North Country Public Radio reports on federal funding cuts that could seriously affect local community service programs.
NCPR profiled a neighborhood center and thrift store in Canton, NY. The center provides clothing and short-term loans to residents, often to fill in gaps in public assistance programs. While all the funds are raised locally, the salary of the center's director is paid for by a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
In this article, Schenectady (NY) mayor Brian Stratton and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo assail the move.
A popular political maneuver developed by both state and federal governments over the past decade has been to pass down the costs of services (particularly human services such as health care and housing) to the next level of government below. This means the federal government has been pushing costs down to the state level and the state, in turn, passes those costs down to cities, towns and villages, they write.
Ending CDBG takes away one of the few remaining tools entitlement communities have to address the growing challenge of providing essential human and city services without further increasing local property taxes.
President Bush proposed eliminating that program and others and replacing them with another scheme... with a 30% funding cut. Apparently the extra $1.6 billion to match Fiscal Year 2005 funding levels could not be found. Sounds like a lot until you consider that, in the 2+ years since it was launched, the total cost of the Iraq aggression has already exceeded $180 billion.
As a result, not only does this country have largely inadequate public aid programs, but now even assistance to the less fortunate via primarily private charity and self-help groups is at risk.
That's compassionate conservativism in action for you.
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