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Groundhog Saw Shadow and 6 More Weeks of Winter, Americans See Bush Budget's Wintry Shadow of Deficits

By: Ed Markey
By: Ed Markey
Date: Feb. 2, 2004
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net Health Insurance Science Government Budget and Spending


News from Ed Markey

United States Congress Massachusetts Seventh District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Israel Klein (202) 225-2836

February 2, 2004

GROUNDHOG SAW SHADOW AND 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER, AMERICANS SEE BUSH BUDGET'S WINTRY SHADOW OF DEFICITS

WASHINGTON - Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) released the following statement in reaction
to President Bush's budget proposals:

"It is quite fitting that President Bush is releasing his budget on Groundhog Day, a day when
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, ensuring that we're in for another six weeks of winter. The
Bush Budget also casts a wintry shadow - but it is a shadow of looming budget deficits caused
by escalating tax breaks for the wealthy. This Bush budget is a fiscal weapon of mass
destruction that threatens the viability of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds that
provide the social safety net for America's seniors. Moreover, it simply leaves out the next
round of costs and cuts needed to occupy and rebuild Iraq. Apparently the Bush Administration
believes that a war being fought on a false premise should be funded on the basis of a phony
budget that leaves the American public in the dark until after the elections.

"The President says he wants to boost NASA spending by $1 billion a year in order to take us to
places where humans have never traveled before. But he's already done that, by blasting off into
the outer reaches of fiscal space giving us budget deficits from another galaxy. Who needs to go
to the Red Planet when we're already in the red right here on earth?

"The Bush Administration's failed and extreme tax, regulatory, and fiscal policies have put our
economy into a tailspin and left regular Americans without good job prospects, unemployment
insurance, adequate health care, and fully-funded schools for their children. It appears that it will
take a new Administration if we are to chart a course that will restore America's domestic
economy and our international standing."

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