Obama’s budget-cutting requests largely ignored

WASHINGTON -- Democrats in Congress crafting spending bills are largely rejecting the roster of program and budget cuts wanted by President Barack Obama.

Obama proposed the cuts last month after what he promised would be a line-by-line scrub of the federal budget to counter Republican charges that he's spending the country into too much debt.

The House already has rejected his effort to kill a $400 million program that helps states with the cost of incarcerating criminal illegal immigrants. And a homeland-security spending bill up for a House vote this week keeps in place the World War II-era LORAN-C maritime navigation system that Obama wanted to ax, even though it's been rendered obsolete by the modern global positioning system. The homeland-security measure also preserves $12 million in security grants for bus systems and $40 million in grants to local governments for emergency operations centers -- both programs that Obama had proposed killing.

Lawmakers in both parties have combined to preserve more than $750 million worth of cuts suggested by Obama.

Congress already has provided $2.2 billion this year for eight C-17s and a House defense policy panel narrowly rejected Obama's proposal to end production of F-22 fighters.

And yesterday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., orchestrated at least $10 million in aid for her state to help it reduce diesel emissions, even though Obama called to stop giving California special treatment.

Democrats are following some of Obama's suggestions -- and are adding a few cuts of their own. Last week the House Appropriations Committee approved a $22.9 billion measure for the Department of Agriculture that denied the agency $15 million for its much-criticized animal-identification program.

The panel also endorsed Obama's plan to eliminate an $18 million grant program to help people in Alaska, Hawaii and a few isolated areas get reasonably priced electricity. Loan programs can achieve the same purpose.