THE PROGRESS REPORT

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, and Christy Harvey

August 30, 2005
WEATHER
Here's the Story of a Hurricane
BUDGET
Tax Cuts Come Home to Roost
UNDER THE RADAR
Go Beyond The Headlines
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WEATHER
Here's the Story of a Hurricane

In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked a major hurricane strike on New Orleans as "among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country," directly behind a terrorist strike on New York City. Yesterday, disaster struck. One of the strongest storms in recorded history rocked the Gulf Coast, bringing 145 mph winds and floods of up to 20 feet. One million residents were evacuated; at least 65 are confirmed dead. Tens of thousands of homes were completely submerged. Mississippi's governor reported "catastrophic damage on all levels." Downtown New Orleans buildings were "imploding," a fire chief said. Oil surged past $70 a barrel. New Orleanians were grimly asking each other, "So, where did you used to live?" (To donate to Red Cross disaster relief, click here or call 1-800-HELP-NOW). While it happened, President Bush decided to ... continue his vacation, stopping by the Pueblo El Mirage RV and Golf Resort in El Mirage, California, to hawk his Medicare drug benefit plan. On Sunday, President Bush said, "I want to thank all the folks at the federal level and the state level and the local level who have taken this storm seriously.” He’s not one of them. Below, the Progress Report presents "How Not to Prepare for a Massive Hurricane," by President Bush, congressional conservatives, and their corporate special interest allies.

SLASH SPENDING ON HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS IN NEW ORLEANS: Two months ago, President Bush took an ax to budget funds that would have helped New Orleans prepare for such a disaster. The New Orleans branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suffered a "record $71.2 million" reduction in federal funding, a 44.2 percent reduction from its 2001 levels. Reports at the time said that thanks to the cuts, "major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. ... Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now." (Too bad Louisiana isn't a swing state. In the aftermath of Hurricane Frances -- and the run-up to the 2004 election -- the Bush administration awarded $31 million in disaster relief to Florida residents who didn't even experience hurricane damage.)

DESTROY NATURAL HURRICANE PROTECTIONS: The Gulf Coast wetlands form a "natural buffer that helps protect New Orleans from storms," slowing hurricanes down as they approach from sea. When he came into office, President Bush pledged to uphold the "no net loss" wetland policy his father initiated. He didn't keep his word. Bush rolled back tough wetland policies set by the Clinton administration, ordering federal agencies "to stop protecting as many as 20 million acres of wetlands and an untold number of waterways nationwide." Last year, four environmental groups issued a joint report showing that administration policies had allowed "developers to drain thousands of acres of wetlands." The result? New Orleans may be in even greater danger: "Studies show that if the wetlands keep vanishing over the next few decades, then you won't need a giant storm to devastate New Orleans -- a much weaker, more common kind of hurricane could destroy the city too."

GUT THE AGENCY TASKED WITH DEVELOPING HURRICANE RESPONSES: Forward-thinking federal plans with titles like "Issues and Options in Flood Hazards Management," "Floods: A National Policy Concern," and "A Framework for Flood Hazards Management" would be particularly valuable in a time of increasingly intense hurricanes. Unfortunately, the agency that used to produce them -- the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) -- was gutted by Gingrich conservatives several years ago. As Chris Mooney (who presciently warned of the need to bulk up hurricane defenses in New Orleans last May) noted yesterday, "If we ever return to science-based policymaking based on professionalism and expertise, rather than ideology, an office like OTA would be very useful in studying how best to save a city like New Orleans -- and how Congress might consider appropriating money to achieve this end."

SEND OUR FIRST RESPONDERS TO FIGHT A WAR OF CHOICE: National Guard and Reserve soldiers are typically on the front lines responding to disasters like Katrina -- that is, if they're not fighting in Iraq. Roughly 35 percent of Louisiana's National Guard is currently deployed in Iraq, where guardsmen and women make up about four of every 10 soldiers. Additionally, "Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators" used by the Louisiana Guard are also tied up abroad. "The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission," Louisiana National Guard Lt. Colonel Pete Schneider told reporters earlier this month. "Recruitment is down dramatically, mostly because prospective recruits are worried about deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan or another country," the AP reported recently. "I used to be able to get about eight people a month," said National Guard 1st Sgt. Derick Young, a New Orleans recruiter. "Now, I'm lucky if I can get one."

