Guns and butter, '05...

...means more guns, less butter. While the war goes on and Rummy's budget gets goosed, a sampling of proposed cuts in the Bush budget shows that first responders, the heroes of 9/11 and the first line of homeland defense are on the chopping block...

Federal grants to local police will drop by 90%...

More cuts for intra-agency efforts to improve technology and communication for first responders...

$215,000,000 for local firefighters gone....

No more federal support for the costs of incarcerating illegal aliens convicted of crimes in the US...

Clean water takes a hit, too, with a cut to the EPA. Cuts to the National Park Service are a pretty clear demonstation that 'compassionate conservatives' have little compassion for actual conservation.

Little compassion, too, for Indian kids trying to get an education on the rez., with $100,000,000 coming out of the BIA's school building budget. Or the low income elderly, whose home heating aid program loses $200,000,000 as fuel prices climb.

But wait, there's more!

Did George mention to those red staters that he had a ten year plan to cut almost $6 billion out of agricultural supports, dropping the ceiling on payments by a third? And did he tell his banker buddies that the subsidies for low-interest student loans would shrink, with the Perkins Loan program, a staple for middle class families with kids in college, disappearing altogether?

No, I don't think he mentioned that on the campaign trail.

I didn't hear much about the 40% cut in federal housing and community development programs, either. And that cross-country train trip you've always wanted to take? Take it now. Amtrak subsidies? Bye bye.

A lot folks looked at the Bush re-election and thought someone should be punished for it. Bush, obviously, agrees, and his budget obliges.