Showing posts with label Mo Money Mo Problems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mo Money Mo Problems. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

So who does the budget really hurt? Poor People!

The budget hurts poor people, naturally. But don't worry no one cares. So what's being cut?
  • $600 million from community health centers
  • $414 million from state and local police departments
  • $1.6 billion from the EPA (nearly $1 billion from grants for clean water and other projects by local governments and Indian tribes
  • 2% from homeland security
  • $7 million from the Bureau of Public Debt
  • $1 billion from HIV and disease-prevention
  • $3 billion from agriculture programs, mostly coming from Women Infants and Children fund ($504 million)
  • $390 million form ow-income heating assistance
  • $337 million from contributions to the United Nations and international Institutions
  • $45 million from nuclear nonproliferation funds
  • $650 million from federal highway investments
Democrats saved some programs like education priorities and a slight increase for Head Start. They also saved the National Institutes of Health and family planning (yeah Planned Parenthood) of course as previously mentioned DC abortion ban is back.

Monday, April 11, 2011

WTF? A Democratic President Cutting Entitlement Programs?

Sometimes I'm seriously ashamed of us. Obama is looking for money anywhere to get on the offensive with the upcoming epic battle royale over spending with the Republicans. The Obama Administration is promising to go slow and not hack up entitlements (the article uses a bladed weapons metaphor). The highlights are taking on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. However, he may tax the rich, to which all I can say is about damn time.

The Post's article goes on to talk about how Obama has to walk the line between being serious about cutting government debt and spending and convincing liberals that he is concerned about protecting federal programs. Because conservatives are the only people concerned about cutting spending.

The whole approach is being employed to get ahead in this epic death match over federal spending and borrowing:
The new approach is coming as the president seeks a way to defuse a potentially damaging battle over how much the federal government can borrow. The debt limit is set to be reached in mid-May, and the government will be able to meet all of its obligations only through early July at the latest. Many Republicans have said they will not vote to increase the limit without significant cuts in spending.
So one again we're placating Republicans because they're going to vote for him one day if he is a non-threatening liberal/black man. Wait that's not right.

This is just gross. I know we need to bring down the federal debt, but I'm not sure why we're going after entitlements instead of cutting back military spending. There is nothing in our government as out of control as military spending and of course conservatives.