Bush’s spending plan would make his first-term tax cuts permanent, at a cost of $1.6 trillion over 10 years. He is seeking $78 billion in savings in the government’s big health care programs — Medicare and Medicaid — over the next five years.
The president’s budget would also reduce spending for Medicare and Medicaid, the federal government’s health programs for the elderly and the poor, by about $100 billion over five years. And it would provide insufficient extra cash to maintain coverage for poor children currently enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
A more moderate series of proposals failed to pass the 109th Congress, which had a Republican majority. I will let the readers guess what the hell the president was thinking.
via Steve Benen.
numbskull
Thinking?
Naw. It’s a reflex with him. Extend middle finger. Clinch others. Wave in the face of American citizens.
It’s called “Deciding”.
Ryan S.
“Poor people? What poor people?”
“Can I take this blindfold off now, Dick?”
“Terrorist are bad. Worse even than pretzels”
TenguPhule
Shorter Bush’s brain: Suck deez nuts!
This has been another edition of places we don’t want to delve in.
Jake
Teak111
Its called mailing it in.
matt
Hey, where is John? Usually when he stops posting it’s either because he’s sick or busy with school. I don’t remember him mentioning either. We miss you, John!
Tsulagi
Thinking? Thinking?!? What the hell were you thinking in writing that line? Critical thought processes are an unnecessary waste of time for Decider Man. He always knows the truth and the proper action to take at all times without thinking. It just comes to him.
Helena Montana
To quote the late, great Molly Ivins, the president does not have the sense God gave a duck. He was not thinking. Period.
The Other Steve
Really, it’s standard Republican strategy.
Propose cutting programs, offer up big spending increases… Claim that the reason why we can’t balance the budget is due to Congress.
Profit
This turd had six years to balance the budget, instead he increased spending by the largest amount since Lyndon B. Johnson.
The Other Steve
BTW, looks like the accusations against that Edwards blogger about deleted posts were a bit off…
Ezra Klein has the details
It appears a server glitched wiped out a lot of content, not just those particular messages.
Of the conspiracy minded would point out that if you want to get rid of one message, the best way to do it is to get rid of everything so you can blame it on a server glitch. I’m sure Jeff Goldstein(aka Tawanda) will give us more on that message.
Zifnab
I just appreciate how these spending cuts are going to fund tax cuts that no one except the top 1% of Americans even notice. They cut the capital gains tax by 5%. Do you know who even uses the capital gains tax? People rolling around in giant stock portfolios. Do you know who’s rolling around in stock portfolios? Not people on Medicare/Medicaid.
When the Democrats finally do scrap together the balls to raise taxes, people will scream and cry and holler, and then the taxes will get passed and 99% of Americans won’t even notice.
But if the Democrats really, really, really had balls, they’d offer something different. They’d offer to revoke the tax cuts AND cut Medicare/Medicaid if Bush wants his war money. Then they’d earmark all the war money to be spent on pulling out and rebuilding the military. And in ’08 they can jack the taxes back up to sane and reasonable levels again.
Pb
The real big news is that the size of Bush’s proposed budget is a record $2.9 trillion dollars. According to the CBO, revenues in 2006 were $2.4 trillion and outlays were $2.65 trillion–and of course they were counting on the $185 billion social security surplus to mask some of that spending. In reality, however, the Bush administration has been consistently adding roughly $550 billion dollars per year to the total debt–that in and of itself is also roughly $2.9 trillion in debt added since Bush took office–another record in deficit spending.
ChristieS
God, I just can’t stand to even think about this asshole and all the damage he has done any longer, much less try to deal with the fallout. Somebody wake me up when he’s out of office.
ThymeZone
I think after six years, we know pretty well. The pattern is familiar to me, having lived with alcoholics.
It’s this: “I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
That’s basically it. In all things, at all times, whether it’s at home or at work or on the road, that’s the underlying driver. He can do whatever he wants, and basically say whatever he wants, and if you don’t like it, tough shit.
He’d have made a textbook second-rate king.
annie's granny
“I wonder why they call it ‘beer’ anyway. It ain’t got bees in it– or does it? Does it? Damn Iraqui bees.”
