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Right now, Congress is struggling to put together the federal budget for the coming year. After years of reckless tax cutting, chronic under funding of critical programs and record annual deficits, it would seem to be time for a new direction on budgetary matters. But judging by the bill passed on a party line vote by the House Budget Committee last month, it looks to be more of the same.
On taxes, President Bush has called on Congress to make permanent all of the tax cuts enacted over the last several years. These tax cuts – which mostly benefit the wealthiest among us – have been a key reason the budget surpluses from a few years ago have turned into record annual deficits of $400 billion. The Administration’s fiscal irresponsibility has resulted in $3 trillion increase in our National Debt – in just the last 5 years!
These tax cuts and the deficits they spawn come at a huge cost. They cripple our ability to strengthen our domestic security preparedness, to invest in our aging infrastructure and to protect the most vulnerable in our society.
This year’s Republican budget is replete with examples of just that. I find the cuts to education funding particularly short sighted. At a time when a quality education is critical to maintain America’s competitive edge in a global marketplace, the Republicans propose cutting education spending by $ 2.2 billion.
The loss of funding would mean cuts to programs ranging from Head Start to college loans. The budget also continues to shortchange local communities by forcing them to pay for unfunded federal mandates like the No Child Left Behind law by cutting valuable educational programs. These cuts come less than two months after a $12 billion raid on federal financial aid for higher education.
These cuts to education spending close the doors of opportunity to more of our students, making a quality education harder to obtain when we should be making it easier.
This budget also fails to adequately invest in infrastructure and domestic disaster preparedness programs. Last year in New Orleans we all saw the tragedy that can result from failing to repair and strengthen aging infrastructure like levees. We have seen these problems in California; just recently levees in the Central Valley were breeched, and threats to our aging levees from Sacramento to Santa Maria remain a serious concern. That is why I am baffled by the Bush Administration’s proposal to cut $596 million from the Army Corps of Engineers’ budget, the agency charged with maintaining our infrastructure. This massive reduction would result in many infrastructure repair projects failing to receive much needed funding. These misplaced priorities truly embody the saying “penny wise and pound foolish.” Didn’t we learn anything from Hurricane Katrina?
And the budget actually calls for cuts to veteran’s health care. While the Committee did reject the President’s insensitive call to increase health care fees on veterans, it didn’t do much else to support our troops when they come home. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that proposed funding for the years 2008 through 2011 will be nearly $9 billion below the level needed just to maintain current services. Yet, every day in Iraq American soldiers are being injured and their needs will be overwhelming in years to come.
Despite these cuts the deficit picture doesn’t get any better. In fact, this budget would produce another $2.3 trillion in debt over the next 5 years. Long term debt like this is a drag on our economy and a burden for future generations that must pay the bills we are passing on to them.
Given all these shortcomings, I simply cannot support such an irresponsible budget.
When the bill is considered on the House floor my Democratic colleagues and I will offer an alternative to the Republican’s misguided plan. Our plan sets priorities that reflect our common values and makes hard choices based on the funding available. This common sense budget allocates funding for important federal programs in a way that is both fiscally and morally responsible.
We take a disciplined approach that produces smaller deficits, reducing our national debt and bringing the budget into balance by 2012. It puts back into place the tough rules we used in the 1990’s that helped put a brake on runaway spending and reckless tax cutting. Put simply, we bring back fiscal discipline.
Our budget would restore shortsighted cuts to programs that benefit our working families. Additionally, our budget would make our country safer by investing in critical infrastructure repairs, like roads and levees, and enhanced security measures, such as port security.
I will continue to fight for our shared values. It is my hope that the reckless approach of the House Republicans can be set aside, and bi-partisan work on a fiscally and morally responsible budget can begin.
Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
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