screw * for this crap: If this does not p*ss you off, nothing will

The Straight Story

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Tue Aug-29-06 01:30 AM
Original message

screw * for this crap: If this does not p*ss you off, nothing will

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The IRS, the FBI,and the DEA will all see hefty budget increases in 2006.

The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will be cut by more than 95%, down to $22 million. COPS provides state and local grants to hire police officers for our cities.

The hardest hit is Education, which will see 48 progams eliminated, and many more curtailed severely. The budget eliminates $2 billion from various progams specifically aimed at assisting middle and high school students from disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The Environmental Protection Agency's budget was predictably decreased. One major line item reduction of particular note: funding to improve our nation's crumbling dams and water systems was reduced by 83%.

Under the Health & Human Services Dept, budgets were radically cut for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Administration for Children & Families and the Administration for Aging. Food stamp eligibility has been tightened to save $57 million in 2006 and $1.1 billion over ten years. (In contrast, Bush spends $1.1 billion in Iraq now in 6 days.)

http://usliberals.about.com/od/theeconomyjobs/a/BushBudget1.htm

Energy Efficiency
The proposed funding for all energy efficiency programs is $847 million, 2.3 percent lower than the administration’s 2005 proposed funding. The budget proposes funding cuts for important energy efficiency programs such as low-income weatherization, building and industrial technologies, and federal energy management.

Climate Change
Several programs supporting climate change research are slated for cuts in the administration's budget. Among the cuts is the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which coordinates federal research on climate change across 13 federal agencies.

Clean Vehicle Tax Incentives
The administration again calls for performance-based tax credits of up to $4,000 for certain hybrid vehicles and $8,000 for fuel cell vehicles. Unfortunately, the budget does not clarify how clean a vehicle has to be to be eligible for the credits, a key provision to ensure that vehicles that are "clean" in name only are not federally subsidized.

Clean School Bus & Diesel Cleanup
One of the many casualties of the constrained budget situation is the Clean School Bus USA Program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Last year, the administration requested $65 million in funding for the EPA to administer a national clean school bus program. This year, the request is a modest $10 million. This follows on the $7.4 million that was actually appropriated by Congress last year.

Food and Environment

The Bush administration wants to slash vital conservation and sustainable agriculture programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in FY06, as it has done in prior years. Overall, the budget calls for a 28 percent cut to USDA conservation programs, with some programs taking an even bigger hit. For example, the Conservation Security Program, which provides financial rewards to farmers and ranchers who implement soil, water, and other conservation practices on working lands, is cut by 58 percent compared with full funding. The budget whittles 22 percent from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, a program that funds nationwide research and education on environmentally sound farming systems. The budget completely eliminates two programs that support organic agriculture, the Sustainable and Organic Farming Outreach and Information Program and organic farming transition research. We will work diligently to restore funding for these vital programs.

Forests
The Forest Service is set to have its funding significantly reduced. The cuts include a 26 percent reduction in funding for wildland fire management activities such as fire assistance grants. Forest health programs are also facing cuts. While regular wildfire funding would see a very small total increase, funding for other fire operation is to be reduced by 40 percent.

Renewable Energy
The proposed budget includes $354 million for the Department of Energy's (DOE) renewable energy programs—a 5.6 percent reduction from the proposed 2005 budget. Under the administration’s proposal, hydrogen and wind would receive a boost, with five and seven percent funding increases, respectively. The overall decrease in DOE renewable energy funding, however, reflects a reduction in spending on other renewable technologies such as solar, geothermal, and bioenergy. Unfortunately, the mature, polluting fossil fuel industry continues to receive more than 30 percent additional DOE funding than the struggling renewables industry,

http://www.ucsusa.org/news/positions/president-bushs-fy-2006-budget.html

Links to the following follow:

Bush uses EPA funds to make campaign ads.

Bush overturns limits on mining waste sites.

Bush tells Congress not to offer a Medicare prescription drug benefit to the poor.

Bush attacks librarians for opposing the Patriot Act.

Bush allows the sale of PCB-polluted lands.

Bush cuts Energy Star program.

http://jesseberney.com/scorecard_print.html
(About a million more at that link too many to read and post in one night)

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America has gotten screwed - most of us anyway, a few of his buddies are doing well though.

Wake the hell up America!