Press release from website of Cong. Bernie Sanders. (I Vt.)
http://bernie.house.gov/documents/releases/20040203184733.aspFor Immediate Release, 2/3/2004
SANDERS BLASTS BUSH ON BUDGET PROPOSAL
On January 15th of this year the debt of the United States federal government exceeded $7 trillion for the first time in the history of our nation. And the Congressional budget office has stated that the budget deficit for the current federal fiscal year will be a record breaking $477 billion. But just when you thought it couldn't get worse, the President yesterday submitted a budget to Congress that includes a deficit of $521 billion. That's over a half a trillion dollars added to the national debt in just one year. And even that's a phony number because, for instance, it includes no new spending for ongoing military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan or for the War on Terrorism, which the Congressional Budget Office conservatively estimates to be $280 billion over that period.
Now given this incredible amount of debt that the President is asking our children and grandchildren to pay off, one would hope that some of the major problems facing this nation would be addressed.
For instance, we have millions of Americans, who despite the supposed economic recovery, still do not have a job. We have many families who have a difficult time paying for the cost of housing. College education costs are skyrocketing and middle income families are finding it hard to pay for their children's college education without taking on tens and tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Many of our veterans are on waiting lists to receive the health care they have earned through their service to the country. As a result of the recession, state and local governments are finding it hard to balance budgets without cutting much needed programs or raising taxes. And I could go on.
But, the test for the President's budget in my mind is, given the amount of debt he wants to incur, are the needs of the American people being met?
Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding no. In fact, the huge deficits the President is calling for are needed largely to pay for the President's tax cuts which are targeted to the wealthy. Many of the tax cuts that the President got through the Congress are scheduled to sunset in 2010. Making them permanent, as the President's budget calls for, will cost another $2 trillion with interest.
Just to put the size of the proposed extension of the Bush tax cuts in some perspective, analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities and the Brookings Institute found that the cost over the next 75 years of extending the Bush tax cuts is TRIPLE the entire 75 year shortfall in Social Security. In essence, when the question is ensuring the future of Social Security for all Americans for the next 75 years or tax breaks for the wealthy, the President chooses not just the wealthy over Social Security, he wants to give them 3 times as much as Social Security needs.
Now some suggest that the huge budget deficits are the result of out of control spending. But the Congressional Budget Office figures show that three-quarters of the growth of the federal deficits in the past few years is due to loss of revenue. As a share of the economy federal revenues are at their lowest level since 1950, thanks in large part to the Bush tax cuts. Even if the economy recovers, extending the Bush tax cuts will mean the federal government will be taking in less money as a percentage of the economy than in every decade of the last half of the twentieth century. This loss of federal income is going right into the pockets of the wealthiest among us because they were the primary recipients of the Bush tax cuts, and will be the big winners if those tax breaks are made permanent.
So, it is clear that the Bush Administration has placed a priority on tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, but have they taken care of the problems facing the rest of us?
Millions of Americans are out of work due to the recession and millions of jobs have moved overseas in part due to our trade policy. How does the President's budget help them? The President's budget cuts job training and employment services by $286 million. He would eliminate the Employment Service – a program that connects unemployed workers with jobs. And he cuts the Bureau of International Labor, which makes sure Americans are not forced to compete against child labor in the third world, by $70 million. Even small business, which we are told is the main engine of job creation in this country, gets shortchanged by a 10% cut in the Small Business Administration.
In the area of housing, the President's budget for Section 8 housing vouchers is $1.6 billion short of what is needed just to continue vouchers currently in use. The cut means at least 250,000 fewer low-income families, senior citizens and persons with disabilities would be helped. The budget also cuts public housing by $180 million.
In terms of college education, the Bush budget fails to meet the growing crisis that middle income families are facing. At a time when parents are finding it harder and harder to afford the rapidly rising cost of college tuition, the President's budget freezes Pell grants and actually cuts Perkins loans by $100 million.
The budget also cuts discretionary grant programs to states by 2% when adjusted for inflation. In my view, this is exactly the time for the federal government to be stepping in to help states and localities so that they don't have to cut programs or raise regressive sales or property taxes. The budget zeroes out the Brownfields program to help communities clean up polluted sites, as well as the Rural Housing and Economic Development program and the Empowerment Zones program.
And finally I want to mention a category of spending that I believe may be the most outrageous of them all, namely veterans programs. It's no secret that American soldiers are in harm's way today in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Despite the fact that tens and tens of thousands of veterans are waiting six months or more for a health care appointment and that health care costs are rising rapidly, I consider it an insult that the President's budget only includes a 1.8% increase in VA health care spending. His $500 million proposed increased is fully $2.6 billion short of what the major veterans organization have determined is necessary to meet the needs of veterans. Not only that, the budget calls for increases in copayments and fees for some veterans that would amount to over $2 billion in the next five years.
But you don't need to take my word for it. Let me quote from the Commander-in-Chief of the National Headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Edward Banas. He says in a press statement issued yesterday, “This funding package is a disgrace and a sham.” He goes on to say, “To ask this nation's veterans to subsidize their health care is outrageous. They have already paid for their health care with their sweat and with their blood.”
He concludes by saying, “Having traveled throughout the nation, I know that the American people will not tolerate this shoddy treatment of America's veterans, especially at a time of war.” And, I could not agree more. This budget fails to keep faith with the men and women who served and it needs to be rejected.
In the coming days as my office and other have had even more of an opportunity to analyze the President's budget, I look forward to continuing this conversation with the people of Vermont about the priorities we should be establishing in Washington. But, I can say right now with confidence that creating a giant deficit for our children to pay in order to finance tax breaks for the rich, while the needs of middle income and working families are ignored is not the right direction for our country. This budget needs to be defeated. We need to rescind the tax breaks for the rich and we need to begin addressing the needs of this country, like good paying jobs, health care, education and our veterans.
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