Yellow Dog

Our "tax-cut-and-spend" president unveiled his new budget plan, and you can see the compassionate conservatism at work. To pay for his misguided war in Iraq and his tax cuts to the rich, here's a brief listing of some of his compassionate cuts:

Compassion for criminals:
--Cuts in law enforcement grants to states from $2.8 billion to $1.5 billion

Compassion for stupid people (Bush has to keep his base strong, after all):
--Cuts in 48 education programs totaling $4.3 billion, including $2.2 billion for high school programs, mostly state grants for vocational education
--Cuts of $500 million in education technology state grants, $225 million for the Even Start literacy program, $280 million for Upward Bound programs for inner-city youths

Compassion for Druggies (like his friend Rush "Oxycontin" Limbaugh):
--Cuts of $440 million in Safe and Drug-Free School grants

Compassionate conservation (not!):
--elimination of several Energy Department programs, including cuts of $100 million in grants for land and water conservation

Compassion for the sick and poor:
--Cuts of $94 million in grants for the Healthy Communities Access Program
--termination of the Community Food and Nutrition Program
--cuts of $1.1 billion of food stamp payments to the poor

Compassion for Soldiers:
--Cuts to veterans health insurance

Compassion for the farming community:
Cuts of $5.7 billion over the next decade, which would represent cuts to farmers growing a wide range of crops, from cotton and rice to corn, soybeans and wheat

Compassion for the elderly:
--a proposed savings of $137 billion over 10 years in mandatory programs with much of that occurring in reductions in Medicaid, the big federal-state program that provides health care for the poor

$2.5 Trillion Budget Plan Cuts Many Programs (washingtonpost.com)