plan

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush touched on the budget, the war on terrorism and his education bill in his weekly radio address Saturday, three issues he linked in a brief discourse on the lessons of Black History Month. The Democrats' radio address accused Bush of endangering retirement benefits.

"Nobody can understand this country without understanding the African-American experience," the president said. "It began when America began. And throughout our history, the experience of black Americans has challenged every American to live up to the best ideas of our country."

Bush highlighted education in his remarks, pledging his administration's support of historically black colleges.

"Our historically black colleges and universities opened the door to knowledge, when other doors were barred," he said. "And today they offer exciting opportunities to young people to contribute to their country."

EXTRA INFORMATION In-Depth: Black History Month

The president called Black History Month "a time of learning for all of us" and stressed "the need to remember and celebrate all of our history."

"We have come far, and we have a way yet to go," he said, "but our goal is the same goal that (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) set for us: to be one people in fact as well as in name."

Democrats blast Bush budget

In the Democrats' weekly address on Saturday, Bush's budget proposal was likened to the Enron debacle, accusing Bush of raiding the Medicare and Social Security trust funds to pay for tax cuts and future expenses.

"This nation is about to be hit with a tidal wave of new retirees. In just six years, the baby boomers will begin to retire. The demands on Social Security and Medicare will be dramatically increased," warned Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota. "This is no time to divert Social Security and Medicare funds to other purposes."

Also, instead of paying off the national debt by 2008, the debt will be above $3 trillion, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee said.

"The president's 10-year budget plan takes every penny of the Medicare trust fund balance and most of Social Security's to fund other government expenses, leaving a massive IOU, and claiming surpluses when the only money left is in the Social Security trust funds. That's exactly how Enron got into trouble -- hiding its debts. The consequences were disastrous," the senator said.

Although the war in Afghanistan and recession have contributed to the nation's budget problems, Conrad said the Congressional Budget Office told his committee two weeks ago that the biggest return to deficit spending and rising debt is the tax cut Bush pushed through Congress last year.

Over the next decade, Bush proposes to use $2 trillion from both trust funds to pay for tax cuts and other expenses, Conrad said.

Last year, Democrats warned that Bush's plan to cut taxes, pay off debt, provide more money for defense and education and fund prescription drugs under Medicare did not add up, and would doom the United States to years of deficit spending, while reducing the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, Conrad said.

The president's budget plan for the fiscal year that starts October 1 fails to fully fund the bipartisan education bill Bush signed into law a month ago, fails to include prescription drugs under Medicare, and cuts highway funding by $9 billion, Conrad said.