Budget Cuts: More Pain for the Poor

Don’t look now but the Republicans are planning to cut Federal spending. Under pressure from the so-called fiscal conservatives who are aghast at the bloated budgets that George Bush has signed off on, [and that the Republican Congress had sent up for signature], the House has found plenty of programs to cut. Not that the wealthy need worry: these cuts will fall squarely on middle and lower wage earners. Things like food stamps, student loans, Medicaid and so on are targeted for about $50 billion in cuts. Why the sudden fiscal tightening? Well the reason that the Republicans want you to believe is that the country needs to tighten its belt as a result of the costs of the recent storms. The real reason? Twofold: the ongoing cost of the war in Iraq [which does not actually appear on the budget because the Administration classified it as a ‘special expense’] and the continuation of about $70 billion in tax cuts. Yes you read that correctly: even as they tell us to suck it up and take these cuts, they turn around in a different room [literally] and vote to continue a variety of tax cuts for the wealthy. Wake up everyone, this is a king sized scam. After the dose of supposed belt tightening being foisted on the poor the Federal budget will be even worse off because the tax cuts are bigger than the spending cuts! I guess they thought we wouldn’t notice … well we did!