Last week, the President sent Congress a budget request which does not reflect a strong commitment to the people of rural America. The President’s budget proposals would cut deep into programs important to the quality of life in rural communities, in areas such as health care, education, law enforcement, economic development, agriculture, Social Security, and funding for our nation’s veterans. Unfortunately, these proposals are nothing new.
The President continues to force working families and small businesses in rural America to make sacrifices, while at the same time he pushes for permanent tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Reducing our record deficits is a goal we all share, but it should not rest disproportionately on the backs of those living in rural areas. By forcing some to shoulder this national burden and not others, this budget reflects at best an unfair and misguided approach to our spending priorities and at worst a real neglect of rural America.