Tsulagi
Good thing those GSAVE supplementals are off budget. Wouldn’t want to get into the $3+ TRILLION dollar range.
Pb
Incidentally, it was in 1989-1990 (George H. W. Bush’s term) when the total national debt first went over $2.9 trillion dollars–it took 200 years for that to happen… and then Junior came along and did it all by himself in 6 years or so. It really is a record–that liberal spender Clinton only managed to accumulate about $1.6 trillion, and that was over 8 years. Of course, the whole thing was under a trillion before Reagan came along, so go figure.
Perry Como
Sethekk Halls?
Andrew
Someone needs to take Bush’s budget and attach it to the TP dispensers at the Capital.
dreggas
From what I was reading this includes the war supplementals, IE bush knows he can’t fund this shit with emergency bills anymore and keep snow-jobbing us with the costs (or think he’s snow-jobbing us) so now it has to be on record in a budget.
If this is what a so-called republican conservative budget looks like I think I’ll take the what the Dems offer. Of course the amusing part here will be watching the Norquists and the like come out and try defending this along with the rest of the dips that still defend this dickhead.
Rush’s head must be about ready to explode unless the oxy-contin has kicked in.
Rusty Shackleford
How the fvck are we going to pay for the war in Iraq (and Afghanistan, and rebuild the army/equipment, and a possible war in Iran) IF WE DON’T TAKE IN REVENUE!
Why won’t Republicans pay their freakin’ bills? Why do Republicans think so little of their children that they seem to have absolutely no qualms about saddling them with insurmountable debt?
What type of ignorant, childish fvckwad thinks they deserve a fvcking tax break now?
Do you have any idea how much it will cost to replace even half the equipment that has been destroyed in Iraq? How much it will cost to house and treat the wounded veterans that the Republicans couldn’t send off to war fast enough back in 2003?
Chr1st alfvcking mighty already. NO MORE TAX CUTS!
Republicans will not be happy until they bleed the nation dry.
Zifnab
He already apologized once for “carrying water for these guys”, and has started distancing himself from the un-true conservatives in between his bouts of hysteria over Hillary/Obama/Edwards.
I’m sure he’ll just down a few more Viagra on his way to some child molestation island and sleep through the moral discrepency.
Zifnab
Rusty, fuck is spelled with a ‘u’.
dreggas
There is so much irony in adding the word “moral” in that last sentence not to mention the sleeping part though the thought makes me extremely ill.
Mark
Umm, I’ll take “He Wasn’t” for $600, Alex.
Tsulagi
Yeah, the spin machine trying to cover for the spoiled brat president has been redlined so long it’s starting to throw rods like Rush and Spin Zone Bill O’
Rusty Shackleford
Sorry. I’m at wits end over this country’s unwillingness to pay its bills.
Richard 23
Factoring in all the generous permanent tax cuts, Medicare and Medicade recipients (leeches) ought to have enough left over to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
It’s called personal responsibility, folks. Look it up on the intertrons.
TenguPhule
“We’re too poor to buy boots!”
Jon H
“I will let the readers guess what the hell the president was thinking.”
He’s thinking that the Democrats are the fiscally responsible party?
Richard 23
Well, TF, there are some people you just can’t help. I’ll admit that. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, in the right measure.
Richard 23
Sorry, TenguPhule. I should have referred to you as TP and not TF. I’m just so used to Darrell’s nickname for you, er, “TenguFool.”
No offense intended.
TenguPhule
Bush’s Middle Finger to Middle America
AMT II.
Another Bush Clusterfuck.
TenguPhule
None taken. We are all DougJ after all. How can we offend ourselves?
dlw
I still like the proposal that we pay for the war by putting a 1% tax on the top 1% and on cap gains. Then we increase that percentage by 1% per month until we’re either out of Iraq or have paid off the National Debt.
Of course after yesterday’s display of stupidity by Senate Republicans, I’m more and more convinced that the only way Congress is going to act responsibly is by the middle class taking up weapons and marching on Washington.
Zifnab
An armed march on Washington would get us out of the war before it raised our taxes.
leftypa
Excuse me, but what does KMBA stand for?