According to Smart Growth America:
Last month, President Bush proposed a federal budget that cuts funding for a number of critical programs that help revitalize communities and provide transportation choices.
Perhaps most shocking is the Bush administration’s budget proposal to transfer an estimated $3.2 billion from public transportation funds to highway projects in a short-sighted attempt to solve the federal transportation system’s financial woes. If approved, money for new trains, bike paths, sidewalks, and light rail could be eliminated. Even the highway lobby recognizes that as a poor solution and opposes “this ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ strategy.”
Some of the other funding cuts include a decrease in funding for Amtrak, from $1.325 billion to $800 million, and a 10% cut in funding levels for the Department of Transportation. Read their full analysis of the President’s FY 2009 budget proposal for more information.
If you would like to take action, urge your Congressional members to prevent cuts in funding for these important programs, and to increase funding for the EPA Smart Growth program, level-funded for several years, to $7 million.
Another interesting note – the New York Times’s article "Bush Cool to States’ Call for Public Works Projects" reported:
"President Bush rebuffed appeals from the nation’s governors on Monday to increase spending on roads, bridges and other public works as a way to revive the economy. . . . In his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has said he wants to spend $60 billion on roads, bridges and other public works over the next 10 years. . . ."
(Please note – TRU is non-partisan and does not take any stance on any political candidate.)