Low Income Heating Program to Get Budget Ax by the Obama Administration

The low income heating assistance program will be drastically reduced under President Barack Obama's new budget.

Low income people in this country who received assistance for their home heating bills are in for a rude awakening Monday morning, thanks to the Obama administration. The program was put in place to help the poor, but that will get the budget ax in a major way. Why is it that the low income programs get cut first in everything? A White House spokesman said the costs associated with the program has risen rapidly to over $5 billion dollars since 2008 due to the higher oil prices. Er, whose fault is that? The low income folks? The president is also touting his increased focus on education, but they aren't saying how much harder it will become for the low income and middle class to send their children to college.

Obama, for instance, plans to cut $3 billion out of the $5.1 billion federal Low Income Heating Assistance Program. That means nearly 29,000 low-income Georgians who are currently enrolled in the program may see less or no government help in paying their heating bills.

Also in the cost-cutting cross hairs: The Women, Infants and Children nutrition program that helps feed needy pregnant women and children. Georgia is the nation’s fifth-largest state for WIC, with about 323,000 Georgians enrolled in the program in any month.

Cuts in the Department of Housing and Urban Development also could make it tougher for the poor to get housing help. Could that result in replays like the mob scene East Point saw last summer over Section 8 housing?

Other places where Georgians might see cuts to social services: school lunch programs, special education and after-school programs.

So, zinging the poor in this country is the way the Obama administration chooses to address runaway spending. Why not tighten up or eliminate some of the loopholes the rich take advantage of and eliminate the waste from Medicare? Why not step up enforcement in the WIC program so illegal immigrants can't get access to the assistance. The rich will get richer and the poor and middle class will get poorer. So, do you still think that elitist label tagged on to President Obama doesn't manifest itself in this latest budget ax on programs helping the poor and middle class? Unbelievable.