Finaly the 2007 budget breakdown Part 1 Terminations

Everyday I read how the Bush administration is slashing the budget,and destroying social programs for the poor. Well here is a breakdown of what is really being done. Some grograms are being reduced while other are simply being terminated. I'll start with the programs being terminated. Most of the programs being terminated are progrmas that recieve very little funding to begin with. There is 88 programs slated for termination of those 88 programs 52 of them recieve $30 million or less from the federal government. many of them are less then $10 million. In my opinion most of these smaller programs are nothing more than government pork. Here are some of the bigger dollar programs that are being terminated,and what those programs do.I don't have time to list all programs over $30 million so I'm picking a few from each catagory. We'll start with the AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT. The one the media seems to like the most is the Commodity supplemental food program. $107 Million.Includes low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, other new mothers up to one year postpartum, infants, children up to their sixth birthday, and elderly persons at least 60 years of age who meet income eligibility requirements. According to a 2002 survey(The only one I could find) only 410,719 people across the country used this program.And if you use this prgram you can not use W.I.C. So the people who are using this will probobly just change over to w.i.c. The other big one is the Research and extension grant earmarks $196 million. This is a program that has been cut several times since 2002,and it has'nt affected anything by doing so. Why keep it around? Next is the COMMERCE DEPARTMENT The biggest program being terminated is the Advanced technology program, $79 million. This has been a troubled program from it's start in 1988. It's a program in which big business gets grants to research their own products. Congress passed legislation eliminating the program in 1995, but President Bill Clinton vetoed the bill. President Clinton again blocked the elimination of the ATP the following year, inducing Congress to try to reform the troubled program. After those reforms failed to fix the program, the House of Representatives voted in 2000, 2001, and 2002 to terminate the ATP, only to have the Senate restore funding each time in conference committee. Hopefully it's gone for good this time. A waste of money. Lets move on to the EDUCATION PROGRAMS. The first is the Educational technology state grants, $272 million. The primary goal of the Ed-Tech program is to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in schools. It is also designed to assist students in crossing the digital divide by ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade. With the way the computer world has changed over the past 10 years kids are much quicker at picking up on computers then it was when I was young. no more learnign about c:\prompt and other useless information.This is a program that was great in it's day,but just is'nt needed any longer. GEAR UP, $303 million. Here is another program the media,and democrats are using to say Bush is against the poor,and minorities. Totally untrue The bush Administration is adding 12.7 BILLION in pell grants this year and will help 59,000 more students then in 2006 So basicly the money saved in GEAR UP will be shifted to Pell grants.Vocational education state grants, $1,182 million. See my last explanation about Pell grants. Safe and Drug-Free Schools state grants, $347 million. The fact is these type of programs just don't work. Former President Reagan pushed many anti-drug school programs,and there are more students who admit to using drugs then there were 20 years ago. Why don't these programs work? Because they are set up by people who know nothing about drug addiction. They come up with posters that say things like "Get high on school sports" well the kid who hangs with the wrong crowd makes that into a joke. You need drug counselor who deal with kids to run these programs not polititions On to the ENERGY DEPARTMENT. nothing major here.but I'll talk about the biggest one Oil and gas research and development, $64 million. Now Democrats will complain that we are paying to much for gas,and that the oil companies are making to much profit. So here is a way to cut some corporate welfare from the oil companies. So stop complaining. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAMS. The biggest is from the Community services block grant, $630 million. Sounds like lots of Americans will suffer? Nope. This is a program set up to help Indian tribes in all 50 states. Well with the fact that most tribes are now self supporting due to casinos this program has become a waste,and for smaller tribes that don't have casinos there are other programs to help them. Centers for Disease Control preventive block grant, $99 million. A program so states can set up education programs for whatever illness they want to educate poeple in. At less then $2 million dollars per state. Then you take out government employee salaries,and I think this money would be better spent on research.HOMELAND SECURITY. Office of grants and training, $229 million. The department is adding 55.1 Billion to the budget. So this program will just fall into another catagory. HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. HOPE VI, $198 million. This is really a small amount when you see how much HUD recieves. I'm sure HUD will just transfer money around and continue to do the same thing. The HOPE VI Program, originally known as the Urban Revitalization Demonstration (URD), was developed as a result of recommendations by the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing, which was charged with proposing a National Action Plan to eradicate severely distressed public housing. The Commission recommended revitalization in three general areas. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR. No projects over $30 million. So lets move on to the JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. Byrne justice assistance grants, $327 million. This is one of the few programs I hate to see cut. These grants provide financial support for law inforcement in various ways for many different programs. State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, $400 million. This program may sound like a big lose,but with 458.9 million being aet aside for border control,and another 2000 border agents being added.This should take care of most of the CAAP. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers training program, $79 million. The NFJP provides funding to help migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families achieve economic self sufficiency by offering supportive services to them while they work in agriculture or by helping them to acquire new skills for jobs offering better pay.Most of these problems can also be taken care of by the Unemployment Office. So they will most likely take over those programs. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. There are two programs listed for termination. National defense tank vessel construction program, $74 million,and my favorite. Railroad rehabilitation financing loan program There were no funds for the RHFLP at all last year. So it's being scrapped all together.ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Unrequested projects, $277 million. This was a very hard one to research. I can understand why it's being scrapped. This program is set up so the EPA has extra cash laying around for whatever they feel they need it for. Most of it goes to test water,but it is hard to find out why the water was tested to begin with. And some funds were used to increase security under the homeland security act.. A very confusing program. That ends it for the terminations. I will post part 2 of my budget report dealing with reductions next. here is a yahoo link to all terminated,and reduced programs. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_go_pr_wh/budget_program_cuts_glance_1 Find the program you're interested in,and google it to find out more about the program.