Kirk Watson: “I stand to oppose the misguided budget amendments that are being presented to us. These amendments will not help a…”

“I stand to oppose the misguided budget amendments that are being presented to us. These amendments will not help a post-Katrina plan, but would only add to the deficit. It would require spending cuts and new tax cuts that would mount up to $70 billion, cuts that mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the poorest Americans. If these spending cuts were approved, they would probably do what I would consider to be Draconian cutting. They would cut Medicaid, food stamps, child care support, the earned income tax credit, and supplemental security income. I have a problem in my City of Los Angeles, and it is a homeless problem. There are over 80,000 homeless individuals that are on our streets, mostly in the evenings. They have problems with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and mental illness. Over 33 percent of the homeless are mentally ill. And they are homeless. And why? Because we have cut out the programs that address this population; and not only did we do that, but under the Reagan administration we closed mental health hospitals. Money was to follow the patients into the community, and it never did. So if we are trying to be fiscally responsible, that means we are being irresponsible to the poorest of Americans. As Americans we cannot allow this to happen. If we are spreading democracy around the world, then we must live up to the principles and the tenets of its provisions.…”