Boasting that it took only two years to cut the record budget deficit from his first term in half, George W. Bush said today he will propose wiping out the other half by 2012 — a goal that could tie the hands of Democrats as they take control of Congress, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Accomplishing this fiscal goal, while still winning his war on terrorism, by making permanent the tax cuts of his first term that are set to expire after 2010 is what Bush is after. He said cuts must be concentrated in giant benefit programs — namely Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — that constitute more than 40 percent of federal spending.

President Bush also called on the Congress, which convenes with the Democratic Party in control of both the House and the Senate for the first time in Bush’s presidency tomorrow — to cut by half the use of “earmarks” to provide funds for pet projects in lawmakers’ home states and districts.

His proposal to balance the budget in five years could make it hard for the Democrats to use their newfound majority to enact their program.

Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco has included only one spending item — beefed-up college student loans — in her ambitious agenda for the first 100 hours of the new Congress, but others are likely to advance their own plans.

Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), who will chair the House Budget Committee, said he was “wary” of Bush’s plan to balance the budget by 2012. How can Bush possibly balance the budget while the ensnaring growing numbers of citizens with his alternative minimum tax and fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq at the expense of at least $100 billion a year?

A valid point, sir.

Congressional Democrats said they were not consulted about Bush’s proposal to balance the budget. But Bush, reading a statement in the Rose Garden after meeting with his Cabinet, said, it’s time to set aside politics and focus on the future.

“The Congress has changed,” Bush said. “Our obligations to the country haven’t changed. Together, we have important things to do.”