Bush slaps tribes in the face

Bush's budget swells deficitPresident Bush on Monday submitted a $3.1-trillion budget for the next fiscal year that reflected his strategy for dealing with a costly war and a troubled economy: substantially boost military expenditures, rein in domestic spending--including for Medicare--and more than double the deficit.

The proposal set the stage for a long election-year struggle, drawing sharp criticism from the Democratic majority in Congress as well as a scattering of Republicans concerned about the president's habit of leaving large chunks of the spending out of his annual budget blueprint.

The proposal calls for making permanent Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which have been widely criticized as skewed to the rich and which would begin expiring next year. Doing so would cost Washington more than a half-trillion dollars in forgone revenue over the next five years and more than $2 trillion over the next decade.Bush administration seeks another cut in BIA budgetIn the last budget of his administration, President Bush on Monday announced a cut of nearly $100 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The fiscal year 2009 budget seeks $2.2 billion for the agency that serves more than 550 tribes and more than 1.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. The request represents a 4.4 percent decrease from current levels and a 5.1 percent decrease from last year's budget.Bush Seeks to Cut Vital Indian ProgramsYou couldn't hardly have scripted a more insulting response to last week's State of Indian Nations Address.

On Monday, President George W. Bush presented his budget for fiscal year 2009, which begins Oct. 1. In the final budget of his presidency, Bush proposed serious cuts in federal spending to many programs vital to Indian Country.Comment:  The idea that Republicans are good money managers is a joke. Democrats have a much better economic record because they don't give away the budget to the rich, big business, and the military.

Forget all the talk about reservations remained mired in poverty because they have socialist economies and welfare mentalities. The overriding reason is that the US government continually fails to uphold its treaty obligations to fund social services at the necessary levels. With neither their original land and natural resources nor government aid to compensate for their losses, the tribes are screwed.