On one hand, the Bush Administration has used the FY 2004 budget to spark a debate on the future of key programs the American public relies upon. On the other hand, the Administration’s FY 2004 budget completely omits from the debate crises such as the budget deficits in our states. It also undercuts our ability to truly improve public services such as Medicare, education, jobless benefits and Medicaid and threatens our long-term economic balance. The Administration’s dependence on privatization and top-heavy tax cuts will force the nation’s seniors, children and workers onto a starvation diet while flooding the bank accounts of the richest Americans with billions in tax cuts.
From Medicare to education, from job training to jobless benefits, from transportation to public safety, and from Medicaid to Social Security, the Administration’s 2004 budget neglects priorities and hollows out the most trusted services to pay for tax cuts so unbalanced that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney would get back more in taxes than the average American worker earns in one year.
The Bush Administration is skimping on seniors. To save money, the Administration insists that senior citizens trade in the doctor they trust to qualify for a drug plan that offers the medicine they need. The Administration’s weak commitment of $400 billion for a private drug benefit for seniors is less money than the Administration is willing to spend on tax cuts this year alone.
The Bush Administration is skimping on the states. The 2001 and proposed future tax cuts are costing some states significant revenue, yet the Administration budget skips an opportunity to help states pay for expensive new federal laws on homeland security, Medicaid and education. The Administration’s new Medicaid proposal reduces protections for vulnerable low-income beneficiaries, caps the amount of money the federal government will give states to help cover costs and ultimately will cost states more.
The Bush Administration is skimping on education. Dozens of states have had to make huge increases in college tuition, cut back on the number of days in the school week and consider cutting pre-K education. The Administration’s latest Head Start proposal is an attempt to distract attention away from the growing holes in all levels of education.
The Bush Administration is skimping on jobs and the economy. For almost two years, workers have paid the price for the recession, yet the Bush Administration budget neglects the workers who have suffered the most, cutting job training programs and failing to offer an aggressive plan to create jobs by investing in public programs such as building roads, schools and hospitals.
At the mid-point of the Bush Administration we are at a low point in our economy. More of the same failed ideas and more of the same failed preference for tax cuts over priorities for working families will produce the same disappointing economic results. America deserves a national budget that fits with our national priorities: to restore long-term balance to our economy and to guarantee that affordable health care, quality education and good jobs will continue to be the greatest success stories of our nation.