Reply #8: He is not

[ProSense]

channeling Reagan. Lew's op-ed doesn't tell the whole story.

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Yet for the past 30 years, these grants have been allocated using a formula that does not consider how good a job the recipients are doing. The president is proposing to cut financing for this grant program in half, saving $350 million, and to reform the remaining half into a competitive grant program, so that funds are spent to give communities the most effective help.

Another difficult cut is a reduction of $125 million, or about a quarter of current financing, to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which supports environmental cleanup and protection. And a third is a reduction in the Community Development Block Grant program. These flexible grants help cities and counties across the nation finance projects in areas like housing, sewers and streets, and economic development in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

While we know from mayors and county leaders how important these grants are for their communities, and are very aware of the financial difficulties many of them face, the sacrifices needed to begin putting our fiscal house in order must be broadly shared, and we are proposing to cut this program by 7.5 percent, or $300 million.

These three examples alone, of course, represent only a small fraction of the scores of cuts the president had to choose, but they reflect the tough calls he had to make. And as he made them, his administration tried to make sure that there was no undue burden on any one program or area. We also asked agencies outside the freeze to do their part as well. The Department of Defense, for instance, will have its financing plan cut by $78 billion over the next five years, bringing spending down to zero real growth after a decade of healthy increases, and we are eliminating programs like the C-17 transport plane that have broad support but that we do not need and cannot afford.

The budget is due out February 14. Not sure what the purpose of this op-ed was, as it raises more questions than it answers. Why mention specifics out of context?

The actual budget might tell a different story since billions in similar grants are issued by various agencies. For example, HUD:

HUD AWARDS $1.4 BILLION TO NEARLY 7,000 LOCAL HOMELESS PROGRAMS – PART OF ADMINISTRATION PLAN TO PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS

HUD AWARDS $127 MILLION IN GRANTS TO PROTECT THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FROM LEAD AND OTHER HOME HAZARDS

HUD, HHS ANNOUNCE JOINT EFFORT TO ASSIST NEARLY 1,000 NON-ELDERLY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TO MOVE FROM INSTITUTIONS TO INDEPENDENCE

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEARLY $73 MILLION IN COUNSELING GRANTS TO HELP FAMILIES FIND AND KEEP HOUSING

Too bad these announcements don't get as much attention.