When I was a kid and introduced to the Wizard of Oz, the yellow brick road amused me to no end....when I was four. Now George Bush literally wants to pave our way into the depths of perdition by wasting our resources, our military and domestic programs that help make us strong. For the first time ever, the requested national budget from the President is over three trillion dollars.
From RawStory:
The 2009 spending plan sent to Congress on Monday will project huge budget deficits, around $400 billion for this year and next and more than double the 2007 deficit of $163 billion. But even those estimates could prove too low given the rapidly weakening economy and the total costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which Bush does not include in his request for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.
Last year, when Democrats were newly in the majority, there were drawn-out veto struggles. This year's fights could be worse because it is an election year.
As in past years, Bush's biggest proposed increases are in national security. Defense spending is projected to rise by about 7 percent to $515 billion and homeland security money by almost 11 percent, with a big gain for border security. Details on the budget were obtained through interviews with administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity until the budget's release.
The bulk of government programs for which Congress sets annual spending levels would remain essentially frozen at current levels. The president does shower extra money on some favored programs in education and to bolster inspections of imported food.
Bush's spending proposal would achieve sizable savings by slowing the growth in the major health programs — Medicare for retirees and Medicaid for the poor. There the president will be asking for almost $200 billion in cuts over five years, about three times the savings he proposed last year.
"Achieve sizable savings by slowing the growth in the major health programs....." That line is truly haunting. Instead of saving money by ending the war or keeping military projects within the Pentagon in place of ridiculously expensive contracts, we will be starving those most in need while continuing to sell our future away with a massive amount of debt.
If Bush is looking for a legacy, I believe 'death and destruction of country' already found him.
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