Bush Slashes Aid to Poor to Boost Iraq War Chest

[babylonsister]

Thanks, UK Guardian, for pointing this out; I don't know of any US papers that have done so.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0206-04.htm

Bush Slashes Aid to Poor to Boost Iraq War Chest
· Bill for Iraq conflict will soon overtake Vietnam
· $78bn squeeze on medical care for elderly and poor
by Ewen MacAskill


President George Bush is proposing to slash medical care for the poor and elderly to meet the soaring cost of the Iraq war.

Mr Bush's $2.9 trillion (£1.5 trillion) budget, sent to Congress yesterday, includes $100bn extra for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for this year, on top of $70bn already allocated by Congress and $141.7bn next year. He is planning an 11.3% increase for the Pentagon. Spending on the Iraq war is destined to top the total cost of the 13-year war in Vietnam.

The huge rise in military spending is paid for by a squeeze on domestic programmes, including $66bn in cuts over five years to Medicare, the healthcare scheme for the elderly, and $12bn from the Medicaid healthcare scheme for the poor.

Mr Bush said: "Today we submit a budget to the United States Congress that shows we can balance the budget in five years without raising taxes ... Our priority is to protect the American people. And our priority is to make sure our troops have what it takes to do their jobs."

Although Democrats control Congress and have promised careful scrutiny of the budget over the next few months, Mr Bush has left in them in a bind, unwilling to withhold funds for US troops on the frontline. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said the days when Mr Bush could expect a blank cheque for the wars were over but she also insisted the Democrats would not deny troops the money they needed. Democrats could block Mr Bush's proposed cuts to 141 domestic programmes.

John Spratt, the Democratic chairman of the House budget committee, said: "I doubt that Democrats will support this budget and, frankly, I will be surprised if Republicans rally around it either."

Kent Conrad, the Democratic chairman of the Senate budget committee, said: "The president's budget is filled with debt and deception, disconnected from reality, and continues to move America in the wrong direction. This administration has the worst fiscal record in history and this budget does nothing to change that."

more...

[xultar]

1. FUCK YOU...YOU POOR MUTHAFUCKAS. Wanna eat? FIGHT in my war.

I think that about says it.

[Vincardog]

2. That was the crapassonate conservative plan all along.

[oasis]

3. Sen. Conrad raps Bush's budget "debt and deception".

Bush has bambozzled the American public long before he became *resident.

"Compassionate Conservative"? Short on compassion, long on conservative.

[Bitwit1234]

4. BUT-we see that he wants to make the tax cuts to the rich

permanent. Poor poor rich guys....they have to buy those 10 dollar a glass orange juice, while the poor have to eat bread and water. And if bread keeps going up they will soon only be able to drink water cause it is free. FOR NOW.

[FrenchieCat]

5. Which is why Foreign policy has everything to do with Domestic policies

although most try to keep them separate.

That's why this war has effected not only folks in Iraq, our soldiers, and our future generations, but it has also critically effected our nations' poor.

That's why in my book I have trouble supporting one who supported this idiotic war, says sorry way later, and in the meantime talks about concern for the poor.

It's all interrelated, and those who think that each works in a vaccum doesn't quite get it.

[babylonsister]

6. This is also why I'm stumped that Congress will probably wind up

talking about the budget, leaving the war for another day. They are so related; you can't deal with one w/o dealing with the other.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Yep......They don't get it....

and we don't know why they don't get it, but they don't.

Neither do most in this country.

Everything is nicely separated so that it's hard to get a bird's eye view.
That's why arial photographs are so different from the close-ups.....and gives one a different perspective. The house may look great close up, but there may be a gaping hold on the roof needing repair.