Posted By James Besser
Political Insider: Budget Blues
.jpg)
The best one-line response to President Bush's proposed 2009 budget came from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
The generally liberal group, which favors a stronger government role in combating poverty and serving needy populations, sent out a statement on Tuesday with this headline: "Doing Less with Less: Reform Jewish Leader Troubled by President's Budget."
The record budget, the group noted, includes a 4 percent domestic spending cut - at a time of deepening economic troubles, when government funded services will be needed more than ever - coupled to an 8 percent increase for defense and national security spending. (Read the Bush administration's description of the budget outline here). And it doesn't even account for extra appropriations to pay for two wars.
According to RAC associate director Mark Pelavin, "less children will be served by Head Start, less funds will be available to help those who rely on Medicare and Medicaid and less families will have access to child care funding. In this case…Americans will be left to do less with less."
The proposed $3.1 trillion budget also calls for continuing tax cuts - which the RAC and other liberal groups say will just compound the deficit problem, put greater pressure on government funding programs and not boost the economy.
"Clearly the pressure on domestic discretionary spending comes from both the costs of the war and the cost of tax cuts," Pelavin said. "It is far from clear that we could afford either one right now; it could not be clearer that we can not afford both."
Administration tax cuts have become the third rail of Jewish political activism in Washington; many groups fear their impact on critical services but few are willing to anger wealthy donors by objecting.
The RAC has created an online "Budget Resource Center" to prepare its activists for the impending budget battle.
William Daroff, vice president for public policy of the United Jewish Communities, said the proposed budget could have "dire consequences for Jewish social services and for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people across the country who depend on the federation system for those services."
But he pointed out that with Democrats controlling Congress and elections in the offing, the administration faces a uphill fight in getting its budget enacted.
"We will work with our friends in Congress on both sides of the aisle and in the Administration to protect funding for vital services to tens of thousands of children, families, seniors, and persons with disabilities," he said.
At least one Jewish group was happy with the proposal; the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) noted that the proposal includes $2.55 billion in foreign aid to Israel, an increase of $170 million as part of a new 10-year security aid agreement.