If there’s one thing Bush’s proposed ’07 budget makes quite clear, it’s his staunch disregard for the needs of Americans. With plans in place for weapons and the wars they’ll be used in, Bush wants to drop or slash 141 programs that “weren’t working anyway,” most put in place to offer some relief to the poor. This is particularly interesting when one looks at how rapidly Bush’s reign helped the ranks of the impoverished grow.

With about five-and-a-half million Americans slipping below the poverty level since Bush took office, one would think social assistance programs would receive top billing. However, food assistance programs are offered up for sacrifice, while Medicare gets replaced by the allowance of tax-exempt “medical savings accounts,” rendering that blood transfusion a luxury on par with yachts and golf vacations in Scotland. Showing his soft side, Bush also takes a kick at orphans and cripples by suggesting death benefits be dropped for widows and waifs, as well as slashing IDEA, a program offering assistance to disabled kids attending public schools, by $700-million U.S.

» Scott Saxon