reminds me to say that for newyorkers the museum of american indian at the
bowling grenn subway stop is free and wonderful. i watched wonderful
animations of creation stories and thought if more people knew of all the
terrific event going on there it would be great . susan maurer
From: Alan Sondheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: Theory and Writing <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Bush Budget Slashes Indian Healthcare, Education (fwd)
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 18:16:21 -0500
Our bloody government at work. - Alan
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 17:30:40 -0500
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Bush Budget Slashes Indian Healthcare, Education
Bush budget slashes Indian health care, education
funding
By Faith Bremner
Tribune Washington Bureau
Great Fall Tribune (Montana) - February 10, 2007
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007702070356
WASHINGTON - Behind the modest funding increases in
President George Bush's proposed 2008 budget for
American Indian programs lie glaring cuts in funding
for health care for those who live off the reservation
and educational opportunities for Indian children who
attend public schools.
In the budget plan he rolled out Monday, Bush proposes
to eliminate the $33 million Urban Indian Health
Program, a system of 34 health clinics around the
country, including five in Montana, that provide low-
cost health care to Indians who live in urban areas.
This is the second year that Bush has proposed
eliminating the program, and also for a second year
supporters are gearing up for a fight to save it. Both
houses of the then-Republican-controlled Congress last
year refused to go along with the proposal. Bill
Martin, acting director of the Indian Family Health
Clinic in Great Falls, said he is fairly certain
Congress will continue to support the program, but he's
uneasy nonetheless because of the money that's needed
for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Monday, Bush asked Congress for $99.6 billion to
continue paying for the wars this year and for another
$145 billion next year.
"Most of us are not in favor of the continued
aggression and we'd like the money to be poured into
social programs in the United States (instead)," Martin
said, expressing his personal view. "We're watching
(domestic) programs suffer terribly financially while
billions are going overseas."
Martin's Great Falls clinic serves about 1,300 people.
In a statement, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he will
fight the proposed cuts.
"There are basic needs that are not being met, such as
clean drinking water and quality affordable health
care, and that's not right," Baucus said. "We need to
be investing in Native American programs."
Bush's budget proposes to give Indian tribes $16
million next year to hire and train more police
officers to fight the "methamphetamine invasion" on
reservations. It also proposes to give the Bureau of
Indian Education an additional $15 million to help
students achieve the goals established by the No Child
Left Behind Act. BIE educates 50,000 children in 184
federal Indian schools. Bush's budget requests $562
million for the agency.
But 350,000 Indian students attending state public
schools could see their educational opportunities
shrink if Congress approves Bush's plan to eliminate
the Johnson-O'Malley program. That program, which
received $16 million this year, provides tutoring and
other services to help Indian children succeed in
public schools.
"Being a parent whose children relied heavily on the
Johnson-O'Malley program, I can tell you it was
essential to their academic success," said Jacqueline
Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of
American Indians. "(The school) had a person there on
staff who was able to identify those students who
needed a little extra attention, a little bit of help
in navigating the system a little bit better."
Bush also wants to eliminate the $23.4 million Indian
Housing Improvement Program. Tribes use the money
primarily to help members deal with emergency housing
problems, Johnson said.
"It can help build a handicapped assistance ramp, put
in a boiler or fix wind infiltration, those kinds of
things," Johnson said. "There's never enough money to
go around."
Wyoming County shows refuge elk numbers on par with
last year's JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) â About the same number
of elk and bison were recently counted on the National
Elk Refuge as were counted a year ago.
Refuge biologists did an informal count of elk and
bison eating alfalfa pellets Jan. 30. The pellets are
put out to supplement the animals' natural diet during
the winter.
The biologists counted 6,611 elk and 950 bison. That's
compared to 6,730 elk and 887 bison during a formal
survey by refuge biologists and Wyoming Game and Fish
Department officers last Feb. 21.
Refuge biologist Eric Cole said he expects similar
numbers in this year's formal survey, set for Feb. 14
and 16.
A proposal released by the National Park Service and
U.S. Fish and wildlife Service last week calls for
reducing the number of elk that winter on the refuge to
around 5,000.
Contact Faith Bremner at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
_____________________________________________
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
Submit via email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Submit via the Web: portside.org/submit
Frequently asked questions: portside.org/faq
Subscribe: portside.org/subscribe
Unsubscribe: portside.org/unsubscribe
Account assistance: portside.org/contact
Search the archives: portside.org/archive
_________________________________________________________________
Check out all that glitters with the MSN Entertainment Guide to the Academy
Awards® http://movies.msn.com/movies/oscars2007/?icid=ncoscartagline2
