WASHINGTON, May 6 (UPI) -- Senior administration officials Wednesday outlined $17 billion in federal spending they say was cut out to create U.S. President Barack Obama's 2010 budget.
The officials, speaking on background in advance of the $3.55 trillion budget proposal's release Thursday, said fiscal discipline is a pillar of the economic foundation Obama seeks to build even as the administration deals with the recession and a projected deficit of at least $1.3 trillion.
One senior official said the budget document is "only a step in the process" that will involve Congress and continue throughout the year as they "continue to search for additional savings and efficiencies."
"With that said, the volume that we're releasing includes 121 reductions, terminations, or other savings," he said. "In total they would save nearly $17 billion in 2010 alone, and more thereafter."
About half of the money is in military spending and about half in non-defense spending, the official said.
Among the items proposed for elimination, is a long-range radio navigation system made obsolete by the prevalence of global positioning system technology. That would save $35 million a year.
The administration also proposes eliminating $142 million paid to states through an abandoned mine lands program even after the cleanups are completed.
The Education Department proposed eliminating a full-time representative in Paris at an annual savings of $632,000.
Also slated for elimination is the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, which spends its $1 million annual allocation on overhead.
The administration suggests cutting the Even Start early-education program, saying evidence suggests it's not a good use of $66 million a year.
Instead, the administration wants to invest in Early Head Start and Head Start, the official said.
"Clearly there are larger savings that are possible in healthcare reform, for example." the lead senior official said. "The $17 billion does not include the very significant savings that we are putting forward, for example, in Medicare Advantage, where we're proposing more than $175 billion over 10 years in savings from reducing subsidies to -- that are excessive for the private plans that operate under Medicare.
