Progressive Talking Points 11/9/05

Same Old Song

This week as House conservatives debate their five-year, $54 billion budget proposal a few things remain clear. It will be “disguised as an overdue act of fiscal responsibility and government savings”, but in the end it is anything but that. Conservatives in the house will also claim that its impact will help all Americans, but the truth is, if passed low income Americans will bear the brunt of the Bill.

• Conservatives in the House have chosen the health of drug companies over poor Americans. To avoid disastrous cuts in Medicaid, the Senate wisely chose to remove a provision that hands over $5.4 billion to drug companies in the hope that they offer prescription drug coverage under the new Medicare benefit plan. House conservatives lack of creativity and desire had led them to conclude that cutting $12 billion in Medicaid benefits is the best solution for low income Americans.
  
  
• House Conservatives are cutting services at a time when they are most needed. The bill is expected to make substantial cuts in the food stamp program. This comes at a time when victims of the Hurricanes are in most need of the government service. In the face of $35 billion worth of cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, and child care enforcement, conservatives are seeking to "extend several of Mr. Bush's biggest tax cuts, including those on stock dividends and capital gains. It is hard to imagine those beneficiaries of capitol gains tax cuts are in as dire need of such cuts as those recipients of food stamps.
  
  
• Drilling in the Alaskan refuge has nothing to do with our national budget priorities. The budget reconciliation bill is reserved for only those legislative items that impact spending and revenue targets. But because the bill is immune from the filibuster, it has become a favored means of passing sought-after, non-revenue-related items that otherwise would not obtain the necessary support for passage as a stand-alone bill, such as drilling in Alaska.