I thought that I would share with everyone some very interesting and salient information for Nebraskans. Below are the effects of Bush’s budget on Nebraskans.

Homeland Security

• The Bush 2006 budget cuts $420 million to state and local funding for homeland security, including $11.7 million cut for Nebraska. These cuts will take police and firefighters off the streets.
• The Bush budget cuts the COPS program, which has put 705 officers on Nebraska streets, by 96 percent.

Health Care

• The Bush budget cuts $45 billion from Medicaid, enough to provide health care to 1.8 million children. Nebraska's share of these cuts is $238 million.

• Bush's budget cuts the very same community and rural health care programs he touted during the campaign, even though more than 41,000 Nebraska residents have lost their health care coverage since Bush took office due to his failures.

Education

• Bush underfunds his own No Child Left Behind Act by $13.1 billion in his budget. In Nebraska, that means a shortfall of $70 million, leaving behind 11,670 Nebraska children.
• Bush promised to fund Pell Grants in his State of the Union address, but his budget is $6.6 billion short. That's $36.3 million less than what's needed in Nebraska, a real burden for the 28,773 students in Nebraska who receive the grants.

Other Priorities

• Bush cuts $8.1 million from Nebraska job training programs in his 2006 budget.
• The Bush budget would require many veterans to pay a new $250 annual "user fee" to use the Veterans Administration health care system, and would double the prescription drug co-payment for the 173,189 Nebraska veterans.
• Bush cuts Nebraska clean water programs by $2 million.
• Bush's 2006 budget also cuts the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program -- which helps low-income families afford heating fuel in the winter -- by $234.4 million, including $2.1 million cut for Nebraska residents.

And Bush's irresponsible budget is a record $427 billion in the red, increasing each Nebraska family's share of the federal debt by $37,413.