The priorities of the Bush budget -

[Mass]

4 budgets are cut: EPA, homeland security, education, and Commerce.

HHS is increased, but I would imagine part of the increase has to do with mandatory expenditures where Bush cannot touch anything.

The two other budgets to increase significantly are Defense and Energy: buddies served first?

[Mass]

1. More on Bush budget

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/06/bush_budget_puts_pinch_on_domestic_spending/

Bush budget puts pinch on domestic spending
Boosts war fund, hits healthcare

By Susan Milligan and Rick Klein, Globe Staff | February 6, 2007

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday proposed deep cuts to federal healthcare, education, and transportation programs, searching for new money in the federal budget to pay for increasingly costly defense programs and the war in Iraq.

The president's $2.9 trillion spending plan calls for saving $100 billion in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and for limiting eligibility in the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- a change that could result in the loss of health care for children in Massachusetts and other states.

Bush said the cuts will help balance the federal budget by 2012, even as the nation spends $141.7 billion next year on fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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"Despite the historic fiscal failures of the past six years, President Bush's budget proposes more of the same," said Senate majority leader Harry Reid , Democrat of Nevada, referring to cuts in domestic social programs and increased spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid are larger than similar cuts Bush asked for in his previous budget proposals. Democrats -- whose minority status in previous years had hamstrung them from blocking such cuts -- vowed to stop them from going into effect for the next fiscal year.

http://www.johnkerry.com/news/releases/release.html?id=65

Kerry Says Bush Budget Would Hurt Massachusetts

Spending on Iraq War Escalation “Shortchanges” Domestic Priorities

WASHINGTON, DC – Sen. John Kerry today said that dozens of critical programs related to health care, education, law enforcement and even Amtrak operations would suffer under the budget plan presented by President Bush today. Kerry said that budget was bad news for Massachusetts residents because of significant cuts to school grants, including arts education, career counseling, technical education and safe and drug-free school grants.

“This budget runs counter to what working Americans expect from their government, but prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans,” Kerry said this afternoon. “It’s filled with bad news for families, commuters, local governments, hospitals, fire departments, first responders, small businesses, teachers and other educators – among others. It shortchanges our children by directing another $245 billion to pay for the ill-advised war in Iraq, even after a majority of voters told President Bush that we’re headed in the wrong direction there. I promise to review this budget very closely try to prevent the President’s reckless recommendations from moving forward.”

The following is a preliminary review of the budget’s impact on key programs and services:

http://www.tedkennedy.com/journal/1441/statement-by-senator-edward-m-kennedy-on-president-bushs-budget

STATEMENT BY SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY ON PRESIDENT BUSH’S BUDGET

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on President Bush’s budget:

“This first budget that the President has presented to a Democratic Congress reveals the fundamental difference in priorities of this Administration and Congress. Budgets are moral documents and reflective of what we believe is important for our nation. Sadly, the President missed an important opportunity today to put forward a budget that demonstrated that he listened to the American people last November. This budget would continue us down the wrong path, but fortunately the new congress is determined to change course – and will.

For the war in Iraq, the President is asking for nearly $270 billion for this year and next, yet has failed to define the mission or listen to widespread bipartisan opposition to his plan to escalate the war.

On health care, rather than trying to solve the crisis by lowering costs and covering more people, the President’s plan will make the crisis worse by raising costs and failing to cover those who need it most—- our nation’s children.

The President’s proposal to cut outrageous lender subsidies and redirect those funds into a long-overdue increase in the Pell Grant shows how a Democratic Congress is changing the nation’s priorities. But as we work to reauthorize the landmark No Child Left Behind Act this year, I am particularly disappointed that the President has once again proposed inadequate funding for the law’s important reforms and that he pays for his modest increases through cuts to other education programs.

In this age of economic insecurity, we need a budget that prioritizes working families. Just as the Bush economy has left so many working families struggling to get by, the Bush budget would take away their opportunities for the future.

Thirty-seven million Americans live in poverty today, including almost 13 million children. No just society should tolerate this level of poverty, particularly here in the richest nation on the planet. The President’s budget is not anti-poverty—it is anti-poor.”


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