HELP FUEL GLOBAL WARMING: Severe weather occurrences like hurricanes and heat waves already take hundreds of lives and cause millions in damages each year. As the Progress Report has noted, data increasingly suggest that human-induced global warming is making these phenomena more dangerous and extreme than ever. "The hurricane that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service," science author Ross Gelbspan writes. "Its real name is global warming." AP reported recently on a Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysis that shows that "major storms spinning in both the Atlantic and the Pacific ... have increased in duration and intensity by about 50 percent" since the 1970s, trends that are "closely linked to increases in the average temperatures of the ocean surface and also correspond to increases in global average atmospheric temperatures during the same period." Yet just last week, as Katrina was gathering steam and looming over the Gulf, the Bush administration released new CAFE standards that actually encourage automakers to produce bigger, less fuel efficient vehicles, while preventing states from taking strong, progressive action to reverse global warming.


BUDGET
Tax Cuts Come Home to Roost

When Congress returns from its August break next Tuesday, congressional committees will be charged with cutting approximately $35 billion from mandatory spending programs through an annual process called budget reconciliation. Vital programs important to the daily lives of many Americans, such as Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, student loans, and other forms of government assistance, are likely to suffer drastic and consequential cuts. The budget-cutting measures are necessitated by, as President Bush noted, a need to "reduce our deficit." In turn, the deficit-cutting measures are needed because the Bush tax cuts, which predominantly favor the wealthy without providing much economic stimulus, have played such a large role in creating the deficit, and Bush is stubbornly refused to rolling them back (instead, Bush is calling for the tax cuts to be made permanent). Even conservatives, such as Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation, acknowledge that "[budget] reconciliation will be painful." One Senate veteran of budget fights said the battles this fall over budget cuts could "become an explosive cocktail" for Congress.

WHAT IS BUDGET RECONCILIATION? In the course of the annual budget process, Congress is required to pass a budget resolution, generally by April 15th of each year. The budget resolution, which in essence provides a framework for how Congress will spend the nation's money each fiscal year, often contains instructions to various committees of the House and Senate to make changes, or reconcile, the laws governing entitlement (or mandatory) spending programs. Such reconciliation instructions are measures that Congress imposes upon itself to enforce fiscal discipline and to remain within its spending cap (though the Bush administration has used the process to pass ideological tax cuts more than impose fiscal austerity). The budget cap passed by Congress this year allows for $2.6 trillion in spending for the next fiscal year, an amount which requires $35 billion in cuts to entitlement programs over the same period of time in which $70 billion in tax cuts will be distributed. The reconciliation bills, unlike ordinary discretionary spending measures, cannot be filibustered in the Senate, which makes them a favored vehicle for passing sought-after legislation.

MEDICAID MAY BE LEFT TO WITHER ON THE VINE: As stipulated by the budget reconciliation instructions, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley will be forced to find as much as $10 billion in savings primarily by cutting Medicaid, thus "trimming anticipated growth [in the program] by as much as 13 percent at a time when states such as Tennessee and Missouri are throwing tens of thousands of people off their Medicaid rosters." Because the Finance Committee is not required to cut one certain program to find the $10 billion in savings, it is possible that other entitlement programs under the committee's jurisdiction, such as Medicare and welfare programs, may also fall under the budget ax. States such as Michigan, which stands to lose approximately $300 million if the Medicaid cuts are enacted, are preparing to "turn away tens of thousands of its neediest citizens" or raise taxes or cut other vital state services. For Michigan, $300 million amounts to paying for 360,000 of 900,000 children who are now enrolled in the state's Medicaid program, or 40,000 of its 270,000 blind and disabled adults.

PROPONENTS OF ARCTIC WILDLIFE REFUGE DRILLING ATTEMPT TO USE BUDGET GIMMICKRY: Last April, congressional leaders used a back door tactic to allow drilling in the arctic as part of the federal budget resolution. But the fight to protect the refuge isn’t over. Drilling proponents must include a provision to open the refuge to drilling as part of the budget reconciliation process. Supporters claim that opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling will secure $2.4 billion in royalties and other payments. But even if drilling were allowed, it would represent less than a year’s supply of our nation’s oil and would take 10 years to make it to market – hardly an impact that is relevant to this year’s federal budget. Two dozen House Republicans signed an Aug. 4 letter to House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo outlining their opposition to using the budget reconciliation process to open ANWR, giving hope that the drilling plan will receive more thoughtful consideration. Allen Smith writes in the Boston Globe, "Congress should refuse to authorize Arctic Refuge development. The $2.4 billion fails to meet any standard for inclusion in the FY 2006 Budget, which the Congressional Research Service reports will further increase our national deficits if passed into law." Come to the rally to save ANWR on Sept. 20 in Washington, DC.

