INSTITUTE INDEX: A chilly budget for the poor
Size of the budget proposal unveiled this week by President Obama: $3.7 trillion
Amount the White House says the plan will reduce the deficit by over the next 10 years: $1 trillion
Portion of debt reduction that would be achieved via spending freezes: 2/3
By tax increases: 1/3
Number of years the budget would freeze funding for all non-security discretionary spending: 5
Amount the budget would trim from domestic programs next year: $6 billion
Amount the House Republican leadership wants to cut from domestic programs this year: $61 billion
Amount the president's budget would cut from low-income heating assistance and the Community Development Block Grant program, which funds affordable housing and anti-poverty efforts: $2.8 billion
Portion by which the budget reduces funding for the heating assistance program: 1/2
Portion of the overall budget the heating assistance program represents: less than 1/10 of 1%
Estimated number of families qualifying for heating assistance who would not receive it because of the cuts: 3 million
Date on which the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus said of Obama's plan, "Rebuilding our economy on the backs of the most vulnerable Americans is something that I simply cannot accept": 2/15/2011
Amount the president's budget would cut from certain weapons programs over the next five years: $78 billion
Despite those cuts, percentage that military spending would increase from 2011 to 2012 under the plan: 5
Number of times by which U.S. military spending outpaces the next closest country's: 8
Number of years the White House has tried to kill a program to build an alternative engine for the F-35 fighter jet, which Congress funded anyway amid aggressive lobbying by co-manufacturer General Electric: 5
Tally of the Feb. 16 House vote to kill the F-35 engine program, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates called "a waste of nearly $3 billion": 233-198
Amount by which GE stock fell following the vote: 2 cents
Date on which a GE spokesperson said the company "will continue to press the case for competition": 2/16/2011
Amount GE spent on lobbying in 2010: more than $39 million
(Click on figure to go to original source.)
Amount the White House says the plan will reduce the deficit by over the next 10 years: $1 trillion
Portion of debt reduction that would be achieved via spending freezes: 2/3
By tax increases: 1/3
Number of years the budget would freeze funding for all non-security discretionary spending: 5
Amount the budget would trim from domestic programs next year: $6 billion
Amount the House Republican leadership wants to cut from domestic programs this year: $61 billion
Amount the president's budget would cut from low-income heating assistance and the Community Development Block Grant program, which funds affordable housing and anti-poverty efforts: $2.8 billion
Portion by which the budget reduces funding for the heating assistance program: 1/2
Portion of the overall budget the heating assistance program represents: less than 1/10 of 1%
Estimated number of families qualifying for heating assistance who would not receive it because of the cuts: 3 million
Date on which the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus said of Obama's plan, "Rebuilding our economy on the backs of the most vulnerable Americans is something that I simply cannot accept": 2/15/2011
Amount the president's budget would cut from certain weapons programs over the next five years: $78 billion
Despite those cuts, percentage that military spending would increase from 2011 to 2012 under the plan: 5
Number of times by which U.S. military spending outpaces the next closest country's: 8
Number of years the White House has tried to kill a program to build an alternative engine for the F-35 fighter jet, which Congress funded anyway amid aggressive lobbying by co-manufacturer General Electric: 5
Tally of the Feb. 16 House vote to kill the F-35 engine program, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates called "a waste of nearly $3 billion": 233-198
Amount by which GE stock fell following the vote: 2 cents
Date on which a GE spokesperson said the company "will continue to press the case for competition": 2/16/2011
Amount GE spent on lobbying in 2010: more than $39 million
(Click on figure to go to original source.)
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Sue Sturgis
Sue is the editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.