When the White House unveils its 2006 budget plan today, it may offer congressional Dems even more political ammunition than Bush’s Social Security scheme. And considering what a debacle that’s become, that’s saying something.
Who’s facing a cut? Put it this way: unless you’re rich and living in a Red state, Bush has some bad news for you.
President Bush plans to unveil a $2.5 trillion budget today eliminating dozens of politically sensitive domestic programs, including funding for education, environmental protection and business development, while proposing significant increases for the military and international spending, according to White House documents.
Overall, discretionary spending other than defense and homeland security would fall by nearly 1 percent, the first time in many years that funding for the major part of the budget controlled by Congress would actually go down in real terms, according to officials with access to the budget. The cuts are scattered across a wide swath of the government, affecting a cross-section of constituents, from migrant workers to train passengers to local police departments, according to officials who read portions of the documents to The Washington Post.
Here are a few of the more politically significant gems:
* One in three of Bush’s targeted programs concerns cuts to education funding.
* Bush would more than double the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year for the privilege of using government health care.
* The president with the worst record on job creation since the Great Depression wants to cut funding for job training.
* Bush wants to cut grant programs to local police agencies and local firefighters.
* Bush’s budget doesn’t include any money for Iraq and Afghanistan.
It’d be hilarious if it weren’t so absurd. There are probably more than a few congressional Republicans looking across the aisle right now wondering, “Why are those Democrats smiling”?
It’s important to note that Bush’s budget, in addition to being filled with insane priorities and draconian cuts, offers Dems an opportunity to expose the president’s sense of compassion. Indeed, imagine the ads that remind voters that Bush wants to protect every penny of his tax cuts for millionaires, but believes veterans should pay more for prescription medication they need.
It’s as if Bush has decided Republicans have won too many cycles in a row and want Dems to re-take Congress in ’06.
That said, it’s important to note that Bush’s budget will be widely ignored on the Hill, even among — make that, especially among — congressional Republicans. A year ago, he proposed a 0.5 percent increase for domestic programs; Congress ultimately doubled it. This year, many Republicans have already annouced their intention to dispense with Bush’s budget as soon as it arrives.
Some congressional officials pronounced many of the proposed cuts dead on arrival. One lawmaker involved in the negotiations said that House and Senate leaders have told the White House that no more than two dozen of the 150 proposals are likely to be accepted, although Congress might agree to reductions in some programs targeted for elimination.
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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.”
Tens of millions? From a $2.5 trillion budget? At that rate, Bush will fulfill his campaign promise of cutting the deficit in half sometime around 2250.
The point isn’t that Bush is wrong to start showing some willingness to control government spending; the point is Bush’s entire approach to budgeting is misguided. Tax cuts for the wealthy got him into this mess, but it’s the one thing that’s off the table when trying to figure out how to fix it. And now he’s forced to push for unrealistic domestic cuts that no one, least of all the public, want to see.
Bush isn’t used to losing, especially with this Congress, but he better start preparing himself. On this one, it’s inevitable.