Kerry vow to slash $500bn deficit

Mr Kerry has ambitious plans but Republicans say he lacks credibility

Democrat presidential hopeful John Kerry has outlined plans to slash the $500bn US budget deficit by half within four years.

In a framework for cutting spending, Mr Kerry also accused President Bush of "economic mistakes" and "distortion".

He said Mr Bush's policies could lead to "fiscal cancer" resulting from "politics of deceit".

Mr Kerry outlined how he would run the finances of the US if he were to become president.

Republicans have criticised Mr Kerry for over-blowing his campaign promises, but the Democrat senator says the ballooning budget deficit is forcing him to refine some of his strategies.

In a speech at Georgetown University, Mr Kerry said he wanted more invested in affordable health care. He wants free tuition for students and he would rollback President Bush's tax cuts.

But he said some of his plans may have to be watered down, such as his planned proposal for universal pre-school education.

Reminiscences

Mr Kerry proposed a return to the budget "pay-as-you-go" rules of the 1990s that capped discretionary government spending and required increases in entitlement benefits or cuts in taxes to be offset by other program cuts or other tax increases.

These rules expired in 2002 and the US Congress is considering bringing them back.

Kerry's budget plan Roll back Bush tax cuts for the over $200k earners $653m 10-year health plan Cut govt admin costs by 5%

Better education will be paid for with cuts in jobs in Washington. Kerry wants to spend $200bn on a national education trust fund over the next decade.

His proposed cuts in government administration costs would mean losing 100,000 contractors, saving $90bn over 10 years.

Mr Bush's campaign team said Mr Kerry's pledge to create 10 million jobs was on "a collision course with his nonsensical budget numbers".

Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry had a "credibility gap" on the economy.

During campaign advertisements Republicans have been warning that to pay for the promised health care and deficit reduction Kerry would need to raise taxes by $900bn.