United StatesSenator Mary Landrieu, D-La. addressed a small audience of Southern Universityofficials and students on Monday about President George Bush’s newly releasedproposed budget for the 2006 fiscal year. Landrieu spoke on her views about thebudget proposal and its effect on middle income families and education.
“This budgetdoes not reflect the values the people in Louisiana hold dear,” Landrieu said.”It falls short of positioning the future of Southern, Baton Rouge, our stateand nation.”
Landrieudescribed the proposed budget as not being a path to an ownership society butto a society immersed in debt.
“We are toogreat of a nation to be trying to just keep our heads above the water,” shesaid to an audience seated in the Southern University School of Nursingauditorium.
The president’sbudget proposes to cut more than 150 domestic programs aimed at middle incomefamilies. However, the Bush administration still insists on providing taxcuts for the wealthy, or those making $200,000 or more a year.
“Because of thepresident’s insistence on making all the tax cuts permanent and most of thebeneficiaries of those tax cuts are the top 10 percent of Americans, everybodyelse is receiving pretty tough budget cuts, whether it’s for education,transportation or healthcare,” Landrieu said.
Landrieucategorized the problem as not being one of spending, but one of revenue. Shesaid the president’s tax cuts for the wealthy would result in debt on everyoneelse, or a cut in programs.
ConsuellaBarros, a single parent, works two jobs to support her two children. She feelsthat the president’s budget only serves as a support system for the wealthy,with no initiatives for the middle and lower income families.
“I think thesituation is awful, because the president doesn’t seem to care about middleincome families and families that really aren’t bringing in that much money,”Barros said. “He’s not trying to help us, he’s just looking out for the richand trying to take away from low income families and it’s not fair.”
While middleincome families may be negatively impacted, college students may have to bearthe brunt of what may be a less compassionate government when it comes tofunding education.
“Students that needstudent loans are the first to get cut,” Landrieu said.
The new budgetwould possibly call for the elimination of the Stafford and Perkins loans.
“The T.O.P.S.program is in good shape because that’s state funded,” Landrieu said. “But, alot of the educational programs at the federal level are being recommended forelimination, and some of the student loan programs are being eliminated.”
The TuitionOpportunity Program for Students (T.O.P.S.) is a state-funded scholarship forLouisiana students wishing to attend an in-state college. Eligibility isbased upon grade point average and cumulative ACT score upon completion of astudent’s senior year in high school. Interested students must have completedthe T.O.P.S. core curriculum in order to be eligible.
DesherickWilliams, a junior criminal justice major from Dallas feels that funding foreducation should be a top priority.
“I feel thateducation should not suffer due to frivolous spending on the part of the BushAdministration,” Williams said.
Landrieu saidthe new budget would increase Pell Grants by $500, however, she feels that itwill not be enough to supplement college costs.
“Even thoughthere is a slight increase in Pell Grants, it’s not keeping pace with the costsof college,” Landrieu said. “When it was first instituted it covered 98 percentof costs, now with this increase it will cover about 60 percent of costs.”
Landrieuexpressed that she would do everything she could to encourage a budget moresensitive to the needs of students as well as Middle America.
“I will bespeaking out against, and I’ll be voting against many parts of the president’sbudget,” Landrieu said.
The senatorencouraged everyone to contribute to the effort to defeat the budget by voicingtheir concerns.
