what does $87b buy?
more on tompaine, but here are some:
$87b Is More Than The Combined Total Of All State Budget Deficits In The United States
The Bush administration proposed absolutely zero funds to help states deal with these deficits, despite the fact that their tax cuts drove down state revenues. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]
$87b Is More Than Double The Total Amount The Government Spends On Homeland Security
The U.S. spends about $36 billion on homeland security. Yet, Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) wrote “America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs” for homeland security without a funding increase. [Source: Council on Foreign Relations]
$87b Is 7 Times What The Government Spends On Title I For Low-Income Schools
President Bush proposed a budget of just $12 billion for Title I, leaving a $6.2 billion hole in what he promised to spend on Title I in his No Child Left Behind Bill. [Source: House Appropriations Committee]
$87b Is 87 Times The Amount The Federal Government Spends On After School Programs
President Bush proposed a budget that reduces the $1 billion for after-school programs to $600 million — cutting off about 475,000 children from the program. [Souce: House Appropriations Committee]
$87b Is More Than 10 Times What The Government Spends On All Environmental Protection
The Bush administration requested just $7.6 billion for the entire Environmental Protection Agency. This included a 32 percent cut to water quality grants, a 6 percent reduction in enforcement staff, and a 50 percent cut to land acquisition and conservation. [Source: Natural Resources Defense Council]
in short, it is not much in the grand scheme of things if you are a capitalist who will be hired after the presidency to 'consult' for several million a year….
