Obama wants to cut LIHEAP, energy assistance to the poor
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Isn’t that a quaint idea? From the NationalJournal:
President Obama’s proposed 2012 budget will cut several billion dollars from the government’s energy assistance fund for poor people, officials briefed on the subject told National Journal.
It’s the biggest domestic spending cut disclosed so far, and one that will likely generate the most heat from the president’s traditional political allies. Such complaints might satisfy the White House, which has a vested interest in convincing Americans that it is serious about budget discipline.
One White House friend, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said earlier today that a Republican proposal to cut home heating oil counted as an “extreme idea” that would “set the country backwards.” Schumer has not yet reacted to Obama’s proposed cut. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., declared: “The President’s reported proposal to drastically slash LIHEAP funds by more than half would have a severe impact on many of New Hampshire’s most vulnerable citizens and I strongly oppose it.” A spokesman for Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., declared similarly: “If these cuts are real, it would be a very disappointing development for millions of families still struggling through a harsh winter.”
In a letter to Obama, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., wrote, “We simply cannot afford to cut LIHEAP funding during one of the most brutal winters in history. Families across Massachusetts, and the country, depend on these monies to heat their homes and survive the season.”
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, would see funding drop by about $2.5 billion from an authorized 2009 total of $5.1 billion. The proposed cut will not touch the program’s emergency reserve fund, about $590 million, which can be used during particularly harsh cold snaps or extended heat spells, three officials told National Journal.
This doesn’t sit well with me. Hitting those that can least afford it is bs on a stick. WTF is wrong with cutting the Pentagon’s damn budget? He gave the rich an incredible tax cut and everyone knows they didn’t friggin need it. This really is wrong on every level.
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Maybe I have this wrong, but I linked back to some different articles on a Think Progress or maybe Americablog posting on this. It looked as if the cuts would be to the stimulus funding of weatherization programs, not to the actual people who need fuel assistance over the winter or summer even when it gets hot. If I am not mistaken, a utility company cannot cut power during the time I think Nov-March for most states. I’ll go check and see if I can find what I was reading through earlier this morning on this and I’ll post it.
If not, that is some harsh shit this budget is going to lay at the feet of the vulnerable, once again, to pacify those that got tax cuts and don’t need them.
The weatherization program was not part of LIHEAP Jess, I can’t find anything that says it was. Even Scott Brown is against this cut.
Right it was part of the stimulus, that is why they were cutting some of it if I read it correctly. I’m trying to remember where I saw it to post and for the life of me I can’t. Like I said, maybe I was reading it wrong, and if that is the case, they need to maybe give the troops a break for a half day and use that to fund the heating program. That is about all it would take to fund it completely.
But you know, the rich need the tax breaks, more than poor people need heat in winter, how else will they take that cruise to their beach vacation spot? Why don’t you want them to have that little piece of happiness Dusty? Please don’t make me do the whole this is sarcasm thing here everyone, it will make me cry.
I know Jess, you are being snarky and you are just as pissed as the next person about this crapola.
DP1053 says he qualified for it last year and the standards are really really high, so it’s hard as hell to get..that tells me you almost have to be living in your damn car to get it. How much needier do people have to be? It’s a record cold winter fer christs sake. The price of oil has been like a jack in the box for the last 10 years and back east heating oil is what most people use.
We have really hot summers here and they are humid as hell too. Every summer they pull elderly folks out of their homes dead from the heat. All they have is a friggin fan going. And when people ask their relatives..why didn’t they use that swamp cooler or AC in the window..its the same answer every time..they couldn’t afford to use it.
Do they have those cooling spots there in your area they have up in San Joaquin and Sacramento for the really hot days? I think it was Ahnuld made it happen, a couple summers ago when more than a few people passed away from the heat. They had funded some places where a person could go and stay cool if they wanted to.
I imagine this is like any one of the thousaand of programs you have to be just flat out broke, before you can get help. You know the ones, you don’t qualify for Medi-Cal because you make $20 too much or some such nonsense. You need to sell your home or car to be eligible for this program, which makes no sense to me at all.
The cooling centers were great until this recession started then they started cutting back on locations,hours and picking up the old folks.
Ahnold cut a lot of these types of programs already here in Cali. He was ahead of the curve in screwing the poor, old and disabled.
Cut OUT the damn Oil companies subsidies first. CutOUT the farming subsidies first..Jesus it isn’t rocket science. Obama is really looking like an R in D clothing w/this bs if you ask me. There is no way this kind of cut will be popular with anyone except Rand Paul.
Maybe Venezuela will help poor U.S. residents again. Chavez cares more about the poor the poor than U.S. liberals do. Think about that.
Dusty,
The filthy rich have just gotten a two-year extension on their mammoth Bush tax cuts. If they’re such wise and responsible people, why the hell don’t some of THEM pick up the slack here and do the right thing for a change? It’s time for the poor AND the middle class to rise up and DEMAND more from those who keep stealing from them!!!
Last year when I was unemployed and not collecting unemployment, I finally qualified for LiHEAP (a dubious accomplishment). Believe me, you cannot be making much to qualify for this help, so you are already in dire straits. What a lot of people don’t know is that LiHEAP is a once-a-year payment, it is not a monthly or weekly thing. Luckily, I am now working, allbeit, as a temp.
What I want to know is what the hell is Obama playing at? He has worked in poor communities and knows how important this help is to the poorest of the poor. Is he selling out a whole class of people just to curry favor with the Republicans? If so, them shame on him!
Domestic spending shouldn’t be cut at all before huge cuts are made elsewhere (maybe we could retire one of the wars?)- especially in a year where people are suffering through record cold.
This is disgusting.
ha!!
kill the elderly with cold? of course that’s pretty damn inacurate, I’m sure. however;
robert kennedy jr or joe kennedy won’t be pleased at all… it is THEIR charity. their start up. John Kerry is battling for a good reason.
now Obama is pissing off Kennedy’s? good show.
already this year folks by the dozen’s have frozen to death just in the NE. it’s not a small thing… lets see… food, medicine or heat? what shall we pay for this week?
it’s a wrong as it can be…. what more could possibly have to be ‘before your eye’?
There’s a lot more to this story than meets the eye. No time now but will do something later if time permits.
Make time permit. Time is not in charge. You are. I need the scoop and I am too busy or too lazy to go after it!