Operation Cut Programs

"Operation Offset" is what the Republicans are calling their budget cut plan to pay for Hurricane Katrina. The great majority of the proposed cuts target the elderly and the poor, heavily targeting Medicare. They eliminate all federal funding for energy conservation, the "Energy Star" program, energy efficient vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, high-speed rail, light rail, PBS, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, AmeriCorps, the "Even Start" program, the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, security/anti-drug funding for innercity schools, and all federal loans to grad students. Also facing cuts are the Global AIDS Initiative, the EPA, the Center for Disease Control, pensions and healthcare plans for retired federal workers, job programs and revitalization funds for poor neighborhoods, the school lunch program, community health centers, and health care for soldiers.

As ThinkProgress notes, the "Operation Offset" plan would reduce the budget by $500B over ten years...and that rolling back the '01 and '03 tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans, clarifying the definition of offshore tax shelters, allowing mail-order prescription-drug purchases would save $435 billion.

MoveOn.org has stepped into the fray with a petition against Operation Offset, and some pretty good info on the legislation too.

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