Federal tax and budget cuts seen hurting poor, vulnerable

Published: 2006-02-17

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The newly approved 2006 federal budget and the budget proposals for coming years will cut programs for the poor and vulnerable even as tax cuts and higher defense spending increase federal deficits, Catholic social ministry leaders were told Feb. 14 at a national conference in Washington. Ellen Nissenbaum, legislative director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the Bush administration's fiscal year 2007 budget proposal calls for deep cuts in domestic discretionary programs, some cuts in entitlement programs and tax cuts that will increase the deficit. "This fails the test of fairness, and it certainly fails the test of fiscal responsibility," she said. Deborah Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, said the 2006 budget reconciliation bill, just signed into law the previous week, institutes changes in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program that will lead to less Medicaid funding and make it much harder for states to meet requirements for federal funding.

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