WASHINGTON — The austerity plan President Obama outlined yesterday for 2012 does not go nearly far enough to satisfy House Republicans, who seek deeper, more immediate cuts that could greatly affect New Englanders.
The GOP favors reducing the Environmental Protection Agency budget by 29 percent, hitting clean-water funding particularly hard. Education programs such as Pell grants for middle- and low-income college students would be reduced..
Funding would be eliminated altogether for several programs, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and AmeriCorps, the national service group. Both organizations have deep roots in the Boston area, with WBUR and WGBH considered cultural jewels and AmeriCorps being largely modeled after City Year in Boston and then developed nationwide with key support from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
Those cuts are included in the budget that the House will vote on this week to fund the remainder of the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Overall, Republicans want to trim $61 billion from last year’s spending.
In several weeks, House Republicans will release a separate plan that, like Obama’s, addresses next fiscal year. Republicans have not specified what cuts they plan to make next year, but their proposed cuts for the remainder of this year are considered a guidepost.
The differing budgetary priorities are setting up a tectonic battle over federal spending between a new Republican House majority and a Senate and White House controlled by Democrats.
Republicans say government has grown too large in recent years and must be reduced in a way that improves the economy and reduces the tax burden.
“Our goal is to listen to the American people and liberate our economy from the shackles of debt, over-taxation, and big government,’’ said House Speaker John Boehner.
Any Republican budget proposal is unlikely to be approved wholesale, given that Democrats still control the Senate and the White House. But several elements of the GOP plan would probably make it into the final compromise with the Senate.
Other GOP-backed cuts under consideration for this year would include $2.5 billion less for rail projects, which would slow plans for expansion of several lines in the Northeast. A program to provide nutritional support for women and infants — known as WIC — would be cut by $747 million, and $694 million would be cut from funding for schools that serve low-income students. The legislation would also bar funding for an overseer to help implement Obama’s health care law.
Many of those cuts would be felt throughout Massachusetts, whose congressional delegation has proven adept at securing federal funding.
“The president is using a scalpel,’’ Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday. “The House Republicans are using a hacksaw.’’
Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat, urged continued funding of public broadcasting. “In a media landscape cluttered with lowest-common denominator content, CPB creates an oasis where Big Bird and friends can thrive, children can access educational shows that reinforce classroom lessons, and Americans around the country can find the top-caliber programming that expands their knowledge while entertaining and informing their everyday lives,’’ he said in a statement.
The GOP favors reducing the Environmental Protection Agency budget by 29 percent, hitting clean-water funding particularly hard. Education programs such as Pell grants for middle- and low-income college students would be reduced..
Funding would be eliminated altogether for several programs, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and AmeriCorps, the national service group. Both organizations have deep roots in the Boston area, with WBUR and WGBH considered cultural jewels and AmeriCorps being largely modeled after City Year in Boston and then developed nationwide with key support from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
Those cuts are included in the budget that the House will vote on this week to fund the remainder of the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Overall, Republicans want to trim $61 billion from last year’s spending.
In several weeks, House Republicans will release a separate plan that, like Obama’s, addresses next fiscal year. Republicans have not specified what cuts they plan to make next year, but their proposed cuts for the remainder of this year are considered a guidepost.
The differing budgetary priorities are setting up a tectonic battle over federal spending between a new Republican House majority and a Senate and White House controlled by Democrats.
Republicans say government has grown too large in recent years and must be reduced in a way that improves the economy and reduces the tax burden.
“Our goal is to listen to the American people and liberate our economy from the shackles of debt, over-taxation, and big government,’’ said House Speaker John Boehner.
Any Republican budget proposal is unlikely to be approved wholesale, given that Democrats still control the Senate and the White House. But several elements of the GOP plan would probably make it into the final compromise with the Senate.
Other GOP-backed cuts under consideration for this year would include $2.5 billion less for rail projects, which would slow plans for expansion of several lines in the Northeast. A program to provide nutritional support for women and infants — known as WIC — would be cut by $747 million, and $694 million would be cut from funding for schools that serve low-income students. The legislation would also bar funding for an overseer to help implement Obama’s health care law.
Many of those cuts would be felt throughout Massachusetts, whose congressional delegation has proven adept at securing federal funding.
“The president is using a scalpel,’’ Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday. “The House Republicans are using a hacksaw.’’
Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat, urged continued funding of public broadcasting. “In a media landscape cluttered with lowest-common denominator content, CPB creates an oasis where Big Bird and friends can thrive, children can access educational shows that reinforce classroom lessons, and Americans around the country can find the top-caliber programming that expands their knowledge while entertaining and informing their everyday lives,’’ he said in a statement.
