Budget 2006

The budget George W. Bush is sending to Congress should serve as a wake up call to society. If this budget represents the “values” of the majority of Americans, then the majority of Americans believe in “values” that don’t benefit the majority of their fellow citizens. The budget contain cuts to education, affordable housing programs, food stamp vouchers and other social services while increasing the Pentagon’s budget to 419 billion dollars. The US is spending almost 10 times any other country on its military. Meanwhile the disparity in wealth between the richest and poorest Americans continues to grow.

The Economist magazine states “(Bush’s) current deficits are primarily the result of a collapse in tax revenues, down from 20.8% of GDP in 2000 to 16.8%.” There is no logic in making the tax breaks permanent. The tax cuts were a mistake to begin with. A tax cut in a time of war when a government consistently fails to balance a budget is fundamentally wrong. The high oil prices and massive foreign debt require fiscal management now. Dropping funding for education and social services is a disgusting method to obscure a rapidly growing problem. The Administration should reverse the tax cuts, decrease military spending particularly on advanced weapons programs and fully fund its domestic programs.