Today, Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-05) criticized the President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2009. The $3.1 trillion budget proposal would cut or freeze funding for key domestic priorities.
“The budget unveiled by President Bush today does not reflect the priorities of the American people. I am committed to delivering a budget that will provide hardworking American families with the support they need to be prosperous and successful, and that makes critical investments to strengthen our economy,” said Rep. Matsui.
The President’s budget would leave a $407 billion deficit for future generations of Americans to take responsibility for. The five largest deficits in American history all have occurred under Bush Administration policies. When President Bush took office, our nation had a running surplus of more than $200 billion. Now, our nation faces record level deficits that will force our children and grandchildren to pay for this President’s reckless spending.
“Over the course of this Administration’s reign, we have seen our deficit spiral out of control and billions of dollars go to the war in
Iraq, while key domestic priorities have been ignored. We must stop this reckless pattern, and invest in keeping the people of this country safe, secure, and poised for success,” said Rep. Matsui.
Some of the largest cuts in the President’s budget are reserved for bedrock programs that have been staples of the social safety net. For instance, the President’s proposal would cut more than half a trillion dollars from Medicare over the next decade, undermining Medicare payments upon which the seniors and disabled have relied for decades. These cuts are achieved, to a great degree, by reducing annual updates to payments made by Medicare to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, ambulances, and home care agencies that will reduce Medicare benefits for millions of seniors and disabled Americans.
The Federal government’s commitment to the poor is also undercut by the President’s budget, which seeks to eliminate $46.7 billion from Medicaid funding that provides health insurance for millions of poor families in California. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be cut by more than $430 million, with targeted cuts to efforts to detect and control infectious diseases, chronic disease prevention and health promotion programs, and training programs for professionals at children’s hospitals.
Other critical programs are also reduced or eliminated by the President’s misguided budget. Transportation programs face an enormous 25-percent cut in their budget, and vital crime programs across the country would be severely undermined if the President’s proposal were to become law. The President would also zero out the National Children’s Study in 2009, wasting millions of dollars that have already been invested in this landmark healthcare initiative and putting the health of millions of children further at risk.
“What is unconscionable about the President’s budget is that it proposes millions of dollars in cuts to critical social programs, even as it requests an additional $70 billion for the war in Iraq,” said Matsui, referring to the President’s partial-year proposal to fund the war.
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