Bush budget takes into account slowing economy: W.House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's fiscal 2009 budget proposal released on Monday takes into account that the U.S. economy is facing a slowdown, the White House said.

"The budget takes into account that we're going to see a slowdown in the economy, a temporary one. It takes into account the economic stimulus package we're going to put in place in order to shield against that ,"White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said when asked whether the administration's economic assumptions were too optimistic, given recent economic data.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)