Moral Values? This is what the Republican Party is Really All About: The full list of 154 programs Bush wants to terminate and slash
/The conservative
ideological agenda on the economy has hit full stride: aggressively
slash taxes on the wealthy; run up huge budget deficits; then push for massive cuts in critical domestic spending
under the guise of fiscal responsibility. President Bush will introduce
a budget today that is so callous Vice President Cheney felt compelled
yesterday to assure viewers of Fox News that "it's not something we've done with a meat ax." Just as with its push for privatizing Social Security, the White House plans "an elaborate marketing strategy to sell the cuts to voters and lawmakers."
The message: they aren't cutting government programs for the needy,
they are "centralizing government services and saving tax payer money."
America doesn't need to be sold another product. America needs a
responsible budget that allocates resources to where they are most
needed.
TRILLIONS FOR TAX CUTS AND PRIVATIZING SOCIAL SECURITY: Don't believe the fiscal responsibility hype. That isn't what's motivating the budget cuts. The administration is pushing to add trillions to the deficit to push its ideological agenda of privatizing Social Security and extending tax cuts for the very rich. Vice President Cheney acknowledged yesterday that "trillions of dollars in future borrowing may be needed to cover the cost of private retirement accounts." Bush is also pushing to extend his tax cuts for the wealthy at a cost of $2 trillion over the next nine years. The bottom line: President Bush's promise to cut the deficit in half by 2009 is a fantasy.
JOB TRAINING CUT BY $500 MILLION: At a time when overseas outsourcing has left many American workers – especially in the manufacturing sector – out of work, President Bush will propose cutting federal spending on job training by a half-billion dollars. Federal job training programs, including dislocated-worker training, will be cut by $200 million. Federal aid to states for job training, including funding to train veterans, will be cut by $300 million.
FUNDING FOR POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS SLASHED: On 2/2/02, President Bush appeared at the New York Police Department Command Center and said, "Police and firefighters of New York, you have this nation's respect, and you'll have this nation's support." Three years later Bush is seeking to decimate vital funding for police officers and firefighters. The administration's budget is expected to reduce federal grants to local police forces from $600 million to $60 million. Grants to local firefighters would be cut by $215 million dollars.
DRUG CO-PAYMENTS FOR VETERANS DOUBLED: The Bush administration's idea of fiscal responsibility is making veterans pay more for medication. The Bush budget "would more than double the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year for the privilege of using government healthcare." Richard B. Fuller, legislative director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, calls the $250 fee "a health care tax, designed to raise revenue and to discourage people from enrolling."
BIG CUTS IN BIOTERRORISM PROTECTION: On 6/12/02, President Bush told the American people, "bioterrorism is a real threat to our country...It's important that we confront these real threats to our country and prepare for future emergencies. Protecting our citizens against bioterrorism is an urgent duty of...American governments." Now, Bush's budget will cut a "range of public health programs, including several to protect the nation against bioterrorist attacks and to respond to medical emergencies." Funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be reduced by 9 percent under Bush's plan. Specifically, "the public health emergency fund of the [CDC], which helps state and local agencies prepare for bioterror attacks, would be cut 12.6 percent."
LEAVING THE POOR IN THE COLD: Prices for home heating oil are skyrocketing. Nevertheless, Bush's budget proposes cutting the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program (LIHEAP), which helps people pay their heating bills, by 8.4 percent. At last year's funding levels, only one-sixth of low-income families who qualified for the program were able to receive assistance. Last year's funding for LIHEAP was 23 percent lower than in 2001. For continually updated information on the Bush administration's budget, check out our 2006 Budget page.
Budget Programs Facing Cuts, Elimination
Here are the 154 programs that President Bush wants to eliminate or cut in his 2006 budget proposal. Bush would terminate 99 programs and make major spending reductions in 55. Separately, the administration listed eight major reforms Bush proposed that also would produce spending cuts.
Of the terminations, Bush has recommended 59 of them before. Twenty-seven of the 55 programs targeted for spending reductions have been previously submitted to Congress.
