Lynn C. Woolsey: “the Federal budget is about priorities. And with this budget, Republicans have their priorities all wrong. As an…”

“the Federal budget is about priorities. And with this budget, Republicans have their priorities all wrong. As an example, The Washington Post reports that young people from rural America are shouldering a disproportionate burden of the war in Iraq. Why? Rural Americans are increasingly willing to risk dying in this Iraqi quagmire to improve their chances of paying for college and getting a decent paying job. More than 44 percent of military recruits now come from rural areas. Only 14 percent come from American cities. Also, many military recruits are financially strapped. Nearly 50 percent of them come from lower- middle-class to poor households. In 2004, nearly two-thirds of Army recruits came from counties in which median household income is below the U.S. median. Why do I tell you this? Because the response of this Republican-led Congress is to impose $14.5 billion in deeper budget cuts in student aid. How does that add up? ____________________”