Budget Carnage
Now that everyone's W-2s, 1099s, and other forms have arrived in the mail, tax season is upon us. For some of us, we'll be paying a sizeable share. For others, it will be a goodly sum, but not too bad. Yet others will pay very little, or absolutely nothing. A number of folks will receive refunds, whether in the form of EIC due to being rock-bottom poor, or due to deductions, overpayments, and the like. But in the end, a good bundle of cash will wing its way to the Federal Treasury.
What then?
Well as I outlined the other day, for FY 2007 Smirk wants to bestow over $439 billion to Defense, and hand over another $120 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan-- cash, I might add, that isn't fully worked into the budget. This budgeted amount, never fully in the books, is quite a chunk of change. Whenever I really want to work myself into despair, I check out the running total. So far, it's over $200 billion and running. You can see for yourself what the cost of war is at this particular moment. The amount is rather immense, no? For even more fun, click on some of the links on that page. According to the link on education, with this money the gummint could have hired an additional 4 million-plus schoolteachers for a year. You can even click on the top part to see how much it's costing in your own hometown. Here in Los Angeles, "our" share of the war expenses comes to over $7 billion. What about DC? The denizens of NW, NE, SW, and SE that aren't addressed with honorifics are ponying up more than one billion. The same is true for Montgomery County, Maryland, the home of the workplace of one of my faithful readers.
How about the housing crunch? These days, the average house costs a lifetime's worth of earnings for some folks. Yet with the money from killing people overseas, over 2 million additional housing units could have been built for public housing. What with Katrina, our unsteady economy, and the proclivity of people my age and younger to postpone purchasing a home or living paycheck to paycheck to take care of the rent, that kind of assistance could come in real handy.
But that's the cost of the war. Back to the budget for FY 2007. Among the things that Smirk wants to toss so that he can have his war and his tax cuts, is the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS). Yeah, you've gotten that petition for years: protect Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Well, I think Oscar lives in the White House these days, and he's proposing an even bigger cut than in past years.
What other things is the Smirkster planning to toss overboard so his oil buddies (who, coincidentally of course, have just reaped record profits) can get tons of refunds, permanently? Let's see: watershed protection and flood prevention funding. Vocational education grants. Dropout prevention programs. Job opportunities for low-income folks. Health programs. Rural fire assistance. Social services block grants. Amtrak. The list goes on. For someone who claimed education was such a priority, about a third of his cuts are in education alone.
I don't know about you, but our Republican-led gummint (both the White House and Congress) have an interesting set of priorities. In December, the House approved, with the last-minute assistance of Scowl, to remove a tiny chunk of change (tiny in comparison with federal pork, the cost of the wars, and the tax cuts, that is) from the budget- over $41 billion. Their targets included Medicare, student loans, and Medicaid. So far I don't see these priorities benefiting the bulk of Americans. I see cash outlays benefiting defense corporations, companies with no-bid contracts like Halliburton, rich people who are just going to sock away the money, war profiteers, and tons of similar folks. Our nation may be strong outwardly, dadgummit, and that's what counts!
But what about the inside? What about the people who are left uneducated, hungry, homeless, in debt? What about the children, the elderly, the blue-collar workers, the under- and unemployed? When the next epidemic or pandemic hits (and it will, whether it's bird flu, a resurgence of TB, or some other calamity), will the nation be strong enough, or will people be weakened and thus susceptible to disease? Will the nation's health agencies, hospitals, and clinics be well funded and able to handle whatever comes? Will our schools turn out bright young scholars ready to assume their place in society? Or will we have to outsource and look overseas, because we didn't teach Johnny to read well enough or do math good enough to secure a decent job? Will our cities and towns be well protected from the next Katrina? Or because Smirk and his pals decided watershed protection and flood protection wasn't as important as their tax rebates, another portion of our country will be devastated and people killed, all so somebody can buy a new Hummer or luxury yacht, or open a new offshore banking account?
