Obama to cut heating aid program for the poor in half.

[Fury]

AP sources: Obama to propose cuts in heating aid


WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama wants to cut $2.5 billion from a $5 billion home heating aid program for the poor, two people familiar with his 2012 budget proposal said Wednesday, halving the popular fund as he looks for places to rein in federal spending.

The proposal would cut the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to its 2008 level of about $2.5 billion.

The individuals, including a congressional aide who was briefed on the proposal, discussed the details on condition of anonymity because Obama's
spending plan has not been issued. It was being released on Monday, and covers the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

Separately, House Republicans on Wednesday outlined a plan for $35 billion in immediate spending cuts that would practically eliminate the program's
contingency fund, cutting it by $400 million. The fund totaled $490 million, according to the program's website.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., urged Obama not to cut the funding. He said more than 3 million families would lose assistance.

"I've always supported serious efforts to restore fiscal sanity, but in the middle of a brutal, even historic, New England winter, home heating assistance is more critical than ever to the health and welfare of millions of Americans, especially senior citizens," Kerry said.

Obama has said tough choices must be made about how to spend scarce federal dollars to rein in spending and reduce the budget deficit and the nation's mounting debt.

The spending proposal was first reported by National Journal.

The association of state officials who administer the heating program says the number of households needing help paying energy bills is expected to hit a record high this year for the third straight year.

The National Energy Assistance Directors' Association opposes any program cuts. It says the number is expected to climb to 8.9 million households, up from 8.3 million last year and 7.7 million the year before. The association blames the increases on the weak economy and continued high energy prices.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_heating_aid

This is the best he can do to cut the deficit? Fucking over the poor? Ha. Champion of the lesser man, right? 

[Soul Crusher]

So far as I can tell, the only fair way to do this is straight across the board. 

As for the heating assistance, we need to look why heating bills are so damn high in the first place - oh that's right, let's keep sucking cock to opec.

[Fury]

So far as I can tell, the only fair way to do this is straight across the board. 

As for the heating assistance, we need to look why heating bills are so damn high in the first place - oh that's right, let's keep sucking cock to opec.

Agreed. I just find it amusing that the so-called champion of the less fortunate is about to stick a big dagger right in their back.

[Soul Crusher]

He knows he can lie to them and they will believe whatever crap he feeds them. 

[Option D]

he helps them.. he is giving away money.. it cuts aid.. hes fuckin them over..

does that just about sum it up?

[Soul Crusher]

That's why I am in favor of across the board, so that no one can say they are be treating unfairly.

Will the most deserving get fucked? Yes. Will the least deserving still get crap they never deserved, sadly yes, but at the end of the day no one can say shit.

I would cut off illegals, drug addicts, abd the rest first though and spare the vets as much as possible, but basically, it has to be across the board.

[240 is Back]

obama cutting costs and people are still criticizing him.

instead of saying 'nice work, let's do some more!'..... it's "but but he's still unfair, hardy har har how will Huffpo like this"?

Do you guys do victory dances when your friends make mistakes?  jeez.  be happy he's finally listening to repubs on spending. 

[Fury]

Let's jump through hoops as he cuts $2.5 billion in spending out. I'm almost positive you were criticizing the Repubs proposal to cut $50 billion a few weeks ago, 240. Or am I wrong on that? I know some of the other douches on here were.

[Soul Crusher]

Like I said 240 - across the board and people can't say shit.

[240 is Back]

Let's jump through hoops as he cuts $2.5 billion in spending out. I'm almost positive you were criticizing the Repubs proposal to cut $50 billion a few weeks ago, 240. Or am I wrong on that? I know some of the other douches on here were.

i'm happy if they were cutting 50 bil.  

i love the idea of slashing 500 bil in foreign aid, or the rand paul thing this week.


IF IF IF their 50 bil deal was in exchange for giving obama the leash to borrow another 1.5 trillion this year (the debt ceiling compromise), then i'm not a fan of it.  The interest on that $ alone will surpass 50 bil in 'savings' in no time.

[Skip8282]

Like I said 240 - across the board and people can't say shit.

People who need help with heat?  Seems to me there's a lot of pork that could go away before hitting these people.  Hell, I don't think even Rand Paul's proposed cuts get these people.

[Soul Crusher]

Unless everyone equally feels the pain we will still be in a collective denial to just how dire our finances are.  I posted a long vid yesterday on the state of our currency and you would be horrified if you watched it.

[Skip8282]

Unless everyone equally feels the pain we will still be in a collective denial to just how dire our finances are.  I posted a long vid yesterday on the state of our currency and you would be horrified if you watched it.

Yeah but people who can't afford to heat there homes?

[The Showstoppa]

Unless everyone equally feels the pain we will still be in a collective denial to just how dire our finances are.  I posted a long vid yesterday on the state of our currency and you would be horrified if you watched it.

I'm not sure someone having to go with no heat is equal to somebody who might have to pay feel the pain in taxes, etc...  If you are freezing to death, I don't think anybody would give a shit what the deficit is. 

There are some of these programs that i really don't have a problem with......we could make cuts in other areas and not these and I wouldn't have a problem with it.

[George Whorewell]

Ayo Big Mal- What tha deal wit dat nigguh Obama taken away dah damn heat yo?

The reason why Obama is getting knocked is because, as I have said before, he is a complete and utter moron who hates America. Think about it. We have the largest deficit in history. Trillions can be cut in spending across the board. Hundreds of billions of dollars are wasted yearly in domestic discretionary spending. Instead of cutting something that is totally unncesary, he decides to freeze poor people to death. Know why?> Because like a protypical weasel of a politician, he is going to say the Republicans made him do it.

