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Congresswoman Barbara Lee Calls President Bush’s FY 05 Budget a Tale of Misplaced Priorities
Oakland, CA – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) railed against President Bush’s FY 05 budget, released today, a plan that includes making the President’s tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, even though his budget runs the national deficit to $521 billion, the largest in American history. In order to carry out the massive tax cuts, the budget slashes necessary social services, including programs for housing, the environment, healthcare, and education.
In addition to affluent Americans, who will enjoy another $1.1 trillion in tax cuts over the next 10 years, the biggest winners in the budget will be corporate polluters, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget cut by $606 million (7.2%). Another big winner will be defense contractors, since the defense budget is slated to rise 7.9% to $420.7 billion, a figure that does not include funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Losers are housing programs, HIV/AIDS funding, and schoolchildren. The budget also guts the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
“This budget reflects the priorities of an Administration out of touch with its own people,” said Lee.
As much as any domestic program, Bush’s budget cripples housing programs, and unless unamended, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget will leave millions of American families homeless. The budget cuts funding for maintenance, insurance, and security by over $65 million, zero-funds the HOPE VI program, and cuts $1.6 billion from the level needed to renew expiring Section 8 vouchers.
The President’s budget also significantly underfunds AIDS funding, even though, as with No Child Left Behind (underfunded this year by $9.4 billion), President Bush had promised far higher funding levels. Although Bush agreed to an authorization of $3 billion for Global AIDS initiatives, his FY 05 budget includes funding only for $2.8 billion. Further, the budget’s funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria reflects a reduction of $350 million (63%) from the final FY 04 funding.
“I am extremely disappointed in the details of this budget,” said Lee. “On issues that are of the greatest importance to millions of Americans, this budget calls for policies that represent misplaced priorities. I call on my colleagues to fight against this blueprint that will turn back America years, if not decades.”
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In addition to affluent Americans, who will enjoy another $1.1 trillion in tax cuts over the next 10 years, the biggest winners in the budget will be corporate polluters, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget cut by $606 million (7.2%). Another big winner will be defense contractors, since the defense budget is slated to rise 7.9% to $420.7 billion, a figure that does not include funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Losers are housing programs, HIV/AIDS funding, and schoolchildren. The budget also guts the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
“This budget reflects the priorities of an Administration out of touch with its own people,” said Lee.
As much as any domestic program, Bush’s budget cripples housing programs, and unless unamended, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget will leave millions of American families homeless. The budget cuts funding for maintenance, insurance, and security by over $65 million, zero-funds the HOPE VI program, and cuts $1.6 billion from the level needed to renew expiring Section 8 vouchers.
The President’s budget also significantly underfunds AIDS funding, even though, as with No Child Left Behind (underfunded this year by $9.4 billion), President Bush had promised far higher funding levels. Although Bush agreed to an authorization of $3 billion for Global AIDS initiatives, his FY 05 budget includes funding only for $2.8 billion. Further, the budget’s funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria reflects a reduction of $350 million (63%) from the final FY 04 funding.
“I am extremely disappointed in the details of this budget,” said Lee. “On issues that are of the greatest importance to millions of Americans, this budget calls for policies that represent misplaced priorities. I call on my colleagues to fight against this blueprint that will turn back America years, if not decades.”
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