FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
February 7, 2005
Contact:  Adrienne Elrod
(202) 225-3772
 

Rep. Ross’s Statement: President Bush’s FY 2006 Budget
 
(Washington, D.C.)  Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) issued the following statement Monday concerning President Bush’s proposed budget for the 2006 fiscal year. 

“I have strong concerns regarding President Bush’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. His budget calls for the elimination of 150 government programs, many of which are vital to Arkansas’s hardworking families. 

“Under his plan, federal payments to crop and dairy producers would be slashed by $587 million next year and $5.7 billion over the next decade!  And despite the fact that there are 45 million Americans today who lack access to affordable health care, the President wants to cut a whopping $60 billion from Medicaid, which millions of elderly and disabled Americans depend on to provide critical health care services. 

“As our nation welcomes more veterans home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the President’s budget raises veterans’ health care costs by slashing $2 billion less than veterans’ service organizations estimate they need. His budget also imposes new co-payments on prescription drugs and enrollment fees that will cost veterans hundreds of millions of dollars.  This is no way to thank our brave men and women in uniform for all the sacrifices they have made. 

“As a Member of the Blue Dog Coalition that promotes fiscal discipline within our nation’s government, I am glad the President has set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009. However, I have to wonder how he plans to accomplish this. While he tightens the belt of domestic spending by making massive cuts to numerous programs, his budget fails to factor in the cost of his Social Security plan, as well as his expected funding requests for Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, the President is expected to ask Congress for an additional $80 billion in funding for Iraq and Afghanistan next week, but his budget fails to recognize this. 

“Finally, the President’s budget calls for making his tax cuts permanent.  I have supported tax cuts in the past, when our country was not deficit spending and we were not at war. In fact, if the President were to repeal the tax cuts he gives to the top one percent of income earners, the savings generated by repealing those tax cuts would essentially pay to fix Social Security! 

“But for the President to recommend making his tax cuts permanent on the backs of our hardworking families, many of whom heavily depend on programs President Bush’s budget eliminates, is fiscally and morally wrong.”


Press Release            Press Release List            Press Release