How about eliminating ethanol subsidies, green technology junk science government grants/ rebates, mindless governmental programs that help nobody and merely expand the nanny state bureacracy, incomprehensible spending on the EPA, FCC and the alphabet soup of useless federal government stooges that are destroying what's left of America, etc.?

[Soul Crusher]

Look I don't want to cut those people at all, the thought is horrible, but then where do we start?  Where do we end? 

And then as soon as you make concessions for some, everyone is going to make the case that their personal program is special and should never be cut. 

As shitty and awful as it is, the only fair way I see is to go 10 percent year across the board or at least consolidate these things with existing state programs.

[Soul Crusher]

Ha ha ha- meltdown

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x384453

[tonymctones]

Let's jump through hoops as he cuts $2.5 billion in spending out. I'm almost positive you were criticizing the Repubs proposal to cut $50 billion a few weeks ago, 240. Or am I wrong on that? I know some of the other douches on here were.

nope that was the dousche bag known as 240

[Skip8282]

nope that was the dousche bag known as 240

Why yes, yes it was.

[Soul Crusher]

Ha ha ha ha- got to love the WH making statementslike this.  Team Kneepad still is clueless about the Doc Fix issue.   

________________________ ________________________ _______________



Healthcare cuts proposed to pay for two-year Medicare fix (& Obamacare hasn't even started yet)
The Hill ^ | 2/13/11 | Julian Pecquet




Healthcare cuts proposed to pay for two-year Medicare fix
By Julian Pecquet - 02/13/11 04:16 PM ET


President Obama's 2012 budget proposal delays a steep cut in Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors by squeezing healthcare payments for a broad cross-section of medical providers, administration officials said.


The budget proposal would postpone for two years a scheduled 25 percent cut in the Medicare physician payment formula, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), that's set to go into effect at the end of the year. The $62 billion "doc fix" would be paid for by "changes that squeeze Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals and doctors and expand the use of generic drugs in federal health programs," according to The New York Times.


Physicians' groups are lobbying for a permanent repeal of the SGR, and it's not clear how they'll respond to a two-year solution. In any event, the proposed offsets are almost certain to attract considerable criticism when the administration releases additional details on Monday.


Indeed, the proposed "squeeze" comes at a time when hospitals and doctors' groups are already clamoring for Congress to repeal the healthcare reform law's payment advisory board, which is tasked with recommending future cuts to Medicare payments. And Medicare's chief actuary, Rick Foster, has testified several times that cuts already required by the law may be unsustainable.


"It is important to note that the estimated savings for one category of Medicare provisions may be unrealistic," Foster testified before the House Budget Committee last month. "The Affordable Care Act requires permanent annual productivity adjustments to price updates for most providers...While such payment update reductions will create a strong incentive for providers to maximize efficiency, it is doubtful that many will be able to improve their own productivity to the degree achieved by the economy at large."


The White House disagrees with Foster's assessment.


"The Actuary has also raised concerns that implementing these cost-control measures may not be possible," healthcare messaging guru Stephanie Cutter wrote on the White House blog last month. "Once again, we disagree. History shows that it is possible to implement measures that will save money for Medicare and the federal government."


Last year's recommendations from the president's fiscal commission offer some indication of possible cuts. They include:


•Cutting payments to hospitals for medical education (saves $60 billion through 2020);


•Ending Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers for unpdaid deductibles and copays owed by beneficiaries (saves $23 billion through 2020); and


•Requiring higher savings from home health providers (saves $9 billion through 2020).

[240 is Back]

I criticized the Repubs for raising the debt ceiling after they vowed not to.

They allowed 1.5 trillion in new spending - in exchange for 50 bil in cuts.

Does that many any sense whatsoever?  You can stop 20 times the spending - and you dont?

[Soul Crusher]

AP Source: Obama to seek changes in Pell Grants
 Advertisements [?]
Edited on Sun Feb-13-11 11:40 AM by daa
Source: AP

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's budget plan would cut $100 billion from Pell Grants and other higher education programs over a decade through belt-tightening and use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550, an administration official said.
Nearly $90 billion of the projected savings would be achieved through two changes, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Monday's release of Obama's 2012 budget. The spending plan applies to the budget year that begins Oct. 1.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110213/ap_on_re_us/us_obam... 


________________________ ________________________ __


DU in complete meltdown - ha ha ha ha   


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4731671&mesg_id=4731671

[Soul Crusher]

Graduate Students May Face Higher Debt Under Obama's Budget Plan 
 Advertisements [?]
Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama promised that investment in education and getting the next generation of Americans ready to face their own "Sputnik" moment would be a focus of his administration. But at least one component of his FY 2012 budget, which will be released tomorrow, will likely pile more debt upon students who decide to pursue graduate school, potentially making the dream of higher education even more unattainable for many Americans. The move, say administration officials, is needed to ensure that a popular financial aid award stays available at current levels.

In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew said that interest on graduate school loans will begin building up while students are still in school. Currently, interest does not begin compiling until after students graduate.

snip...

Lew's assurance that students still won't have to start paying back their debt until after they graduate might not offer much comfort to people who emerge from graduate school and face, on average, more than $40,000 in debt, according to FinAid.org. Students pursuing a medical degree can face more than $100,000 in debt.

Obama himself has acknowledged the burden of heavy student debt, saying in his 2010 State of the Union speech, "In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education. No one should go broke because they chose to go to college."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/13/graduate-stude...

________________________ ______________________


Yet all of these same fools will vote for him again anyway. 




 
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4732142&mesg_id=4732142

[GigantorX]

Why is the Federal Govt. subsidizing individual citizens heating bills in the first place?

I think that's the better question.

[The Showstoppa]

Why is the Federal Govt. subsidizing individual citizens heating bills in the first place?

I think that's the better question.

On a VERY limited scale, I don't have a problem with it.....certain circumstances, but for the program to be that large, you know there is a ton of abuse in it.