Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Bush Doesn't Care About Poor People...Still

Bush's recently released budget proposal is, yet again, a wonderment in its disregard for those less fortunate as it seeks to hold down desparately needed Medicare growth while making tax cuts to the rich a permanent feature. Yeah, that's the way to erase the national debit.

None of this comes as a surprise to anyone who pays attention to the cold-heartedness of this administration. And anyone who has two brain cells to rub together and a modicum of compassion would be outraged at this.

But it doesn't stop there, my friends. Included in the budget is a Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program:
Drawing the most criticism were proposals to cut the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to about $1.8 billion, from the nearly $2.2 billion expected to be allocated in 2007, and to cut the weatherization program — which helps the poor insulate their homes — from the proposed $242 million for the current fiscal year to $144 million.

Nick Papas, a spokesman for the House Democratic caucus, said Bush was sending a message to families who receive energy assistance: "Stock up on blankets."

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) called Bush's proposed cut in funding for the energy-assistance program "simply unacceptable," underscoring how energy policy often divides along climate zones rather than party lines.

So when families who rely on such programs to keep from freezing end up getting sick because they can't afford to heat their homes, they can just stay sick, because Medicare won't be picking up the cost.

The Democratic majority had better make sure this doesn't go through.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Working as a social worker with a geriatric caseload in Ventura County, I see this reality up close and personal on a regular basis. I have clients who cannot afford to heat their homes, even with low-income utility rates. They wait for weatherization services, that is if the funding holds out long enough. A society's values are judged by where the money is spent: We value killing people more than we do saving lives. When I am told this is a "Christian Nation", I wish Jesus would come back and brat slap all the hypocrites.