Maine Politics

From the Piscataqua to the St. John

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Hurting Maine

Along with deep cuts in national environmental and education programs, Bush's new budget takes aim at programs and services that are vitally important to our state. Virtually every news outlet in Maine has this story this morning. Here's a bit from the Morning Sentinel article:
President Bush's federal budget worried Mainers more for what was missing than what he included, with cuts proposed for Medicaid, Amtrak train service, defense shipbuilding and veterans benefits.

"This budget includes cuts to some of our most valuable programs that are essential to Maine -- including ill-advised and shortsighted cuts to our nation's shipbuilding budgets and reductions to essential heating assistance for our most poor citizens," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine[...]

Other aspects of the budget fared worse. l Medicaid is a closely watched program in Maine because the federal government pays about two-thirds of the health-care costs for the impoverished, disabled and children. But Bush's budget would cut $342 million that Maine is expecting over the next decade, according to the advocacy group Families USA. After five years, the cuts could deny services to 2,500 seniors or 13,400 children, according to the group.

"The greatest damage will be done to the sickest, oldest and most vulnerable people now receiving health coverage through Medicaid," said Ron Pollack, executive director of the advocacy group[...]

Michaud, D-Maine and a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, argued that troops returning home will be neglected. Funding for the Veterans' Affairs Department will fail to keep pace with medical inflation, and not meet recommendations from groups such as the Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"At a time when we are creating new needs for veterans' health care every day in Iraq, we should support our troops and our veterans by strongly funding the VA health system," Michaud said.

2/3rds of the Bush cuts target education, with dozens of programs being eliminated completely. He did, however, find the money to increase funding of abstinence-only sex education by $39 million.


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2 Comments:

This is DEM. propaganda...pure bull shit from liberal syncophants in the Maine Media.

Here are the facts...and note the increase, going from $2,093,000 to $2,095,000

Obligations in thousands of dollars Maine 2005 Total FY 2006 2006 inc over 2005 (estimated)
able 8–6. Summary of Programs by State 2,093,000 2,095,000 30,000Table 8–7. National School Lunch Program (10.555) 20,985 22,031 1046Table 8–8. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (10.557) 12,835 13,661 826Table 8–9. Child and Adult Care Food Program (10.558) 10,010 10,534 524Table 8–10. State Administrative Matching Grants for Food Stamp Program (10.561) 9,786 10,108 322Table 8–11. Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (84.010) 48,790 50,848 2058Table 8–12. Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (84.336) 13,895 13,895 0Table 8–13. Special Education—Grants to States (84.027) 50,509 52,689 2180Table 8–14. Rehabilitation Services—Vocational Rehabilitation Grants to States (84.126) 14,485 14,385 -100Table 8–15. State Children's Health Insurance Program (93.767) 12,462 12,462 0Table 8–16. Grants to States for Medicaid (93.778) 1,433,866 1,459,864 25998Table 8–17. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)—Family Assistance Grants (93.558) 78,121 78,121 0Table 8–18. Child Support Enforcement—Federal Share of State and Local Administrative Costs and Incentives (93.563) 11,701 12,016 315Table 8–19. Child Care and Development Block Grant (93.575) 6,964 6,964 0Table 8–20. Child Care and Development Fund—Mandatory (93.596a) 3,019 3,019 0Table 8–21. Child Care and Development Fund—Matching (93.596b) 5,340 5,340 0Table 8–22. Head Start (93.600) 27,617 27,617 0Table 8–23. Foster Care—Title IV–E (93.658) 7,364 7,330 -34Table 8–24. State Homeland Security Grant Program (97.067) 16,609 0Table 8–25. Public Housing Operating Fund (14.850) 6,123 8,584 2461Table 8–26. Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation (14.856) 2,396 2,175 -221Table 8–27. Housing Choice Vouchers (14.871) 67,302 72,258 4956Table 8–28. Public Housing Capital Fund (14.872) 7,040 5,716 -1324Table 8–29. HOME Investment Partnerships Program (14.239) 8,609 9,041 432Table 8–30. Airport Improvement Program (20.106a) 27,655 23,701 -3954Table 8–33. Highway Planning and Construction (20.205) 151,276 161,011 9735Table 8–34. Federal Transit Formula Grants and Research (Section 5307) (20.507) 9,841 11,524 1683 Total 2,064,600 2,094,894 30294


 

Posted by fjh

2/11/2005 04:34:00 PM

 

Should have put in the summary, which is Maine gets $30 million more in this budget than in the last.

Some cut, eh what? (forgive my Canadian, Anglish)

2/13/2005 06:38:00 PM

 

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