Vast Deficit Budget Shifts Assets Away From Urban Areas

[Rose Siding]

David Broder writes...

...The blue dots are not just political blotches, however. They are the cities from Atlanta to Seattle, home to tens of millions of Americans.

They are also the places where in the past federal programs - subsidies to schools, police departments, transit systems and, most notably, to housing agencies - were vital.

The impact of these election returns was exhibited vividly and in damaging fashion in the catch-all government spending bill the Republican-controlled Congress cleared three weeks after Election Day.
.....
"However," {Mikulski- D} said on the Senate floor, "those increases came at a price. To provide those needed increases for veterans and NASA, we had to cut essential programs. . . .

"We were forced to cut housing for the elderly by $26 million. Housing for the disabled is cut by $10 million. The Community Development Block Grant program, one of the most important programs in this bill and one of the most important programs for state and local government, is cut by $200 million compared to last year. . . .

"Thanks to the Republican budget cuts, we are shifting the burden of environmental protection to state and local governments. Overall, EPA is cut by over $300 million compared to last year. . . . That means every state will get less money for sewer construction."

Sheila Crowley, a longtime housing advocate, wrote to the members of her organization:

"People who need or rely on public housing, Indian housing, elderly housing, housing for people with AIDS or who are disabled, block grants for affordable housing and community development, and even homeless assistance will have to do with less in the coming year. . . . Tougher times are ahead for low-income people in the United States."

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=609&u_sid=1272365