TERMINATED:
_Agriculture Department
AMS Biotechnology Program
Forest Service Economic Action Program
High Cost Energy Grants
NRCS Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations
Research and Extension Grant Earmarks and Low Priority Programs
_Commerce Department
Advanced Technology Program
Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Program
Public Telecommunications Facilities, Planning and Construction Program
_Education Department
Comprehensive School Reform
Educational Technology State Grants
Even Start
(High School Program Terminations:)
Vocational Education State Grants
Vocational Education National Activities
Tech Prep State Grants
Upward Bound
Talent Search
GEAR UP
Smaller Learning Communities
Perkins Loans: Capital Contributions and Loan Cancellations
Regional Education Laboratories
Safe and Drug Free Schools State Grants
(Small Elementary and Secondary Education Programs:)
Javits Gifted and Talented Education
National Writing Project
School Leadership
Dropout Prevention Program
Close Up Fellowships
Ready to Teach
Parental Information and Resource Centers
Alcohol Abuse Reduction
Foundations for Learning
Mental Health Integration in Schools
Community Technology Centers
Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners
Foreign Language Assistance
Excellence in Economic Education
Arts in Education
Women's Educational Equity
Elementary and Secondary School Counseling
Civic Education
Star Schools
(Smaller Higher Education Programs:)
Higher Education Demos for Students w/Disabilities
Underground Railroad Program
Interest Subsidy Grants
(Small Job Training and Adult Education Programs:)
Occupational and Employment Information
Tech-prep Demonstration
Literacy Programs for Prisoners
State Grants for Incarcerated Youth
(Small Postsecondary Student Financial Assistance Programs:)
LEAP
Byrd Scholarships
B.J. Stupak Olympic Scholarships
Thurgood Marshall Legal Opportunity
(Small Vocational Rehabilitation Programs:)
Vocational Rehabilitation Recreational Programs
Vocational Rehab (VR) Migrant and Seasonal Workers
Projects with Industry
Supported Employment
Teacher Quality Enhancement Program
_Energy Department
Hydropower Program
Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization
Nuclear Energy Research Initiative
Oil and Gas Programs
_Health and Human Services Department
ACF Community Service Programs
ACF Early Learning Opportunities Fund
CDC Congressional Earmarks
CDC Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant
CDC Youth Media Campaign
Direct Service Worker Delivery Grants
HRSA Emergency Medical Services for Children
HRSA Health Facilities Construction Congressional Earmarks
HRSA Healthy Community Access Program
HRSA State Planning Grant Program
HRSA Trauma Care
HRSA Traumatic Brain Injury
HRSA Universal Newborn Hearing Screening
Real Choice Systems Change Grants
_Housing and Urban Development Department
HOPE VI
_Interior Department
BLM Jobs-in-the-Woods Program
LWCF State Recreation Grants (NPS)
National Park Service Statutory Aid
Rural Fire Assistance (BLM, NPS, FWS, BIA)
_Justice Department
Byrne Discretionary Grants
Byrne Justice Assistance Grants
COPS Hiring Grants
COPS Interoperable Communications Technology Grants
COPS Law Enforcement Technology Grants
Juvenile Accountability Block Grants
National Drug Intelligence Center
Other State/Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program Terminations
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP)
_Labor Department
Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Training Program
Reintegration of Youthful Offenders
_Transportation Department
National Defense Tank Vessel Construction Program
Railroad Rehabilitation Infrastructure Financing Loan Program
_Enviromental Protection Agency
Unrequested Projects
Water Quality Cooperative Agreements
_National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Hubble Space Telescope Robotic Servicing Mission
_Other Agencies
National Veterans Business Development Corporation
Postal Service: Revenue Forgone Appropriation
SBA: Microloan Program
SBA: Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Participating Securities Program
MAJOR REDUCTIONS:
_Agriculture Department
Federal (In-House) Research
Forest Service Capital Improve and Maintenance
Forest Service Wildland Fire Management (incl. supp. and emergency funding)
Biomass Research and Development
Broadband
CCC - Bioenergy
CCC - Market Access Program
Farm Bill Programs (EQIP
Farm Bill Programs (CSP)
Farm Bill Programs (WHIP)
Farm Bill Program (Farm and Ranchland Protection)
Farm Bill Programs (Ag. Management Assistance)
IFAS
Renewable Energy
Rural Firefighter Grants
Rural Strategic Investment Program
Rural Business Investment Program
Value-added Grants
Watershed Rehabilitation
NRCS Conservation Operations
NRCS Resource Conservation and Development Program
Water and Wastewater Grants and Loans
_Commerce Department
Manufacturing Extension Partnership
_Education Department
Adult Education State Grants
State Grants for Innovation
_Energy Department
Environmental Management
_Health and Human Services Department
HRSA Children's Hospitals GME Payment Program
HRSA Health Professions
HRSA Rural Health
SAMHSA Programs of Regional and National Significance
State, Local & Hospital Bioterrorism Preparedness Grants
_Housing and Urban Development Department
Housing for Persons with Disabilities
Native American Housing Block Grant
Public Housing Capital Fund
-Interior Department
Bureau of Indian Affairs School Construction
National Heritage Area Grants
Payments in Lieu of Taxes
USGS, Mineral Resources Program
_Justice Department
Federal Bureau of Prisons Construction Program
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program
Juvenile Justice Law Enforcement Assistance Programs
_Labor Department
International Labor Affairs Bureau
Office of Disability Employment Policy
Workforce Investment Act Pilots and Demonstrations
_State Department
Assistance for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union
_Transportation Department
FAA - Facilities and Equipment
FAA - Airport Improvement Program (Oblim)
FRA - Next Generation High Speed Rail
_Treasury Department
Internal Revenue Service - Taxpayer Service
_Environmental Protection Agency
Alaska Native Villages
Clean Water State Revolving Fund
-National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Aeronautics: Vehicle Systems Program
Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter
_Other Agencies
Archives: National Historical Publications & Records Commission
U.S. Institute of Peace, Construction of New Building
MAJOR REFORMS
Agriculture: Rural Telephone Bank
Commerce: Economic and Community Development Programs
Homeland Security: State and Local Homeland Security Grants
Homeland Security: Transportation Security Administration, Recover Aviation Security Screening Costs Through Fees
Labor: Job Training Reform, Consolidate Grants Program
Transportation: Amtrak
Army Corps of Engineers (Civil Works): Performance Guidelines for Funding Construction Projects
U.S. Agency for International Development and Department of Agriculture: International Food Aid
