1115.org

From the New York Times

Facing a record budget deficit, Bush administration officials say they have drafted an election-year budget that will rein in the growth of domestic spending without alienating politically influential constituencies.

Translation: True conservatives are pissed that we keep spending money and running up deficits, so to pacify our base, we’ll take the money from poor people because they don’t vote.

Where are the cuts coming from? Housing assistance for poor families, health care for veterans, and biotech research.

The Military Officers Association of America criticized this as “a grossly insensitive and wrong-headed proposal.” In e-mail messages to the White House, members of the association asked Mr. Bush, “Why do your budget officials persist in trying to cut military benefits?”

The Times story doesn’t even mention any reaction from anyone criticizing the cuts in housing assistance. Maybe they don’t have email.

It’s good to see the administration at least being up front about the calculations that went into this budget. It’s unfortunate that the math was based on electoral votes rather than say, compassion. Rather than trim irresponsible farm subsidies ($300 billion), scandalous corporate welfare (more), or trillions of dollars in tax cuts, the administration has decided to let veterans and the poor bear the burden of the deficit.

What’s sad is that this will have no negative effect on the re-coronation. The press won’t properly cover it because to do so would require “percentages”, “averages”, and maybe even a “median” or two. And the people adversely affected don’t vote.

Enter Wesley Clark’s new tax plan, brilliantly entitled Families First Tax Reform. Clark’s plan includes simplifying the tax code, giving tax relief to lower and middle income people who need it, and raising taxes only on income above and beyond $1 million, and closing tax loopholes that corporations use to avoid taxes.

Now the Republicans will probably howl “class warfare” and “income redistribution”, but the fact remains that only 1/10 of 1 percent of Americans make more than $1 million. Contrast that with the millions of families struggling to get by, and you have a winner, both politicaly and in policy. If the administration wants to call this class warfare, it says more about themselves than it does Clark. Why are they fighting the war to make the rich escape their responsibility?

All I really gotta say is that
if that’s how our people gon’ get down, how we ever gon’ get up?
How we ever gon’ get up if that’s how we get down?
A shame when you ain’t look at it
My folk is yo’ folk, but we all kinfolk
Somebody gotta make a change - from Nas - “Get Down”