Protecting tax cuts

Left Wing Sirotablog reports In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush and Republicans in Congress have refused to consider rolling back the $336 billion in new tax cuts that the richest 1 percent are slated to get over the next five years.

Left wing nuts just can't understand that the tax cuts stimulated the economy and resulted in INCREASED tax revenues, and that reversing them would amount to a tax increase that would cut weaken the economy and reduce total tax revenue

They say we need to pay for reconstruction not by asking the wealthiest to sacrifice just a little bit, but by massive cuts to spending.

Which is true.

And now we see what that means: The Navy Times today reports that those cuts "include trimming military quality-of-life programs, including health care." This, while troops are in battle.

Let us review what Navy Times wrote:
The House Republican Study Committee, headed by Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., is not singling out the military

Sirotablog would certainly want you to think they were targeting the military

as it tries to raise the estimated $200 billion that the federal government will need for various Katrina-related spending.

Their proposal includes freezing congressional pay, charging federal workers for parking and cutting back on legislative earmarking — items added to agency budgets by lawmakers — as ways of raising money.

All very good ideas, particularly the last one

They call their effort “Operation Offset,” and hope to get spending cuts considered before Congress approves any more money devoted to Katrina relief and recovery operations.

Their offset list includes three provisions aimed at military quality-of-life programs:

• Service members would be offered cash if they are willing to accept reduced health care benefits for their families. “The less comprehensive plan would encourage individuals to be more cost-conscious when purchasing health care products by including deductibles, co-payments and a maximum annual out-of-pocket expenditure limit,” according to a written explanation provided by the study group. Reduced health care benefits could save $2.4 billion over 10 years.

  In other words they are proposing offering service members a CHOICE of whether they want to take some money up front, and control their own health care expenses. You would think that the Democrats, who are so much in favor of CHOICE if it means killing potential babies, would not be so opposed to CHOICE in other areas.

• The three separate military exchange systems could be consolidated, saving up to $1.9 billion over 10 years, the study group says. The Army and Air Force share an exchange system, AAFES, while the Navy and Marine Corps have their own systems. “Consolidating … would eliminate inefficiencies from duplicative purchasing, different personnel departments, warehouse and inventory systems and management headquarters while retaining the current ability for service embers and their families to receive a wide selection of goods at a low price,” the statement says.

  Removal of bureaucracy always seems to be a good idea, and eliminating inefficiencies from duplicative purchasing is a good idea (that is why WalMart is able to charge such low prices, because it has a fantastic distribution system that buys in bulk and ships things to the appropriate stores). So this is not reducing any service to the military, but just saving money by doing it better.

  The Pentagon has studied the idea of exchange consolidation for years but has been unable to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and opposition from some service officials and industry groups. Several studies of the issue also have raised questions about how much money would be saved.
• The stateside system of elementary and secondary schools for military family members could be closed, saving $788 million over 10 years, the study says.
  
  “This provision would phase out these domestic schools over time and shift these military children into the local public school systems,” the study group says.

  This is the only one I disagree with. I hate anything that redirects more students into the public school system, which is doing such a bad job. But you would think the left wing wingnuts would be estatic about such a proposal, rather than saying it hurts the military.

The Pentagon also has been studying this idea, but has faced strong opposition from parents of children attending the schools because public schools are seen as offering lower-quality education. So far, the Bush administration has not endorsed any plan to pay for hurricane relief, although President Bush has suggested that reducing spending is one obvious option. At the administration’s request, Congress already has approved $62 billion in Katrina spending by simply adding it to the national debt, because other money is not available and no offsets were approved as part of the legislation.

White House budget officials met Tuesday with Senate Republicans to talk about Katrina relief plans but provided no recommendations on possible offsetting cuts in other programs to cover costs, according to senators who attended the closed-door meetings.

The NavyTimes article specifically says the proposal is not singling out the military, and of the three things related to the military, one gives the serviceman a CHOICE (Dems usually like Choice) on their healthcare, one consolidates purchasing for the exchange services, with no cut in service, and the only one I dont like, but Dems should love, moves students INTO the public school system.

natasha blogged This is how the Republicans want to thank the men and women who followed their orders to go into Iraq and Afghanistan? This is how they would treat their families who don't get to see them for months at a time?

STP blogged Natasha at Pacific Views has a piece on how the Bush Administration's refusal to scale back the tax cuts it wants to give to the wealthiest 1% of this country means those serving in the military are being asked to accept reduced health benefits and a cutback in stateside school programs for military families.