Bush's 2009 Budget Proposal Speaks Volumes.

All future historians will have to do is read through President George W. Bush's 2009 budget proposal and they will know all about his presidency, what kind of man he is, what he values and most importantly, if this proposal goes through, why the United States of America is a third-world country.

At a time when the U.S. economy is lagging, job growth is at an all time low, and the housing industry is in freefall, President George W. Bush's $3.1 trillion budget for the 2009 federal fiscal year proposes to cut approx. $15 billion in federal program spending while making his tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans permanent, saving them approx. $51 billion, not to mention his three-quarters of a trillion dollar defense budget.

According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities if the President's budget goes through, taxpayers who make over $1 million, 0.3% of the population, will save $51 billion. In 2009 alone, 0.3% of the population will gain $12 billion more than the entire bottom 60 percent of the U.S. income distribution, households that make $50,000 a year or less.

In addition, according to the CBPP, the nation's most affluent 1 percent, households currently making over $450,000 a year, would save $1.1 trillion over the next decade, if the Bush tax rates remain in effect, over $180 billion more in tax savings than the savings that would go to America's entire bottom 80 percent combined.

151 federal programs would be eliminated or reduced. President Bush wants to cut spending on anti-poverty, housing and social service programs and federal health programs. He wants to cut funding for teaching hospitals and freeze medical research. 47 programs from the Department of Education would be eliminated and he would reduce anti-terrorism grants for states and cities. Medicare would be cut by $12.1 billion and public broadcasting would be cut by 50 percent.

The Department of Labor, the federal agency in charge of administering and enforcing wage and hour laws, health and safety regulations, pension plan oversight, unemployment benefits, and job training, along with many other programs says the 2009 Bush Budget would leave America's workers behind

His proposed budget cuts would be a disaster for HIV AIDS,

"This budget shows an irresponsible neglect of our burgeoning domestic epidemic" (AHF release, 2/4). Gene Copello, executive director of the AIDS Institute, said, "While the President's FY 2009 budget carries good news for addressing the global pandemic, it is terribly inadequate to address the epidemic in our own backyard. Following a trend now for several years, this budget will only further destabilize the prevention of HIV and the care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS in our own country" -- Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation

The National Priorities Project reveals critical dangers for state budgets and working families by offering a state-by-state breakdown of how Bush's proposed budget cuts would impact on the states.

Effects of the Bush Tax Cuts through 2006 by Income Group.