Trampling on the Middle Class and the Poor--The New U.S. Government Budget Deal

On Friday, April 8, 2011, Democrats and Republicans came to an agreement on the 2010-2011 budget that was running on temporary extensions since October 2010. This was deemed as an effort to avoid a government shut down that would be effective as of mid-night on the same day. I am not going to judge whether or not it was right to go for this compromise, but I say one thing: democrats faltered on passing this budget back in 2010 when they controlled both houses out of the fear of losing the November 2010 mid-term election to Republicans (as they would not be able to cut the budget enough to address the deficit and Republicans would naturally slam them in elections campaigns about it).

Shame on you Democratic representatives. You compromised the well-being of the American middle-class and the poor for your political game. You lost  the House of Representatives to Republicans while putting yourself in the position to compromise on matters that mean life and death to some poorer parts of the population and basic necessities to others.

Just a few facts on the budget:

- Environmental Planning Agency (EPA) lost $1.6 Billion. This means that the environment will be destroyed even faster than before.

- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lost $786 Million. This means that if the already weak emergency response in the case of disasters (remember New Orleans!?) will be even weaker.

- Police (cops and local enforcement programs) lost $721 Million ($296m + $415m). So go ahead criminals, shoot and loot. There is not many of them left around to give you trouble.

- Federal highways lost $650 million. This is while the bridges in the country are falling apart. The average age of major bridges in the US is 72 years while their average life span is planned to around  50.

- Community Health lost $600 million. So elderly and the poor, die in peace as you don't even have the luxury of HOPE that you may be eligible for this or that government health program.

I am just waiting for the Ryan budget bill victory to lose all hopes about America.

Corporations and the Koch brothers, you won!