Bush Budget

USMayors: Bush 2009 Budget "Unwise and Misguided"


			The Federal Budget and America’s Communities The Institute for the Study of Civic Values believes that ‘to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity’ and ‘promote the general welfare’ of America, the federal government must work with local communities to strengthen neighborhoods and families throughout the United States. Moreover, despite Katrina, communities have disappeared as a matter of concern in national politics. The Bush administration has succeeded in making drastic cuts in economic development, housing education, law enforcement, and programs serving the poor. While Congressional Democrats and a many Republicans in Congress have opposed these cutbacks, restoring needed federal investment in America’s communities has not emerged as a priority in this year’s Presidential campaign. While BushBudget.com provides fast access to a wide range of information related to the ongoing debate over the federal budget, our primary aim is to help local activists throughout the country see the impact of the budget on their own communities. Presently, there is virtually no serious ongoing effort to make this connection. But if more local activists learn how to use the federal budget data that you can access through this web site, there is a greater chance of bringing these concerns to the country as a whole.



		How Much Federal Money Comes into Your Community? Most of us have no idea how much federal money comes into our community. When you add up not only grants to local governments, but the total amount received by families for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Student Loans, research grants to colleges, the salaries of federal employees, military bases--to name just a few examples-- the amount is far greater than we think. There’s a simple way to find out how much the federal government has invested in your county for each year between 1993 and 2005. Just follow the instructions below: Use the Census Bureau’s Consolidated Federal Funds Reports Go to the Online Query System Click on “Geography,” “Year,” “State,” and “County.” You can download web pages and/or spreadsheets showing the federal investment--program by program--in each and every county and state in the United States for each year between 1993 and 2005. The Institute for the Study of Civic Values has developed easy to access federal spending profiles for selected counties where community groups are organizing around issues related to the federal budget. We have done extensive work in our home state, Pennsylvania,where we have been able to generate press attention in Philadelphia for the impact of Bush budget cuts on the city.

Getting Bush Cutback information for Your County

The Institute for the Study of Civic Values is working with local activists around the country to help them develop materials that document what the Bush Budget cuts are doing--and will do in the future--to our communities and families. We are developing local impact spreadsheets, news stories, and community responses to the Bush Budget--state by state--for groups to fight this frontal assault by the Bush administration on our communities. Check out the Pennsylvania page as a sample.

If you want us to help you develop similar materials for your county, subscribe to our email list and join this campaign to protect America’s investment in our communities.

Yes, I Want Information on How Bush Cutbacks Affect My County

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Please tell us which budget cuts are of greatest concern to your community and how you will use the information on this web site to educate people as to what the impact of these cutbacks will be where you live. Then hit the “Submit” button to send this information to us: