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Bush budget tough on rural Arkansans, Democrats say Tuesday, Feb 6, 2007 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's 2008 budget calls for more than $17 million to overhaul an Ozark hydroelectric plant, but contains little else of benefit to rural Arkansans, Democratic lawmakers said Monday. The president's $2.9 trillion budget reduces funding for Medicare, Medicaid and agricultural research in moves intended to help balance the budget by 2012. But coupled with a $245 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan and a plan to make permanent several tax cuts, Bush's proposal "doesn't seem to me to have any basis in reality," said Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said the proposal forces Congress to consider its priorities. It is the first time the president has submitted a budget to a Congress controlled by Democrats. "The cost of the war is going up, and we're just going to have to decide whether we as a nation can afford to cut our taxes while we're at war and looking at pretty serious budget cuts for rural Americans," Pryor said. The windfall for Arkansans in the fiscal 2008 proposal comes through federal Pell Grant increases for college students and the $17.3 million renovation of the Jeta Taylor Powerhouse on the Arkansas River near Ozark. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to replace five inefficient turbines at the 32-year-old plant. The original machinery, which was installed as a cost-saving measure, breaks down often, Corps officials in Little Rock said. It is one of 69 "national priority" projects identified by Corps leadership, said John Paul Woodley, assistant secretary of the Army. If funded by Congress, the work should be finished by 2012. "The power it generates, a large portion of it goes to places like Jonesboro, so it's important for the state," said Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers. "Increased efficiency means cheap electricity, and that's important to the consumer." Boozman defended the president's budget, which sets aside just over $4.1 billion for programs he said benefit Arkansans, as opposed to about $3.8 billion last year. He said Bush's budget plans are always spartan, and that the 2008 proposal should be commended for proposing a balanced budget without a tax increase. Additionally, Congress has the authority to do what it wants with the president's recommendations, Boozman said. "The reality is Congress has the power of the purse and so ultimately we decide where the spending is going to go," he said. Berry said the budget takes money from the Social Security trust fund to pay for some spending increases that he said was unrealistic. The member of the House Budget Committee said the proposal could not survive the House as is because it does not comply with pay-as-you-go rules. The House enacted a pay-as-you-go measure for this session of Congress requiring any spending increase to be offset with a tax hike or cuts in other programs. "The president proposes extending tax cuts to people making over $400,000 a year at the expense of America's seniors, working families and children by cutting Medicare funding and continuing to leave No Child Left Behind as an unfunded mandate," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott. Funding shortfalls in the Department of Education, including for implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, would total more than $15 billion, according to Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark. The budget would cut Medicare and Medicaid by $78 billion over five years. "By forcing America's working families to shoulder the burden, this budget proposal sets the wrong priorities for achieving financial responsibility," Lincoln said. One agency that would see spending hikes is the Corps of Engineers. Its operating budget would increase 9 percent over 2007. The budget allocates $194.2 million for operations and maintenance of waterways in Arkansas and seven neighboring states. The fiscal 2008 budget marks the first time that operations and maintenance is not allocated for each waterway. A Corps spokesman said the change gives the agency flexibility to use money where it is needed. Also, Woodley announced Monday that the Corps will consider charging user fees to barges that pass through federally managed locks and dams on inland waterways. He said no details about the fee proposal have been decided, but that, if approved, the fees would replenish a depleted construction trust fund. A 20 cent-per-gallon diesel fuel tax on commercial barges is already in effect. "Our highways are congested, rail is congested and river traffic is actually a cheap way to move large, heavy, bulky products," Pryor said. "That's going to add to the cost of shipping. That creates a ripple effect that hurts rural America." |
