Here are some additional news sources for you. For copyright reasons,
I am posting only brief excerpts from each article; you may want to
read the complete articles, which I've linked below.
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From "Sacrifice Is for Suckers," by Robert L. Borosage:
"As the reputable Center on Budget and Policy Priorities detailed, the
House bill would cut a staggering $265 billion from entitlement
programs as a whole: $92 billion from Medicaid, depriving poor
children and the bedridden elderly of support; $12.5 billion from food
stamps; and $14 billion from veterans' benefits, including even a cut
in burial benefits. Another $244 billion would be cut from domestic
discretionary spending--everything from health clinics and
environmental protection to edu-
cation, including 28,000 kids thrown out of Head Start. Even the
President's touted 'No Child Left Behind' plan to fund elementary and
secondary education programs will face cuts of more than 8 percent in
2004 alone. And all this at a time when the states and localities
struggle with the worst fiscal crisis in fifty years."
The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030428&s=borosage
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From "Humpty on the House Floor," by E.J. Dionne Jr.:
"On a nearly party-line vote, the House passed a budget that includes
$1.4 trillion in tax cuts, $726 billion of which are protected under
Congress's "reconciliation" process. To make a long story short, the
protected tax cuts will in principle be easier to pass because
Democrats will not be able to filibuster them in the Senate.
The GOP budget also includes $265 billion in cuts for veterans'
programs, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, student loans and a slew of
other matters.
The Senate, on the other hand, reduced that $726 billion tax cut to
$350 billion, and it did not include the House's deep budget cuts."
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24169-2003Apr3.html
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From "How Tax Cuts Trickle Down":
"In a sorry effort to protect President Bush's tax-cut mania, the
Republican leaders of Congress have unveiled proposals for slashing
the most basic government programs for years to come. With
rationalizations running from tragic to ludicrous, House budgeters
envision cuts of $470 billion in 'waste, fraud and abuse' in Medicare,
Medicaid, education, child care and other vital programs, from
transportation to health care, the environment to science research.
The regressive 10-year plan, matched by an equally hypocritical Senate
version, is a triumph of ideological rant over budget reality."
The New York Times
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0712F7355A0C758DDDAA0894DB404482
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From "Paying for Tax Cuts":
"If you've been wondering who would pay for the big new tax cuts for
the rich that President Bush is pushing, wonder no more. The
Republican budget writers in Congress have started to supply the
answers: Poor children, veterans, the elderly and any middle-age
person counting on Social Security and Medicare when he or she retires
will pick up this bill... The House committee, under Rep. Jim Nussle,
R-Iowa, was more forthright. It... ordered $450 billion in cuts in
Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, food stamps and children's
health insurance. The Medicare cuts were too much even for House
Republicans, and Nussle removed them to win approval of his plan on
the House floor last Friday.
It's grotesque to pay for a tax cut for the wealthiest households by
taking food from the poor and reducing health care for the elderly and
children. But even by grinding the weak and unfortunate, the budget
writers don't come close to restoring budget responsibility."
The Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/6328087p-7281376c.html
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From "Budgetary Shock and Awe":
"The country is facing plenty of financial problems: the economy, the
cost of the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. Stunningly, Congress
is preparing to make things far, far worse with more than $500 billion
in tax cuts for the upper 1 percent of taxpayers. To finance these
spoils for the wealthiest Americans, House leaders - who have taken
the lead in hammering a budget together - plan deep cuts of $475
billion in vital programs for the bottom 99 percent. These direct hits
will range from Medicaid to child care, education to food stamps,
environmental protection to emergency doles for the poor."
The International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/90984.html
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From "Conservatives, House GOP Committed to Budget Cuts," by Christine
Hall:
"'Class warfare turns out to be alive,' said Robert Greenstein,
director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 'It is a
centerpiece of the House-passed budget, with deep budget cuts that
could harshly affect the poor, the vulnerable, and many middle-class
Americans, alongside lavish tax cuts for the nation's richest
individuals... According to the center's calculations, the budget cuts
would average not one percent but four percent over ten years, and the
bulk of the cuts would come out of programs for low- and middle-income
families: $92 billion from Medicaid, $2 billion from the State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), $14 billion from
veterans' programs, $13 billion from food stamps, and $7 billion from
farm programs."
