President George W. Bush proposed numerous cuts in a $2.4 trillion budget last week to combat the $500 billion deficit -- sparking consideration from professors and local social service organizations, but not much interest from students.
About 120 government-funded programs might see budget cutbacks or complete elimination, according to the 2005 fiscal year budget proposal.
Karen Walls (junior-recreation and parks management) said she doesn't usually pay attention to politics and is unsure how Bush's proposal would affect her. "All the little speeches they give ... are boring," she said.
Qiana Peoples (junior-broadcast journalism) said she also doesn't follow politics. "I kind of feel like it's too much catching up to do. I guess I could just hop in and learn about it, but I don't know," she said.
Faculty members at Penn State recommended that students research Bush's proposed spending.
James Eisenstein, political science professor, said students might be negatively affected by Bush's proposal, which gives a higher increase for defense spending than for education.
"Do you think that students deserve to work 20 to 30 hours a week to go to school?" Eisenstein said.
The budget proposes increased funds for agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and faith-based organizations.
"Divide $1 billion by $2,000 ... that's 500,000 scholarships at $2,000 each for a $1 billion expenditure. You could give a $2,000 grant to every needy student without any difficulty. Important choices are being made that directly affect students," Eisenstein said.
Bush proposed a $400 billion budget for the Defense Department -- the biggest fund increase scheduled for the fiscal year. The proposed budget did not include the costs of military operations in Iraq, however.
Eisenstein said Bush's administration seems to be motivated by thoughts of re-election. "It's a political document that purports to be a budget, but it does not include expenses in Iraq ... which are tens of billions of dollars," he said. Bush's goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009 is not feasible, he added.
"The budget is designed to reach out and support those [conservative] priorities," said Sean Misko, president of the Political Science Association.
Senior economics lecturer Russell Chuderewicz said an issue of greater importance involves a budget reliant on foreign interest in countries like China and Japan and the need to keep Bush's implemented tax cuts in place.
Recent studies have declared a lagging job market in January 2004. However, without the tax cuts, the number of jobs created could have been even worse, Chuderewicz said.
"You can produce more with less. The economy needs to grow so fast in order to create jobs, it's ridiculous," Chuderewicz said. "The key regarding the economy is if tax cuts will remain permanent or if they'll be repealed. If you try to reduce the deficit by repealing tax cuts, that would be bad."
But local area social service organizations hope to benefit from the recent budget proposal.
Carol Phillips, executive director of A Woman's Concern Pregnancy Resource Clinic, 423 S. Pugh St, said Bush's proposal regarding the availability of money for programs focused on abstinence might allow her clinic to expand its sex education within the community.
