Cuts in the Bush budget

From the Center for American Progress

CRUEL DOMESTIC CUTS: To maintain his tax cuts for the wealthy, Bush's budget slashes 151 domestic programs. Poison control centers face a 62 percent cut, rural health programs are decimated 87 percent, and the Community Services Block Grant, "a $654 million program that provides housing, nutrition, education and job services to low-income people," is completely eliminated. A new health program for 9/11 rescue workers is slashed by 77 percent, "even though the administration has said that many workers were exposed to 'unprecedented levels of risk' for lung disease and other illnesses." The budget slices 22 percent from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. "The White House wants to eliminate spending for more than a dozen education programs, including Even Start, which promotes family literacy; grants to the states for classroom technology; Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, for needy undergraduates; and a scholarship program named for the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia." "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would lose more than $430 million, including...$28 million from chronic disease prevention and health promotion. A $301 million program that trains 4,700 pediatricians and pediatric specialists at children's teaching hospitals also would be eliminated, at a time when pediatric specialties, such as rheumatology and pulmonology, face critical shortages." The Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program loses $194 million, a cut of 64 percent, and "states and cities would see cuts of $1.5 billion from the $3.75 billion in grants for security, law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical teams approved by Congress for this year."

Bush for tax cuts, except when he's not

Bush promised in his State of the Union address last week that his budget plan would result in a surplus for 2012. However, the budget plan he delivered to Congress this week calls for no further funding of Iraq and Afghanistan operations after the summer of 2009 (which clearly is not the Administration’s position, or else they are doing major double talk; funding of Iraq and Afghanistan is likely to continue beyond that even under a President Clinton or Obama). Bush's budget also assumes a return of the Alternative Minimum Tax after 2008, which would result in higher taxes for many middle-income and upper-middle-income families. Bush is on record opposing a return of the Alternative Minimum Tax without a “fix” to prevent it from hitting middle class families. However, he is willing to briefly support things he otherwise opposes, but only for the purpose of adding up budget numbers to say that America will get to a “surplus.” Talk about intellectual dishonesty. Of course, being intellectual is not something this President is known for, although this Administration’s record for dishonesty is well known.