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For Immediate Release: Monday, February 7, 2005

contact: Germonique Jones 202-339-9331 gjones @communitychange.org Jennifer Fuson 202-339-9350 jfuson@communitychange.org

President Bush’s Budget Hides As Much As It Reveals

(Washington, DC) “Today President Bush unveiled his $2.6 trillion budget that leaves more questions than it answers. The budget is supposed to reflect our priorities as a nation. Instead, it hides essential information, and perhaps reveals more than the Administration realized about its own intentions.

Left out of the budget are three big ticket items: 1) the $80 billion for Iraq, a drop in the bucket to what’s already been spent; 2) the trillions Vice President Cheney admitted it will cost to privatize social security that the U.S. will have to borrow from other countries; and 3) the costs to make the President’s tax cuts permanent.

I suppose I could act as our President and leave my mortgage and car payment out of my family’s budget next month. If the President intends to ‘hold Federal programs to a firm test of accountability,’ as he claimed, he should include all federal spending, not just the spending he wants to count.

Also absent for public inspection are the usual tables that detail specific program spending projections for the next several years. Without them, taxpayers cannot see in full daylight the President’s budget and hold him accountable for his decisions.

The President’s budget does reveal his Administration’s intention to balance the budget on the backs of those most in need. With plans to cut federal job training programs by half a billion dollars; to reduce heating and energy assistance by more than eight percent, despite sharply rising energy costs; to eliminate federal programs that promote literacy among low-income children and their parents; and to consolidate and reduce spending by one-third – nearly $2 billion – for programs that support low-income rural and urban communities, the President’s budget could not be more direct in its disregard for the needs of low-income and working families.

When measured by their actions rather than their words, it becomes clear that this Administration is, doing exactly what Vice President Cheney claimed they would avoid: ‘turning [its] back on the most needy people in society.’ ”

The Actions Speak Louder campaign, led by the Center for Community Change, is an effort to hold President Bush accountable for his budget decisions and the priorities they reflect. The campaign will raise awareness, spark grassroots action and start a dialogue with people in ‘red’ states as to whether the President’s budget reflects the moral values he espouses. To see what’s at stake, visit www.ActionsSpeakLouder.org

© 2005 The Center for Community Change

1000 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20007
(202) 342-0519 | info@communitychange.org