Bush’s Insane Budget

Every other great civilization eventually fell from favor, collapsing as a consequence of the same sort of myopia that that gullible ignoramus in the White House seems to have fallen prey to. Rather than concern themselves with avoiding the foul, internal decay left in the wake of imperial overstretch, the privileged classes invariably prefer denial, further enriching themselves, waging unnecessary wars, duping the poor with patriotic propaganda, and above all, never sensing the backlash just over the horizon. The more things change, the more they remain insane.

President Bush’s $2,568,000,000,000 proposed budget promises to reduce or eliminate 150 domestic social programs while simultaneously increasing spending on the military and homeland security. Negatively affected areas will include health, education, transportation and the environment with Medicaid, Amtrak, Student Loan, community and veterans’ services all taking hits, along with literacy, anti-drug, farm, water and land conservation subsidies.

The plan even calls for the termination of 48 programs at the Department of Education alone. So much for George Bush being marketed as the “no child left behind” President. To put this in proper perspective, one must note that these drastic measures represent the first non-military cuts in discretionary federal spending since the Reagan era. By contrast, the new budget calls for a 4.8% increase in defense spending to $419.3 billion. Note that this figure does not include a penny of the expenditures needed to maintain our ongoing presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, an additional amount anticipated to cost in the area of $80 billion, give or take a few billion.

Exactly how did we end up in such a predicament? Bush read his re-election as a mandate to spend political capital as he sees fit, however heartlessly. I suppose that those of us who warned anybody who’d listen that he was no friend of the poor, the elderly, or the disadvantaged, will find some allies in red state refugees finally about to feel the pinch of the Administration’s increasingly pro-war, pro-big business agenda.

Still, I fear that the bulk of Boobus Americana may remain blissfully unaware of the fiscal equivalent of a safe about to fall on their heads. But if you can put 2 and 2 together, it’s easy to figure out why the United States economy is degenerating at an exponential rate.

Globalization, the conservative philosophy of being beholden to corporate interests, has caught up with us because Fortune 500 companies were offered tax incentives not to create jobs here, but overseas. Blue-collar, factory, skilled and white-collar employment emigrating elsewhere has left post-modern America with a crumbling infrastructure, and dire prospects for revitalization.

Secondly, most of the discretionary money not currently devoted to corporate wealth-fare is steadily funding Bush’s money-burning party known as the War on Iraq. Can we really afford the luxury of forcing his brand of democracy on the region if it comes at the expense of the American Dream?

Every other great civilization eventually fell from favor, collapsing as a consequence of the same sort of myopia that that gullible ignoramus in the White House seems to have fallen prey to. Rather than concern themselves with avoiding the foul, internal decay left in the wake of imperial overstretch, the privileged classes invariably prefer denial, further enriching themselves, waging unnecessary wars, duping the poor with patriotic propaganda, and above all, never sensing the backlash just over the horizon. The more things change, the more they remain insane.

Black Star columnist Williams, Jr. is a member of the NJ, NY, CT, PA, MA & US Supreme Court bars. For more articles including investigative news reports please order the newsstand issue of The Black Star News by clicking on “subscribe” on the homepage or calling (212) 481-7745.

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