Cybercast News Service
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=%5CPolitics%5Carchive%5C200303%5CPOL20030328a.html
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From "House Budget Proposal Would Cause Poor to Lose Needed Benefits,"
by David Broder:
"The House budget, passed by a three-vote margin on a virtually
straight party-line roll call, would require Congress to cut
entitlement programs by $265 billion over the next decade. (Cuts are
measured against the current service levels, adjusted for inflation.)
But because the House budget assumes no cuts are allowed in Social
Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and veterans retirement
benefits, the private Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
calculates that at least $165 billion would have to come out of
low-income programs.
The biggest hit would be in the Medicaid program that provides health
care for low-income families and nursing home care for many of the
elderly. Other targets would be child care and children's health
insurance programs."
The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Mar/03302003/commenta/42990.asp
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From "Say "NO" to House Budget":
"In addition to domestic discretionary spending cuts, the House bill
would:
- lock in deep cuts to entitlement programs for low-income families
coming from programs that include Medicaid, Food Stamps, child care,
child health and veterans benefits. In the Food Stamp program, that
could mean reducing the average benefit per person from an already
meager 91 cents per meal down to 84 cents per meal.
- lead to decreases in federal payments to states already facing
enormous budget deficits.
- include the President's $726 billion tax cut that would result in
tax reductions averaging $90,000 each in 2003 for those Americans who
have incomes of more than $1 million."
McAuley Institute
http://www.mcauley.org/bhconline/voice-alerts.htm
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This last site offers, I think, the very best of the articles on this
subject, since it contains a wealth of statistics. Be sure to check
the table entitled "Cuts in Low-income Entitlement Programs Under the
House Budget," which gives a detailed breakdown of both the total cuts
and the dollar cut in the year when cuts would be deepest for each
category.
From "THE HUMAN COSTS OF CUTS IN MAJOR LOW-INCOME PROGRAMS CONTAINED
IN THE HOUSE BUDGET RESOLUTION," by Sharon Parrott and John Springer:
"The cut in the Food Stamp Program, if achieved by reducing the
maximum food stamp benefit, would lead to a reduction in the average
benefit per person from an already lean 91 cents per meal down to 84
cents per meal.
The cut in the Supplemental Security Income program, if achieved by
reducing the number of SSI recipients, would lead to the elimination
of SSI benefits for 476,000 low-income elderly individuals and people
with disabilities. Alternatively, if the cut were achieved by reducing
the maximum SSI benefit, SSI recipients with no other income would see
their benefit — and their total income — fall from an already low 74
percent of the poverty line to 70 percent.
The cut in child care funding, if achieved by reducing the number of
children assisted, would lead to the elimination of child care
assistance for 268,000 low-income children.
The reduction in Medicaid, if achieved entirely by reducing the number
of children covered, would lead to the elimination of health coverage
for 13.6 million children. Alternatively, if the cut were achieved by
reducing the number of low-income elderly individuals and people with
disabilities who receive long-term care through Medicaid, it would
lead to the elimination of care for about one-fourth of such
individuals.
The cut in TANF, if achieved by reducing the number of slots in
welfare-to-work programs, would require the elimination of about
340,000 such slots. (It is worth noting that states would be required
to expand their welfare-to-work programs significantly under the TANF
reauthorization bill that the House of Representatives passed earlier
this year.)
The cut in child nutrition programs, if achieved by reducing the
number of children eligible for free school lunches, would lead to the
elimination of free lunches for 2.4 million low-income children.
The cut in foster care and adoption programs, if achieved by reducing
the number of children eligible for foster care assistance payments,
would lead to the elimination of benefits for 65,000 abused and
neglected children.
The cut in child support enforcement, if achieved by reducing the
funding available for enforcement activities, would be projected to
reduce child support collections by $1.6 billion."
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
http://www.cbpp.org/3-27-03wel.htm
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Search terms used:
"tax cuts"
"entitlement cuts"
"food stamps"
"medicaid"
"congress"
"house of representatives"
"bush"
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I hope I've provided what you need. If you have any questions about my
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Best wishes,
pinkfreud |
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