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All the President's Enablers

Bush has done to the country's fiscal sanity what he's done to Iraq's physical infrastructure. We are talking shortfalls of trillions of dollars, all to no useful purpose. Congrats to all his enablers on all fronts.
By 

Nation columnist, CUNY Distinguished Professor, Senior Fellow, CAP

Nation columnist, CUNY Distinguished Professor, Senior Fellow, CAP
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Altercation

You can skip "The Note" today, and almost every article written about the Bush "budget." Typical of Bush, it's a lie from start to finish. The Times notes "omissions include any costs for the war in Iraq after 2007, any additional reconstruction costs for New Orleans after 2006 and any plan for preventing a huge expansion in the alternative minimum tax after the end of this year," and that's just for starters, here. Bush has done to the country's fiscal sanity what he's done to Iraq's physical infrastructure. We are talking shortfalls of trillions of dollars, all to no useful purpose. Congrats to all his enablers on all fronts, including the Washington Post's Kool-Aid drinking Amy Goldstein who writes, with a straight-face that this phony-baloney budget is aimed "taming the deficit to satisfy conservatives, who complain that Bush has presided over a rapid expansion of federal spending." Here. This is the kind of MSM reporting that backed up Bush on claims like "You can't talk about Saddam Hussein without talking about Al-Qaida."

Meanwhile, let's take a look at what this kind of budget mean, for starters, for public broadcasting:

  • Rescission of FY 2007 CSG Funds: The Administration proposes a crippling cut of $53.5 million of the FY2007 appropriation previously made to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
  • Further Rescission of FY 2008 CSG Funds: The Administration goes further than the crippling cut in FY2007 with a recommendation to slash an additional $50 million from the FY2008 appropriation.
  • Even Deeper Funding Cuts Proposed: The Administration continues its attack by proposing no new funding for digital infrastructure and interconnection programs, which combined received $65 million last year.
  • Elimination of PTFP the Sole Source of Emergency Funding for Stations Devastated by Hurricane Katrina: The Administration proposes eliminating the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program which was the only source of emergency funding to help hurricane-ravaged stations serving Gulf Communities.
  • Elimination of Ready To Teach: The Administration proposes completely eliminating this successful program that provides funding for online resources for teachers seeking quality professional development that is easily accessible, flexible and tailored to local, state and national standards.

See here and here.

Quote of the Day: "Oscar the Grouch has been friendlier to the Sesame Street characters than President Bush." -- Rep Ed Markey, here.

Other Quote of the Day: "Of all the budgets I've seen recently, this is the one going nowhere the fastest." Here.

OK, one more, Richard Durbin: "I'll check out Pajamaline, but I'm not familiar with your publication."

Meanwhile, this is not about money, or perhaps ideology, just incompetence, which is just about the only thing in which these people excel:

Schools Feel Void With No Ed-Tech Chief

Nearly six months after the nation's top educational technology official stepped down, the U.S. Department of Education has yet to name a replacement. With the federal focus shifting to math and science education, advocates of school technology say having a point person to turn to for guidance within the department's Office of Educational Technology is critical to students'-and teachers'-success.

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