If that's so, health care for the nation's children, uninsured families and elderly doesn't rank high on his agenda. Most disappointing, Bush's budget doesn't even provide for several of his campaign pledges. Despite the president's solemn pledge to seniors at the GOP convention, Vice President Dick Cheney recently cast the tie-breaking Senate vote to kill adequate funding for prescription drugs for Medicare recipients. The proposal backed by the Bush administration depends mostly on dubious savings from the president's plan to restructure Medicare, savings unlikely to be realized. If Bush is to make good on his promise, he'll have to raid the Medicare surplus, stealing from baby boomers who are funding it now and will need it later.
Persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise.
The president's budget also slashes support for training pediatricians, nurses and dentists. In Georgia, which ranks 40th in the nation in numbers of nurses per capita, shortages of nurses are acute in rural areas. Even outside the confines of the budget, the president has gone back on pledges to protect the public health. In addition, deep budget cuts in environmental programs will make enforcement of existing protections difficult. The only health care promise the president has kept is the worthy one to double the research budget for the National Institutes of Health.