Kiss of Death

There's a running joke in the more leftist forums I hang out in (although, how can I call it a joke when it has such far-reaching and disappointing results) that if Bush starts touting some program or congratulating some group, in a few days, he'll cut funding for it.

More disturbing to me -- and part and parcel of politics in general -- is the adminstration's knack for getting a ton of positive attention and credit for talking about making the right choices and funding/unfunding the right things, but when it comes to enacting the change, they quietly and without any fanfare, don't do it. But everyone remembers that they talked about doing it, so everyone also remembers that it somehow happened, even if it didn't. If you don't pay attention to page 42 of the paper below the fold, you never know that the much lauded plan to do X was cut. A prime example of standing ovations and applause for education:

“Bush’s proposal to increase the maximum Pell Grant for lower-income undergraduate students was greeted with fanfare when it was announced last week.
But his FY08 budget released Monday contains no new money to pay for it,” CongressDaily reports. [ThinkProgress]

Or this, which got a ton of attention in Bush's new push for a healthy populace:

To fight childhood obesity, Mr. Bush asks Congress to set aside $17 million for a new program to promote ‘healthy behavior’ among adolescents. But at the same time, he asks Congress to eliminate the preventive health services block grant, which provides $99 million a year to help states prevent obesity and other chronic conditions. [NY Times]

It happens all the time (and to be fair, Bush isn't the only one who has a history of this) but it's damn frustrating and hard to keep track of. I'm still searching for a website that lists all these popular programs and statements about them -- adn the real, concrete actions that were taken, good or bad. I haven't found it yet.