WA Post: Permanent Bush tax cuts add $6.1 trillion to deficit over decade

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&e=1&u=/washpost/20050207/ts_washpost/a3319_2005feb6

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said in an interview that although many of the requests will be opposed, he believes that Congress will still cut "tens of millions of dollars and set the standard that the federal government can stop doing things that it shouldn't be doing, or is not doing well."

And some deficit hawks welcomed what they hoped would be a hard-nosed approach to spending at a time when the deficit is projected to reach a record $427 billion this year. "With the deficits that we're now running, I'm glad the president is coming over with a very austere budget," Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) (R-Ariz.) said on ABC's "This Week." "I hope we in Congress will have the courage to support it."

The spending plan does not include future expenses of the continuing wars in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq, nor does it include upfront transition costs of restructuring Social Security (news - web sites) as Bush has proposed. The administration will submit a separate supplemental request largely for Afghanistan and Iraq operations in the current fiscal year, which will be reflected in the budget charts, officials said, but war costs in 2006 and beyond will not be. Nor will be the cost of Bush's Social Security plan, which would begin in 2009 and result in $754 billion in additional debt over its first five years.

Those omissions provide ammunition to Democrats who dispute Bush's math. "The Administration's claim that it will cut the deficit in half by 2009 lacks credibility," said a report released last week by House Budget Committee Democrats. When the omitted items are included, along with the impact of making Bush's first-term tax cuts permanent, the report estimated that the government would rack up $6.1 trillion in deficit spending over the next decade.

[shoelace414]

1. excuse me?

he believes that Congress will still cut "tens of millions of dollars

with billions of dollars of debt..

[Sparkly]

2. Wow, check out these cuts

It would slice law enforcement grants to states from $2.8 billion to $1.5 billion. And it would cut 48 education programs totaling $4.3 billion, including $2.2 billion for high school programs, mostly state grants for vocational education.

The budget would cut $440 million in Safe and Drug-Free School grants, $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 and a $150 million talent research program, according to the documents.

The budget includes no subsidy for Amtrak and would eliminate $20 million for the next generation of high-speed rail and $250 million for railroad rehabilitation. Several Energy Department programs would be eliminated, as would $100 million in grants for land and water conservation. The budget proposal would cut $94 million in grants for the Healthy Communities Access Program and phase out rural health grants, the documents said. Bush touted his commitment to such programs during his reelection campaign. The president would terminate the Community Food and Nutrition Program, and cut a migrant and seasonal farm worker training program. He would renew his effort to cut a $143 million program for the removal of severely distressed housing.

But it also says "Bush hopes to spend $304 million to build more community health centers, particularly in rural areas." So he wants to take away rural health grants but put in these health centers... I'm not familiar enough with these programs to know what he's trading for what. Anybody else know?

There's a lot here impacting urban youth. Thank goodness Pickles' photo-ops will be picking up the slack. :eyes:

[Just Me]

6. Cuts for kids, cuts in transportation, cuts in local security, cuts in

education, cuts against the best interests of Americans in order to pay for "Welfare for the Wealthy".

Gross!!!

[robbedvoter]

11. Particularly in rural areas - read: starve the blue, feed the red

They've been doing this since 2001, but now they don't mind bragging about it. If you live in a city, better be a zillionaire or you'll lose in some way or another.

[cthrumatrix]

3. the media won't cover it

[leesa]

4. People are working hard to rate this story down. Clearly, the elite want

to crash the economy worldwide. Do they think only they will survive?

[wtbymark]

5. If he gets what he wants, and we do see a deficit that high

the value of the dollar will drastically decrease; the world bank will switch to Euros, furthur devaluating the dollar; the stock market will have to 're-correct' itself - in short, i hope you don't own a home because its not going to be worth anything, i hope you don't have any outstanding debt because the interest will be absurd, and i hope you don't like your quality of life because its going to get a lot worse when prices for food and clothing double. Beautiful fiscal policies come from chimpanzees.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

7. Don't forget the "National Sales Tax" proposal...

...YOU KNOW, the one Bush denied during the election when John Kerry said "If this goes through, EVERY DAY for the working American will be like April 15th. EVERY TRIP to the supermarket will be like a trip to H&R Block."

THEN...five or ten minutes after he "won" the election, John Snow went on record as saying "everything is back on the table" in order to "simplify the tax code"...INCLUDING the proposal for the "National Sales Tax."

Bush will strong-arm these budget cuts. Then he'll strong-arm Social Security and crush it. THEN he'll get the National Sales Tax passed.

THEN we will be at his final objective...a two-class system...his "Base," the "Elite"...and homeless wage slaves. People working at WalMart for minimum wage, spending their pay on food, but under the "National Sales Tax" not having enough for rent, which will be taxed. ALL goods AND SERVICE will be taxed. People will either get ten roommates or live under an overpass.

If MOST Americans took a look at this progression and TRULY understood the potential damage it holds for them, we would have ONE TERRIFIED NATION.

[Igel]

8. Never believe projections that assume things will always

be as they have been for the last year.

[Telly Savalas]

9. So what's the big deal?

These trillions Bush will add to the debt is chump change compared to the shortfall of billions we might see in Social Security in 40 years if we don't immediately borrow trillions to privatize it.



Our liberal minds must escape the chains of reason. Only then will we experience the beautiful freedom of neocon thought.

[cthrumatrix]

10. and the MSM never questions the impact to our deficit....