Bush’s 2005 Budget Is Insane

President Bush’s budget for next year scares the hell out of me. A letter from Ellen Tauscher, my congresswoman, delivered the wake-up call.

By Joseph Smigelski

The other day I received a letter from Representative Ellen Tauscher, my congresswoman. She told me about President Bush’s upcoming budget, and what she said scared the hell out of me.

What frightened me even more was considering that a lot of Bush supporters are probably unaware of what the President is doing economically to the fabric of this great country of ours. And that’s the point, isn’t it? This is our country. It doesn’t belong solely to big business or to what former president Eisenhower termed "the military-industrial complex." This is our country. We pay the taxes. Why should we let the Bush Administration run wild? We should not be told to shut up and just take it. I think everyone needs to know what Ms. Tauscher told me in her letter:

"It would be nearly impossible to overstate how irresponsible the President’s budget is…. Given that the President overspent by $375 billion in 2003 and is on track to do so by nearly half a trillion dollars in 2004, a little honesty is the least the American people deserve. Instead, the President failed to include a single penny for ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is outrageous given that we know we will have at least 100,000 troops in Iraq until 2007. Furthermore, we now know that the Medicare prescription drug plan is going to cost $134 billion more than the White House originally said, but the budget continues to cover that up. So what the President presented to Congress is not really a budget, but a wish list."

Does that sound like good leadership to you? Look at how incredibly irresponsible Bush’s proposed spending is, and notice the lack of critical thinking it reveals:

"The defense budget, which would reach $401 billion (without accounting for Iraq), includes a 13 percent increase for the National Missile Defense program even though there is no evidence that it will work and it does nothing to protect us from terrorists. The President also wants an extra $20 million for nuclear ’bunker busters’ even though the military has not asked for them, they are impractical, and could start a new global arms race."

Wow! Is anyone else paying attention to all this?

"The President’s budget also proposes taking another $1.2 trillion out of federal revenues over ten years by extending some of his tax cuts."

As I understand it, most of those tax cuts will benefit the wealthy. And where does Bush intend to get the money that the rich won’t have to pay?

"The President proposes to balance the budget on [domestic] programs, which is not only mathematically impossible, but detrimental to our standard of living and economic health."

Why are Bush & Co. intent on killing instead of saving lives? Why won’t they at least give us a budget that is honest about the amount of money to be spent on killing and where that money is really going to come from?

"The priorities in the President’s budget are out of touch with reality and American values. The President’s tax cuts have taken us from the largest surplus in history to the largest deficit in history, and he still wants more. It is irresponsible, outrageous, and it is a spending spree we cannot afford to maintain without serious long-term damage to our economy."

Let’s bring sanity back to the helm of our country. Let’s all vote for John Kerry in November.

Joseph Smigelski teaches English in the California community college system. You can email Joe at Joe@interventionmag.com

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