Obama's Budget: A Declaration of War on We the People

Dear Mr. President,
“…to Mr. Obama, cost-saving changes in the nation’s fastest-growing domestic programs are more progressive than simply allowing the entitlement programs for older Americans to overwhelm the rest of the budget in future years.” (Today’s NYT, p. A1.) A few lines later: “The president’s views put him at the head of a small but growing faction of liberals and moderate Democrats who [argue] that unless the party agrees to changes in the entitlement benefit programs—which are growing unsustainably as baby boomers age and medical prices rise—the programs’ costs will overwhelm all other domestic spending to help the poor, the working class and children.” Sen. Mark Warner (D-WV) and Robert Greenstein, head of the “liberal” Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, argue that unless entitlements are cut, antipoverty programs, infrastructure and education are bye-bye baby. You folks are seriously twisted. First off, you lump Social Security into the pot as though it’s contributing to the budget deficit when it’s not; it’s not in the general budget and it’s solvent for at least another 20 years without changes, but cut you will. Then you accept the conservatives’ demonization of “entitlement” and finally, you focus only on cuts to social programs that benefit We the People and leave the bloated Pentagon budget basically untouched. What’s in your proposed budget? Cut EPA 3.5%; cut funds for clean drinking water 20%; cut Medicaid by $19 billion; raise Medicare co-pays, raise premiums on home health care… the list is long and ugly. Even more ugly is your base budget for the Pentagon: cut Army 4%, increase Air Force 3%, leave Navy and Marines untouched, a total “cut” of 0.7% Once again, screwed up priorities by the wizards in Washington. A recent Gallup poll shows 58% of Americans want the Pentagon budget cut by 18%, 67% want corporations and the wealthy to pay more taxes, and 90% want Medicare and Social Security (not to mention other social programs) preserved. Easy to do and yet the so-called “pragmatic liberals” do just the opposite. Instead of cutting the squandering of our treasure on obscene, illegal, immoral and unjustified wars, cutting weapons systems that don’t work—like the F-35, the Navy’s new laser cannon and the Littoral ships that are unseaworthy—and stopping the purchase of unwanted C-130s, the arms merchants and warmongers win the battle of the budget again this year. Your budget, Mr. President, is a declaration of war on We the People.