Early this morning, voting primarily along party lines, the U.S. House of Representatives approved President Bush's budget plan that would provide large tax cuts. It is a $2.2 trillion budget for fiscal year 2004 and includes $726 billion in tax cuts.

The Republican majority in the House approved the budget plan by a vote of 215-212.

The Senate intends to vote on a completely different version of the budget measure later today. A group of moderates who want to limit the tax cut to about half of what the president wants seemed to lack the votes to prevail because they could not bring around a small group of senators who refuse to vote for any tax cut at all. If it fails, then the full tax cuts will be part of the Senate plan.

Neither the House nor the Senate resolution allocates funds to meet the cost of the war against Iraq or its aftermath. But there is no doubt that at least this year, Congress will approve spending as much money as the president asks for in a supplemental which the Administration is expected to send to Capitol Hill as early as next week.