Federal Budget Cutting

The Wall Street Journal has an article today which should be avoided by all with blood pressure problems. It describes several programs which Bush has proposed eliminating and then expalins why the cuts will never happen. Senator Stevens of Alaska who chairs the Appropriations Committee protects the $8.5 million budgeted for something called the "Exchanges With Historic Whaling and Trading Partners" program. Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio insists that the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati should get $2.2 million in federal dollars even though they have raised over $100 million from private sources such as Oprah and Muhammed Ali. There are others just as egregious which are supported by various politicians of both parties, but they also point to one program with a $1 million budget which was killed. It forgave student loans for child care providers and its main sponsor was Senator Paul Wellstone who is no longer with us. It is sad to think that plane crashes are the only route to boondoggle programs being discontinued.