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Announcement :: Agriculture : Children : Civil & Human Rights : Economy : Education : Elections & Legislation : Environment : Government Secrecy : Health : Housing : Labor : Political-Economy : Regime : Urban Development |
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THE PRESIDENT'S FY05 BUDGET: Slamming the Door Shut on Opportunity for All Americans |
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by Coalition for Human Needs
(No verified email address) |
04 Mar 2004
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Coalition for Human Needs FY05 Budget Analysis (3/4/04)
THE PRESIDENT’S FISCAL YEAR 05 BUDGET
Slamming the Door Shut on Opportunity for All Americans |
The following analyses describe a group of federally funded programs that serve low-income individuals and families and the impact of the President’s budget on those programs. Although this report does not attempt to analyze every federal program serving low-income families, the programs included here represent key supports for these families. The Coalition on Human Needs compiled these analyses with the generous assistance and input of many member organizations, listed as contributors on each program page.
THE PRESIDENT'S FY05 BUDGET: Slamming the Door Shut on Opportunity for All Americans
http://www.chn.org/pdf/fy05budgetanalysis.pdf
The Coalition on Human Needs would like to thank the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, whose generous support helped make this report possible. CHN also wishes to thank John Irons of OMB Watch for serving as chair of CHNs Budget Campaign subcommittee and for his kind help in creating this report. We are also most grateful for the help of Richard Kogan of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Thanks also to Adam Hughes, Michael Prinz, and Athena Krell for their helpful contributions.
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March 4, 2004 - The Coalition on Human Needs has compiled an analysis of how the President's proposed Fiscal Year 2005 budget will affect programs for low-income people. Called The President's Fiscal Year 2005 Budget: Slamming the Door Shut on Opportunity for All Americans, the report includes an overview and specific analyses of more than two dozen programs provided by CHN member organizations.
The report sounds an alarm about reductions in vital services proposed for FY 2005 that could affect millions of low-income people. The analysis also reveals massive cuts proposed through 2009 - reductions that are not specified in the 2,500-page budget document submitted by the Bush Administration but that were made available to Congressional budget staff.
Many popular and important services - including nutrition aid for infants, toddlers, and pregnant women (WIC), education for disadvantaged children (Title I), and energy assistance for low-income households (LIHEAP) - show increases from 2004 to 2005 (in the budget's published pages), but start to decline in 2006 and beyond.
The budget chooses tax cuts for the top 1 percent - about 1.4 million taxpaying units with incomes averaging just under $1 million each - over adequately funding improvements in education, homelessness and child abuse prevention, job training and economic development, and child nutrition, to mention just a few. In FY 2009, the analysis shows that substantial cuts to a sample of human needs programs could be avoided if the average tax cut for the top 1 percent - about $95,000 in that year - were trimmed by only about $7,000. Just preventing cuts does not fulfill the proper role of the budget to expand opportunity for all Americans. But the budget makes the wrong choices by refusing to revisit the tax cuts while placing the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of families with low or moderate incomes.
Join the Opportunity for All Campaign
The choices in the federal budget will make a profound difference in the lives of millions of Americans. Is the door to opportunity slamming shut, or will people get the chance to find and keep a decent job and provide for their children, and to have health coverage, affordable housing, and a secure retirement? Because these choices are too important to be left to a handful of insiders, the Coalition on Human Needs has started the Opportunity for All Campaign.
http://www.chn.org/humanneeds/article.asp?Art=2129
In order to succeed, we need tens of thousands of advocates to receive timely information and to speak out in favor of fair and commonsense budget decisions. If you would like to be a part of the Opportunity for All Campaign, send an email to Adam Hughes at ahughes (at) chn.org.
Resources You Can Use Right Now
CHN FY 2005 Budget Resources Page
http://www.chn.org/issues/article.asp?Art=2099
This page has links to press statements and analyses of the President's budget done by CHN member organizations and materials presented at the CHN hill briefing on the budget.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities federal budget page has links to papers analyzing the President's budget, including budget rules.
http://www.cbpp.org/pubs/fedbud.htm
Copyright 2000-2004 © Coalition on Human Needs |
This work is in the public domain |