I don't know about you, but I have pride in this country, and I'd like its people to be just as strong, or stronger, than its vaunted defenses. But with priorities like this, I think we're in danger of turning into a solid shell-- strong on the outside, weak and hollow on the inside. The carnage our Republican-led Congress and its man in the White House levies will have impact for years to come.
What then?
Well as I outlined the other day, for FY 2007 Smirk wants to bestow over $439 billion to Defense, and hand over another $120 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan-- cash, I might add, that isn't fully worked into the budget. This budgeted amount, never fully in the books, is quite a chunk of change. Whenever I really want to work myself into despair, I check out the running total. So far, it's over $200 billion and running. You can see for yourself what the cost of war is at this particular moment. The amount is rather immense, no? For even more fun, click on some of the links on that page. According to the link on education, with this money the gummint could have hired an additional 4 million-plus schoolteachers for a year. You can even click on the top part to see how much it's costing in your own hometown. Here in Los Angeles, "our" share of the war expenses comes to over $7 billion. What about DC? The denizens of NW, NE, SW, and SE that aren't addressed with honorifics are ponying up more than one billion. The same is true for Montgomery County, Maryland, the home of the workplace of one of my faithful readers.
How about the housing crunch? These days, the average house costs a lifetime's worth of earnings for some folks. Yet with the money from killing people overseas, over 2 million additional housing units could have been built for public housing. What with Katrina, our unsteady economy, and the proclivity of people my age and younger to postpone purchasing a home or living paycheck to paycheck to take care of the rent, that kind of assistance could come in real handy.
But that's the cost of the war. Back to the budget for FY 2007. Among the things that Smirk wants to toss so that he can have his war and his tax cuts, is the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS). Yeah, you've gotten that petition for years: protect Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Well, I think Oscar lives in the White House these days, and he's proposing an even bigger cut than in past years.
What other things is the Smirkster planning to toss overboard so his oil buddies (who, coincidentally of course, have just reaped record profits) can get tons of refunds, permanently? Let's see: watershed protection and flood prevention funding. Vocational education grants. Dropout prevention programs. Job opportunities for low-income folks. Health programs. Rural fire assistance. Social services block grants. Amtrak. The list goes on. For someone who claimed education was such a priority, about a third of his cuts are in education alone.
I don't know about you, but our Republican-led gummint (both the White House and Congress) have an interesting set of priorities. In December, the House approved, with the last-minute assistance of Scowl, to remove a tiny chunk of change (tiny in comparison with federal pork, the cost of the wars, and the tax cuts, that is) from the budget- over $41 billion. Their targets included Medicare, student loans, and Medicaid. So far I don't see these priorities benefiting the bulk of Americans. I see cash outlays benefiting defense corporations, companies with no-bid contracts like Halliburton, rich people who are just going to sock away the money, war profiteers, and tons of similar folks. Our nation may be strong outwardly, dadgummit, and that's what counts!
But what about the inside? What about the people who are left uneducated, hungry, homeless, in debt? What about the children, the elderly, the blue-collar workers, the under- and unemployed? When the next epidemic or pandemic hits (and it will, whether it's bird flu, a resurgence of TB, or some other calamity), will the nation be strong enough, or will people be weakened and thus susceptible to disease? Will the nation's health agencies, hospitals, and clinics be well funded and able to handle whatever comes? Will our schools turn out bright young scholars ready to assume their place in society? Or will we have to outsource and look overseas, because we didn't teach Johnny to read well enough or do math good enough to secure a decent job? Will our cities and towns be well protected from the next Katrina? Or because Smirk and his pals decided watershed protection and flood protection wasn't as important as their tax rebates, another portion of our country will be devastated and people killed, all so somebody can buy a new Hummer or luxury yacht, or open a new offshore banking account?
I don't know about you, but I have pride in this country, and I'd like its people to be just as strong, or stronger, than its vaunted defenses. But with priorities like this, I think we're in danger of turning into a solid shell-- strong on the outside, weak and hollow on the inside. The carnage our Republican-led Congress and its man in the White House levies will have impact for years to come.
posted by Mr. Sandman | 9:50 PM
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