In their weekly radio speech, Democrats have sharply criticized President Bush's budget plan, accusing him of raiding the nation's social security retirement funds to finance another round of tax cuts.

Senator Kent Conrad (of North Dakota) said the president's budget repeats the mistakes made by the failed Enron corporation -- in his words -- "understating our debt and endangering retirement benefits." Senator Conrad said the number of retirees in the United States is growing as baby-boomers begin to reach retirement age. And he said this is no time to divert Social Security retirement money and Medicare health insurance funds to other purposes.

Republicans say the recession and the war in Afghanistan have made budget deficits inevitable after four years of surpluses.

President Bush has come under fire from Democrats, including a number of Black members of Congress, for proposing cuts in job-training and other domestic programs in his budget for 2003. The president's 10-year budget plan includes tax cuts and the biggest increase in defense spending in two decades.

(AP, Reuters)

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