Bush Budget Fails Workers, Children, College Students, Families, and the Economy, Says Chairman Miller

Monday, February 4, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today on the Bush administration’s proposed budget for the 2009 fiscal year.

“For workers, students, children, and families, this budget is a disaster, full of cuts to essential services and wasteful spending on ideological gimmicks. The Congress will continue to work to restore common-sense budget priorities and fiscal sanity to Washington.”

Education

“The President’s proposed increase for funding for public schools through the No Child Left Behind law is not enough even to keep pace with inflation. The President has made it clear that he intends to end his administration the same way he started it – by breaking his promises to public schools and schoolchildren.

“At the same time, the President is recycling his failed school voucher idea, once again branding it with a new name and proposing to spend $300 million on it. But school vouchers, which take money away from cash-strapped public schools and deliver it to private schools, are and always have been a bad idea. Congress has rejected them in the past and will reject them now. The President also proposes to cut $281 million in funding from a proven after-school program and use that money for – what else? – yet another new voucher scheme.

“The President’s budget falls short on helping schoolchildren with disabilities. It eliminates vital programs to help more high school students reach college or enter the workforce ready to succeed. It eliminates important sources of financial aid for low-income students trying to pay for college. It cuts funds for education technology and school safety at a time when schools are struggling to make the leap into the 21^st century and offer a safe and drug-free learning environment. And it fails to make essential new investments in early childhood education, even cutting 100,000 children from a child care assistance program.”

Labor

“For workers in an uncertain economy, the Bush budget for 2009 goes in the wrong direction. It cuts over $888 million from the budget at the U.S. Department of Labor. Just last week we learned that the U.S. economy had lost jobs, yet the Bush budget would cut job training by over $234 million at just the time when more workers are sure to need it. And as he has in the past, the President proposes to replace the nation’s job training programs with a voucher. Vouchers are the President’s wrong-headed answer to everything, but workers who are out of a job don’t need a voucher – they need help finding a new job.

“Finally, at the same time that the President is urging Congress to enter into a free trade deal with Colombia, he is proposing to eviscerate the office responsible for writing labor standards into trade agreements. The American people have made it clear that they don’t want trade agreements that lack strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards.”

The Economy

“From an economic standpoint, the President’s budget makes no sense. At a time when the economy clearly needs a boost, he is proposing to cut funding for essential services for low-income families, such as assistance to help families pay their home energy bills. It’s also disappointing that the President doesn’t recognize the need to provide extended unemployment insurance and additional aid to the states. All of this undermines our efforts to get the economy back on the right track – and keep it there – by getting money into the hands of people who will spend it.”

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853