FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                          CONTACT:  Kevin Lawlor, 202-225-1880

February 4, 2008                                                                 www.tauscher.house.gov

Rep. Ellen Tauscher Criticizes Bush’s Budget Priorities

Washington, DC – Today, President Bush sent Congress his budget.  The budget reflects the Bush Administration’s priorities and details how the President would like Congress to appropriate funding for both domestic and foreign policies.  In seven years, President Bush turned a $5.6 trillion projected surplus into a $2.4 trillion deficit and added $3.5 trillion to the national debt.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher released the following statement: 

“Whether you are the head of your household or the leader of the free world, you have an obligation to create a budget that reflects the priorities, needs and future aspirations of everyone you represent. 

“Again, President Bush has neglected this principle and sent Congress a budget that slashes money for working families and seniors, one that eliminates lifesaving medical research, raises health care costs for veterans, overlooks the need for clean air and water and fails to address the need for energy assistance.  The President is saying one thing but doing another.   He tells the American people that nuclear proliferation is a top national security threat, but his budget would cut programs that reduce weapons of mass destruction.  He preaches safe communities, but eliminates COPS, (Community Oriented Policing Services) a proven public safety program.

“Even more, the President is again failing to account for the true cost of the war in Iraq.  He needs to be upfront with the American people and tell them exactly how much his failed policies and the ongoing war cost instead of low-balling his estimate and putting the rest on a credit card for future generations to deal with. 

“The President says his plan will balance the budget by 2012, but it only prevents the alternative minimum tax (AMT) from hitting millions of families for one year while permanently extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.  The only balance we get from this budget is on the backs of countless families who are getting a one-year reprieve from the AMT – 70,000 in the tenth district alone – while the very wealthiest Americans continue to enjoy tax breaks. 

Rep. Ellen Tauscher