Lantos Censures Administration Budget Which Slashes Critical Domestic Programs to Benefit Special Interests
Lantos Censures Administration Budget Which Slashes Critical Domestic Programs to Benefit Special Interests; Criticizes Stealth Effort to Privatize Social Security
Washington, DC, February 7, 2006 Congressman Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo/San Francisco) strongly criticized the President's budget submitted to the Congress today (February 6) as a giveaway for special interests and the super wealthy which slashes critical domestic programs that are vital for middle class Americans.
"The Administration's budget request is a serious misjudgment," said the congressman. "It gives additional major tax breaks to the super wealthy and beefs up defense for the seventh year in a row, but it slashes Medicare, cuts education funds and would create record-breaking deficits. It is simply irresponsible."
Furthermore, Lantos said, the Defense Department increases in the budget proposal do not reflect the extra requests that are expected to be made later this year in supplemental budgets for the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The Administration proposes to slash Medicare by $36 billion," Lantos said. "We can not afford huge tax breaks for the wealthy while we cut health care for the elderly and disabled. This ill-conceived budget will freeze spending at the National Institutes of Health and reduce much-needed medical research. Thankfully, Congress will have its say in the matter, and those of us who care about the well-being of all Americans - not just the rich and powerful - will fight to set things right."
See Tom's comment in The San Francisco Chronicle (February 7, 2006) "Budget's big losers: domestic programs."
Blasts Stealth Effort to Privatize Social Security and Cut Benefits
Lantos also blasted the Administration's "stealth attempt to push through privatization of Social Security" in the budget proposal.
In his State of the Union address less than a week before the budget was submitted to Congress, the President acknowledged that Congress resisted his earlier attempts to privatize Social Security, and he did not again urge his failed privatization scheme. But less than a week later, Lantos said, "Hidden in the budget was a nearly identical plan to the one touted with such fanfare last year. Believe me, this will bring people of all political persuasions across the country back to their feet to fight against any effort to push this plan through."
To add insult to injury, the budget proposes to eliminate the Social Security death benefit - a one-time payment of $255 to Social Security recipients at the time of their death to help with burial expenses. This Administration is willing to take from widows and orphans in order to give more benefits to the special interests and the super wealthy. Lantos called this proposal "an absolute outrage!"
http://www.lantos.org/news_pr_2006-02-07.html