Bush budget to hurt NJ?

From the Home News Tribune:

Bush budget splits N.J. delegation

The $2.9 trillion budget President Bush released Monday would hurt New Jersey by cutting money for homeland-security grants, eliminating college Perkins Loans and scaling back home-heating assistance used by 165,000 Garden State residents, critics say.

A preliminary analysis of budget and supporting documents — more than 2,000 pages in all — shows that Bush’s spending plan is a “rotten tomato” that would hurt middle- and low-income New Jerseyans while helping the wealthy by extending costly tax cuts, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said.

Bush proposes to cut domestic programs to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which are higher priorities for the White House, Menendez said.

“This budget is not a best seller,” he said. “I am confident (Congress) can write a more popular sequel.”

Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist., argued that the tax cuts should be made permanent because they’ve helped the economy grow.

“The economy has not really gotten a lot of play. While we have a lot of problems in my district . . . the revenues are at record levels. Nobody wants to give the president credit for that,” LoBiondo said, adding that he’s troubled by Bush’s proposals to cut homeland-security money and expand offshore drilling.

However, Rep. Scott Garrett, R-5th Dist., saw things the opposite way. He praised Bush for adopting the “common sense, bipartisan goal” of balancing the federal budget within five years.

Under the president’s plan, New Jersey would get nearly $9.8 billion in federal grants, about $400 million more compared to two years ago. Congress is still working on this year’s budget, making up-to-date fiscal comparisons difficult.

New Jersey would receive more money for public-housing vouchers, mass transit and road construction. But it would see cuts in home-heating assistance funds, construction at small airports, and insurance for low-income children and families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

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