Bush Budget Slap in the Face of Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/02/05/bush-budget-slap-in-the-face-of-workers/

by James Parks, Feb 5, 2008

With less than a year left in office, President Bush is desperately trying to establish his legacy by leaving his successor with a budget that puts his anti-worker agenda and his pet ideas into practice for years to come. While he proposes a stimulus package to jump start the nation’s economy on one hand, his proposed budget makes it harder for working families to make ends meet during an economic downturn.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the proposed budget is

a slap in the face to America’s working families who are already struggling to get by in an economy sinking under the weight of this administration’s disastrous policies.

Click here to read Sweeney’s full statement on the budget.

Bush’s budget proposal would retain his costly tax cuts for the wealthy and boost military spending to record levels—while slashing crucial programs for the most vulnerable. For example, the budget would cut $603 billion over 10 years from key social safety net programs, most of that from Medicare and Medicaid, including a $178 billion cut in Medicare over five years.

The budget also would cut more than $760 million from job training and employment programs, including training programs for dislocated workers, young people, American Indians and migrant and seasonal farm workers, as well as senior citizen community service employment programs.

As Sweeney points out:

Cutting training programs during an economic downturn is both bad economics and bad social policy. It is particularly unfortunate with respect to youth programs. Black teen unemployment jumped from 28 percent last October to almost 36 percent in January.

In place of training programs, Bush proposes so-called career advancement accounts, which have little public support. The AFL-CIO has consistently opposed these accounts because they take resources from current programs and provide fewer benefits: Last year when the accounts were proposed, Bush administration officials said they would triple the number of workers receiving training. The AFL-CIO’s analysis of the program found that in fact, fewer dollars would be spread among more workers—leaving workers with less funding and less help.

FULL story at link.

[Triana]

1. You'll NEVER get one iota of social or economic justice...

...from The Psychopath Party - or their chief psychopath, GWB.

They are parasites on the backs of working people.