The federal government is in the midst of a historic budget mess brought on by the Republicans’ irresponsibility. Bush and the GOP cut taxes for the wealthy by trillions of dollars, all the while promising the cuts would produce balanced budgets, and simultaneously boosted spending and launched wars without any sense of paying for them.
The result was obvious: the largest deficits in American history now and for the foreseeable future, producing crippling debt for future generations.
Of course, you already knew all of this. This information, after all, is so 2003. Now, however, the Bush White House is preparing its 2005 budget and it’s considering the most fiscally responsible way to operate the federal government. Thankfully, the administration believes the wisest approach would be to scale back most of its reckless giveaways to millionaires by repealing many of the tax cuts the wealthy didn’t need in the first place, while investing that money in deficit reduction and job creation programs.
No, I’m just kidding. The White House is actually cutting funds for low-income housing, military health benefits, and job training.
The New York Times reported yesterday that the White House has “drafted an election-year budget that will rein in the growth of domestic spending without alienating politically influential constituencies.”
And that’s the key, isn’t it? The administration wants to cut spending so it can justify enormous tax cuts without “alienating politically influential constituencies.” In other words, go after the folks who can’t fight back, whose voice in Washington is weak, and who’s ire won’t hurt Bush on Election Day.
The Times quoted administration officials who said the president’s budget would cut funding for housing vouchers for the poor, require some veterans to pay more for health care, and spend less on employment programs. Even if Congress approved these cuts, the deficit would still be the largest it’s been in U.S. history.
It’ll be fun listening to how Bush justifies all of this in his State of the Union speech two weeks from tomorrow.