Bush budget stirs fears locally

0 Comments | Philadelphia Daily News, February, 2007 | by MARK McDONALD

With President Bush's proposed budget setting aside billions for the Iraq war and tax cuts for the well-heeled, the initial fear of local officials and activists is that domestic programs such as housing, child health, law enforcement and job training will suffer.

"It seems very important to this president to rebuild Iraq but not the cities and communities in this country," said Edward Schwartz, a former city councilman who heads the Institute for the Study of Civic Values.

Schwartz has decried the Bush budget for years, saying urban areas and programs targeting the poor and low-income Americans are being short-changed.

Community-development block grants, for example, would decline by 27 percent from $4.17 billion to $3 billion in Bush's proposed $2.9...