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ONE love, blood, life
Nussle, rock singer Bono 'rattle and hum' over anti-AIDS funding
By MARGARET K. COLLINS, Courier-Medill News Service
WASHINGTON --- On St. Patrick's Day Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, ushered a new budget plan through his committee and upset not just House Democrats but, of all people, Irish rock star Bono of the musical group U2.
The House Budget Committee, chaired by Nussle, passed a budget proposal Wednesday for fiscal year 2005 with spending caps that could lead to sizeable cuts in domestic and international spending. In response, Debt AIDS Trade Africa, founded by the U2 singer, began airing 60-second radio ads in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Dubuque.
"Congress and the president have agreed on a bipartisan plan to deal with this urgent crisis," the radio ad transcript reads referring to the AIDS epidemic killing more than 6,000 Africans a day. "But one person is standing in their way: Iowa's Congressman Nussle."
The spot calls on area residents to contact Nussle and demand that he restore $4.7 billion in aid to foreign countries to his budget blueprint. Nussle responded Thursday that his budget does not specifically cut AIDS funding and criticized this week's media campaign targeted at him.
"I hope they reconsider wasting money advertising to my constituents," Nussle said, "rather than spending it on the people in Africa."
Bono's organization paid $5,000 for the ads, which ran on three radio stations in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area and on 10 other stations in Nussle's district for the past two days only.
"It's true that it's not broken out into AIDS funding," DATA spokesman Seth Amgott said of the spending cuts in Nussle's budget plan. "But it impacts the pool of money that funds the global AIDS initiative," Amgott said, making it "extremely difficult" to accomplish the president's goal.
Bush announced in his 2003 State of the Union address a plan to prevent 7 million new infections by 2008 and care for those infected or orphaned by the disease.
Nussle said he saw the devastation firsthand when he traveled to Africa and visited an AIDS clinic in South Africa. "Money alone will not solve the problem," he said. The foreign aid already allocated often does not reach the people in need, the congressman said, and the country needs improved education, nutrition and clean drinking water.
Nussle said he was surprised Bono had not asked to meet with him before deciding to run the ads. The singer does not speak in the ads and his organization said they did meet with an aide from Nussle's budget committee staff and contacted the congressman's office this month.
The ads are not only interesting for the link between pop culture and a bureaucratic process, but also because they epitomize the larger budget battle going on all over Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are fighting over how to reduce the burgeoning federal deficit, estimated at $521 billion this year --- by cutting spending, raising taxes or a combination of both.
Nussle, who prides himself as a spending-cut hawk, proposed freezing all non-security related budget items at their current value. He makes no exceptions, requiring even the Defense Department to reduce its spending request by 0.5 percent. But the Iowa congressman's counterparts on the Senate Budget Committee passed a budget plan last week that would increase spending in some areas, such as veterans healthcare and forest restoration.
"The Senate has unfortunately a large amount of senators that want to spend more money," Nussle said.
The House is widely expected to approve Nussle's budget proposal when lawmakers consider the measure next week. The House and Senate hope to reconcile differences between their two proposals by mid-April.
Tax relief will be the other major stumbling block, Nussle said. Nussle's budget does not permit a tax increase unlike the Senate plan, which would allow for tax hikes to pay for spending increases on domestic programs if necessary.
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2004/03/19/news/top_news/ed356e43b381bd5a86256e5c004a5af7.txt
By MARGARET K. COLLINS, Courier-Medill News Service
WASHINGTON --- On St. Patrick's Day Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, ushered a new budget plan through his committee and upset not just House Democrats but, of all people, Irish rock star Bono of the musical group U2.
The House Budget Committee, chaired by Nussle, passed a budget proposal Wednesday for fiscal year 2005 with spending caps that could lead to sizeable cuts in domestic and international spending. In response, Debt AIDS Trade Africa, founded by the U2 singer, began airing 60-second radio ads in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Dubuque.
"Congress and the president have agreed on a bipartisan plan to deal with this urgent crisis," the radio ad transcript reads referring to the AIDS epidemic killing more than 6,000 Africans a day. "But one person is standing in their way: Iowa's Congressman Nussle."
The spot calls on area residents to contact Nussle and demand that he restore $4.7 billion in aid to foreign countries to his budget blueprint. Nussle responded Thursday that his budget does not specifically cut AIDS funding and criticized this week's media campaign targeted at him.
"I hope they reconsider wasting money advertising to my constituents," Nussle said, "rather than spending it on the people in Africa."
Bono's organization paid $5,000 for the ads, which ran on three radio stations in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area and on 10 other stations in Nussle's district for the past two days only.
"It's true that it's not broken out into AIDS funding," DATA spokesman Seth Amgott said of the spending cuts in Nussle's budget plan. "But it impacts the pool of money that funds the global AIDS initiative," Amgott said, making it "extremely difficult" to accomplish the president's goal.
Bush announced in his 2003 State of the Union address a plan to prevent 7 million new infections by 2008 and care for those infected or orphaned by the disease.
Nussle said he saw the devastation firsthand when he traveled to Africa and visited an AIDS clinic in South Africa. "Money alone will not solve the problem," he said. The foreign aid already allocated often does not reach the people in need, the congressman said, and the country needs improved education, nutrition and clean drinking water.
Nussle said he was surprised Bono had not asked to meet with him before deciding to run the ads. The singer does not speak in the ads and his organization said they did meet with an aide from Nussle's budget committee staff and contacted the congressman's office this month.
The ads are not only interesting for the link between pop culture and a bureaucratic process, but also because they epitomize the larger budget battle going on all over Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are fighting over how to reduce the burgeoning federal deficit, estimated at $521 billion this year --- by cutting spending, raising taxes or a combination of both.
Nussle, who prides himself as a spending-cut hawk, proposed freezing all non-security related budget items at their current value. He makes no exceptions, requiring even the Defense Department to reduce its spending request by 0.5 percent. But the Iowa congressman's counterparts on the Senate Budget Committee passed a budget plan last week that would increase spending in some areas, such as veterans healthcare and forest restoration.
"The Senate has unfortunately a large amount of senators that want to spend more money," Nussle said.
The House is widely expected to approve Nussle's budget proposal when lawmakers consider the measure next week. The House and Senate hope to reconcile differences between their two proposals by mid-April.
Tax relief will be the other major stumbling block, Nussle said. Nussle's budget does not permit a tax increase unlike the Senate plan, which would allow for tax hikes to pay for spending increases on domestic programs if necessary.
http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2004/03/19/news/top_news/ed356e43b381bd5a86256e5c004a5af7.txt
to Bono and Data, don't mess with the man. This isn't a kid playing in the sand box .. DATA means business. My hats off to the gang at DATA. and to Mr Nussle well I'm trying to come up with something nice here but.. all I can say is give your head a shake man.. Your upsetting alot more people then just Bono with your actions.. 
Amazing how one person can stop so much good! all that work on behalf of Data that Bono and the Organization have done! And he is soo uniformed!! Can't he call Data and ASK what they will do with the money? More than Bono have been eyewitnesses to what is going on over in Africa! All Nussel has to remember is this place is still run 'by the people, for the people'..he works for US!
