Federal Budget

Nancy Altman, 3-21-11, Concord NH

Social Security expert Nancy Altman spoke to a full house at the Red River Theatre in Concord NH, March 21.

Including Social Security in the federal deficit discussion is purely political, Nancy Altman told a theatre-full of people in Concord March 21, at an event organized by the Association of Retired Americans with support from the AFSC, Nashua Teachers Union, AFT-NH Retirees, EngAGING NH, Granite State Organizing Project, NH AFL-CIO, NASW-NH, NH Council on Disabilities, Working Families Win, NH Citizens Alliance, and SEA/SEIU 1984.  According to Altman, there is no financial basis for talking about it in connection with the deficit.

A Commentary by Arnie Alpert

President Obama’s budget proposal, released today, will touch off Washington-centric squabbles over proper levels of federal spending and taxing.  Snooze-inducing terms like “continuing resolutions,”  “discretionary spending,” and “entitlement spending” will dominate political debates all the way through the presidential caucus/primary season to the 2012 election.

With proposed cuts to critical housing programs coming from both the Federal and State levels, housing advocates are warning that New Hampshire may see significant increases in homelessness and find itself without enough resources to provide basic shelter.

In addition to some cuts included in Obama’s proposed FY 2012 budget, the US House of Representatives is considering drastic cuts to housing programs for funding the remainder of FY 11. The federal budget has been running at 2010 funding levels via a Continuing Resolution that is due to expire March 4th. 

In this opinion article, AFSC's Robin Aura Kanegis points out that in this season of federal budget debates "the Pentagon has apparently developed the ultimate cloaking mechanism - one that protects the military's budget bloat from mathematical reality. The military budget accounts for more than half of federal discretionary spending, as well as nearly half of all military spending worldwide. But despite this lopsided investment, increased military appropriations are set to glide past Congress' so-called budget hawks like a Stealth Bomber."

By Robin Aura Kanegis

It’s simple math: A military budget that has doubled in twelve years + worries about the resulting deficit = deep cuts to military spending.