Yellow Dog

Bush's budget is not only irresponsible, it's also dishonest, with costs of the ongoing war in Iraq not even included. To pay for his billion-dollar (unnecessary and unjustified) war and to offset his tax cuts to the highest income groups, Bush is making some cruel (and not very compassionate) cuts:

Cuts would be made in hundreds of domestic discretionary programs across the budget, including education programs, environmental protection programs, numerous programs to assist low-income families, children, and elderly and disabled people, and research related to cancer, heart disease, and other medical conditions.

Program Terminations:  For example, among the domestic discretionary programs that would be terminated are:
 
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides nutritional food packages for less than $20 a month to more than 400,000 low-income elderly people, one-third of whom are over age 75;

The Preventive Care Block Grant, which is operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and provides grants to states for preventive health services for underserved populations;

The TRIO Talent Search program, under which colleges and universities assist disadvantaged secondary school students (two-thirds of whom are minority) by providing them with academic, career, and financial counseling so they will better be able to finish high school and attend college;
 
The Community Services Block Grant, which provides funding for a range of social services and other types of assistance to low-income families and elderly and disabled individuals.

Other programs that would be terminated include:  the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, and Safe and Drug Free Schools Grants.

Deep Program Cuts:  Among the domestic discretionary programs that would be cut deeply are:
 
Section 202 housing for the low-income elderly — funding in 2007 would be cut 26 percent below the 2006 level, even before adjustment for inflation.
 
Section 811 housing for low-income people with disabilities — cut 50 percent in 2007.
 
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), which promotes community policing primarily by putting police on the streets — cut 79 percent in 2007.
 
Cuts in child care: The President’s budget also calls for cuts in discretionary child care funding for children from low- and moderate-income families; the number of children receiving child care assistance in 2011 would drop by more than 400,000 as compared to the number who received assistance in 2005.

So at a time when poverty is increasing along with the gap between rich and poor and when we are at war and spending billions of dollars in Iraq, Bush--instead of asking us to sacrifice--is implementing new tax cuts and making deep cuts in programs that benefit the elderly, the poor, the disabled, and children. Gee, when God was talking to Bush and telling him to go to war in Iraq, I wonder if he ever happened to mention, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto me."
The President's 2007 Budget: A Preliminary Analysis, Revised 2/10/06