Budgets are Moral Documents

I was reminded of this Jim Wallis mantra this morning when I read about Bush’s proposed 2009 budget. He wants to increase spending by 19 percent on “border security and border enforcement” while cutting education and Medicare. On the latter, he proposes to simply freeze payments to doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, oblivious to the fact that Medicare provides cheaper health care than its private sector alternatives. On the latter, Nancy Pelosi suggested cutting subsidies to Medicare Advantage, which is basically where the government pays private insurers who take Medicare patients rather than paying the provider directly. Even though that costs between 10-20 percent more than traditional Medicare, Bush has in the past threatened to veto attempts to cut this program. Oh yes, I forgot to mention: $70 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So there you have it: money for building fences between people, for war, and for rewarding friends in the insurance industry. Cuts for education and health. Oh well, at least he’s still “pro-life”, right…..?