Comments on the U.S. Government Budget Proposal

See:

"Bush's Budget Bolsters Pentagon: $2.77 Trillion Plan For 2007 Would Trim Most Agencies" by Amy Goldstein, The Washington Post, February 7, 2006.

"Domestic Programs Take the Hit: Budget Would Increase Security Spending but Cut or Curb 141 Programs", The Washington Post, February 7, 2006.

Re The Competitiveness Initiative:

* The Department of Commerce's budget falls under Bush's proposals, to $6.139 billion, with increasing spending on the president's "American Competitiveness Initiative" offset by cuts in other areas. The budget for Commerce that concentrates on competitiveness -- the National Institute of Standards and Technology -- would fall as well, from $757 million to $581 million. But that is mainly because Bush is proposing -- as he has repeatedly in the past -- to eliminate the Advanced Technology Program and slash the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, both of which were Clinton administration favorites. Spending would rise to $540 million for NIST's scientific and technical research and services and construction of research facilities.

* Education advocates expressed disappointment that the budget for the Education Department provides no new money for Title I funding for poverty aid to school districts, and fails to increase the federal Pell Grants, a need-based financial aid program for college students. Title I funding is up since Bush took office, but there has not been an increase in Pell grants for five years. The $63 billion budget eliminates 42 programs.....As part of Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative, funding has been increased to improve math and sciences education in K-12. There is $100 million proposed for America's Opportunity Scholarships, which offer vouchers to attend private schools and expanded tutoring for students who attend poor-performing public schools -- an initiative Congress has previously rejected. The budget provides $200 million for School Improvement Grants to help states meet No Child Left Behind Act proficiency goals, but Democrats say that is insufficient. And there is $1.475 billion for a new program to help at-risk high school students struggling to reach grade level in reading and math.

Re Foreign Policy & Foreign Assistance:

* Spending for the State Department and key international affairs programs would climb by $3.7 billion to $33.9 billion. Reflecting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's interest in public diplomacy, the proposal would boost spending on educational and cultural programs by 11 percent, to $474 million, with an emphasis on Muslim countries. The budget reserves $115 million to foster training in foreign languages such as Arabic and Urdu by Americans. At the same time, Voice of America would eliminate radio service in Russian and other languages. A big chunk of the money is $3 billion for the Millennium Challenge Corp., a relatively new foreign aid tool that would tie aid to a country's meeting certain criteria. The budget would reduce aid in such areas as development assistance and child survival and health. It would expand a new office devoted to reconstruction and stabilization in post-conflict countries, and would create a $75 million fund to quickly deploy civilian personnel to unstable regions.

Sounds like there is a lot of doublespeak to me!