OTHER VITAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES FACING PAINFUL CUTS: According to the Washington Post, the Senate Agriculture Committee is considering cutting $600 million from food stamps. Early this month, 68 minority House members wrote a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte stating, "There is no way to reduce food stamp spending without eliminating the eligibility for vulnerable groups of people or lowering benefits in ways that increase the threat of hunger for millions of struggling families, seniors, and people with disabilities." Also, Senate aides are "crafting legislation to cut $7 billion from the federal student loan program" just as students return to college. Groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are weighing in against increasing federal pension insurance premiums by billions of dollars as part of the reconciliation package, calling that plan "a steep tax increase on pension providers." And another fight that may be brewing, according to Congressional Quarterly, is whether the reconciliation package will include cuts to welfare programs or omit increases for child care funding. Funding for Section 8 housing is also on the chopping block.




Under the Radar

CORRUPTION -- KENTUCKY GOV. PARDONS NINE MEMBERS OF HIS ADMINISTRATION: In Kentucky, a grand jury found that several members of Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration "violated the state’s personnel law that bars them from hiring or firing merit employees solely for political reasons." Fletcher found an easy way to solve the problem -- pardon everyone. Yesterday, Fletcher "pardoned nine current and former officials who have been indicted along with anyone who 'might … be charged.'" Fletcher said, “Mistakes were made but at no time was there a cynical scheme.” Fletcher himself is scheduled to appear before the grand jury today, but said he will refuse to answer any questions.

ECONOMY -- PARIS HILTON WANTS A TAX BREAK: The push to eliminate inheritance taxes for the ultra-rich is kicking into high gear. USA Today reports that "[c]onservative and business groups bent on permanently repealing the federal tax on multimillion dollar estates are mounting an intensive advertising and lobbying campaign this week that's designed to influence a Senate vote early next month." The tax is "paid by only the wealthiest 1% of Americans — those who inherit estates worth at least $1.5 million." Killing it "has been the focus of a decade-long struggle by some of the nation's largest businesses started by families, including Wal-Mart stores, Mars candies and Campbell's Soup." Although very few people pay it, "repealing the tax after 2010 could cost more than $70 billion a year in today's dollars, resulting in spending cuts or a larger federal budget deficit."

RIGHT WING -- HANNITY IN TIGHTS: A new comic book "features radio pundits Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy, and Oliver North as biomechanically tricked-out members of a conservative underground resistance" combating liberalism. The comic, called "Liberty for All," is a response to a paper written by Michael Medved and Michael Lackner which claimed ''Marvel Comics and other publishers are disseminating comic books that actively promote a destructive cynicism and distrust of the United States government." Check out a sample.

PUBLIC HEALTH -- BLOWING SMOKE: As the rest of the world deals with cigarette smoking as a public health crisis, the United States sits on the sidelines. Yesterday, China -- the largest grower and the biggest consumer of tobacco in the world -- ratified the international tobacco control treaty, leaving the United States as the only major tobacco-producing country not to ratify it. The treaty commits nations to "require large, graphic health warnings on cigarette packs; implement measures to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke; increase the price of tobacco products; and regulate the content of tobacco products." William V. Corr, the executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said ratification would "send a strong message to the rest of the world that we will not support these efforts and instead put protection of public health ahead of tobacco industry interests."

EDUCATION -- BUSH LOSES FOCUS: According to a Wall Street Journal poll, "a 57% majority of Americans said the president had been placing too little emphasis on education." The results aren't surprising considering the administration has focused its attention "on the war in Iraq and, domestically, its struggle to overhaul Social Security." Meanwhile, the president's proposal to expand the No Child Left Behind program is garnering little support, even among Bush's allies in Congress. Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE), who chairs the Education Subcommittee, said Bush's proposal was "dead for this year." For a fresh perspective, check out this education report from American Progress and the Campaign for America's Future.