Bush Punishes Frilly Michigan

State winces with Bush budget plan
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
By Sarah Kellogg
WASHINGTON -- Michigan's budget woes may be getting worse.
We Didn't elect DeVos!
President Bush's proposed 2008 federal budget, which was released Monday, would siphon hundreds of millions of dollars from key state-federal programs, ranging from Medicaid to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
KILL the POOR!
That leaves Michigan officials scrambling, trying to figure out where to plug holes in the state budget and hoping that a Democratic Congress won't adopt the Republican president's $2.9 trillion spending plan for 2008 without major changes.
And the Flint Journal STILL publishes those damn Flushing rightwingnut opinions that this is all the fault of the Dems~
"Michigan's got a lot of critical issues we're facing, especially in the coming weeks," said Dan Beattie, a spokesman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm. "The federal budget is clearly not going to advance state citizens' interests in a whole variety of programs."
Gotta get us some LOCKHEED-MARTIN Factories!
Michigan faces a $1 billion state budget shortfall this year, and it could be looking at even more in 2008. The governor will release her 2008 budget on Thursday. The state and federal budget years start Oct. 1.
Why oh why would anyone want to govern Michigan?
Bush administration officials were quick to point out that efforts to balance the budget by 2012 while paying for the war in Iraq leave little room for frills.
Michigan = A Frill
"Getting balanced requires keeping the economy strong, and sensible and realistic spending restraint," said Rob Portman, director of the Office of Management and Budget. "The president's budget is able to achieve both of these goals while funding critical priorities."
Fact: Historically Michigan Is A DONOR State. We are not the Entitlement Pigs, the WELFARE QUEENS of these 50 states, Oh, no, we pay more to the Federal system and get less back.
Bush's budget would eliminate or reduce 141 government programs, saving about $12 billion over five years. It also would reduce farm subsidies by $18 billion over five years. The biggest savings -- $100 billion over five years -- would come in Medicare.
KILL The POOR!
Tell me, my Fundie Friends, what was it your Lord and Savior said about the sick and suffering?
"We owe it to the American taxpayer to balance our books," said Michigan U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland. "The president's budget would provide surpluses in 2012 without raising taxes. Clearly Congress needs to closely examine the details of this budget and make our own policy, but Congress should balance the budget without raising taxes."
A Faith Based Budget. All the poor, homeless, and sick should be dead by then?
Keeping spending in check comes at a cost, though.
But not to Richie Rich guys. Thanks to Bush, The Middle Class Worker pays a higher rate of income tax than a Lazy Capitalist who lives off of investment income.
The president's budget would reduce Michigan funding in 2008 by $100 million for Medicaid, $40 million for Community Development Block Grants, $17 million for Social Services Block Grants and $27 million for LIHEAP.
KILL the POOR!
"The budget should be a reflection of our national priorities, (KILL the POOR!) but once again President Bush has shown he is out of step with the majority of Americans," said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, in a written statement. "The president's budget sends billions of dollars in new reconstruction funds to Iraq while cutting vital domestic programs."
KILL the POOR, BLAME the WAR, but don't STOP the WAR, Debbie!
More than 78,000 of Michigan's poor seniors and some mothers and their children would lose access to the federal Commodity Supplemental Food Program, under the Bush budget. The program, which provides monthly food packets to eligible participants, would lose its entire $108 million national budget.
Bombs not food.
Advocates for the poor say proposals to freeze funding at 2007 levels can be just as devastating as cutting spending, since the cost of doing business continues to grow.
The middle class who run programs won't give up the annual raise.
The Bush administration has proposed flat funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health care for poor children, along with Headstart and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
LET THEM EAT CAKE!
"The essential flat-funding of child health care and Medicaid is really a big concern," said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, a spokeswoman for the Michigan League for Human Services, a research and advocacy group based in Lansing. "We're already losing (health care) providers because we pay such low rates....These freezes are being absorbed financially by providers and parents, and in a real way by kids."
KILL THE POOR'S KIDS! Hey It's Their Fault they were born to poor parents! JEBSUS WILL LOVE 'EM.
A bright spot in the budget was funding for Great Lakes programs. The Great Lakes Legacy Act would receive $35 million to fund toxic sediment cleanups and another $7.65 million would be made available to construct a barrier across the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to block Asian carp from coming into Lake Michigan.
OOOH a Bright Spot.
Who dumped the toxics?
Are they living la vida loca somewhere, sending their kid to Yale?
Why do taxpayers get the bill?
Why is sludge in landfill better than sludge in riverbottoms?
Who got the contract to dredge and store?
Who got the contract for the fish fence?
A program to keep ALIEN fish from invading EL NORTE Lake Michigan.
Scientists don't even agree it'll work!
And maybe we should have a program phamphleting Chinese restaurants to educate the folk that it really ain't lucky to dump any ole good luck fish into bodies of water.
But the president's budget would eliminate nearly $200 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which helps finance improvements in city sewer systems. The 2008 budget recommendation is $687.5 million.
Faith Based Sanitation.
"The president's budget is a mixed bag (A flaming bag-o-shit on the front porch) for the Great Lakes," said Jordan Lubetkin, a spokesman for the Great Lakes office of the National Wildlife Federation, an environmental group. "Playing seesaw with Great Lakes programs, some going up and some going down, is not going to comprehensively restore the Great Lakes."
Hey Global Warming and Global Ballast and "Ice Mountain" Nestle and those aforementioned sewers and the soon to be re-proposed drilling are going to kill the the Great Lakes just fine. We got Armegeddon coming soon (the bible and George W.tells me so) and who cares anyway?
Several federal programs that have helped Michigan manufacturers and their employers are slated for cuts, although there are no exact numbers on how Michigan would be impacted. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which helps train small manufacturers, would lose almost $60 million, and the Advanced Technology Program, which helps manufacturers develop new technologies, would lose $67 million.
KILL the MIDDLE CLASS, TOO! After all, we got a WAR MACHINE in the Backyard that WANTS Feedin'!
Original unmarked-up copy from Booth Newspapers.