February 13, 2008 – The House and Senate this week will continue to hold hearings on President Bush’s record breaking $3.1 trillion budget, which cuts or eliminates a host of domestic programs designed to assist working families while retaining costly tax breaks for the wealthy.
The Bush administration is proposing more than $760 million in cuts to job training and employment programs. Roughly $270 million in cuts will be from the dislocated worker program, according to the Center for American Progress, which says the cuts would result in 65,000 fewer workers receiving job training and other services to help them find work.
The budget also proposes more than $600 billion in cuts over the next 10 years to social safety net programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, $570 million in cuts to funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) as well as a freeze in funding for child care assistance for low-income families.
“The President’s misguided budget cuts health care for seniors and working families, freezes lifesaving medical research, raises health care costs for veterans, and slashes energy assistance–all at a time of rising prices and a slowing economy,” says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “This President has presided over the five largest budget deficits in American history, leaving a legacy of debt to the next generation that will dramatically undermine our nation’s strength.”
