Budget Games That Hurt Children: Hank Paulson, at least, is embarrassed; Bush is not

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Budget Games That Hurt Children
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, February 9, 2007; Page A19


Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President Bush on Monday. (Pool Photo By Ron Sachs)

It was one of those moments when a public official gives away a larger truth by offering what seems to be a throwaway line.

Testifying this week on President Bush's budget, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. suggested he would not mind a bit if the Democratic Congress added money to prevent cutbacks in coverage under the federal government's children's health insurance program.

"It just may be," Paulson said mildly, "that the Congress believes that that's something that should be funded at a higher level."

In other words, Bush's budget is a collection of artificial numbers -- including cuts in domestic programs that Congress will inevitably reverse -- that allow the president to claim fiscal responsibility while demanding that his tax cuts for the wealthy be made permanent.

The cutbacks in health coverage for lower-income working families are among the most egregious of the president's fiscal choices. And it's not just Democrats who are saying so.

"These cuts interfere with the fundamental responsibility of government: to safeguard the lives of its citizens," said Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a member of that small, hardy group of Northeastern Republicans to survive November's Democratic tide....It's to Paulson's credit that, judging by his words at least, he appeared to be embarrassed. Clearly Bush isn't.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020801677.html