George W. Bush has failed women once again -- and right in the midst of the Mother's Day season. I can't think of a better way that a new President could have honored mothers around the country than to increase funding to programs that benefit women and their families.  Instead, the president is pushing budget and tax cuts that will hurt women's physical and economic health as well as the safety of women and families.

Surely, President Bush's own mother, wife and daughters have access to health care. But other women won't be so lucky. Bush's budget would cut Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening, drop the requirement for contraceptive coverage for federal employees and their families, cut the Maternal and Child Health Block Grants that provide health care to women before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth and reduce infant illness and death, and freeze the Healthy Start program that also reduces infant mortality and morbidity. The highly acclaimed Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (the WIC Program) would be effectively cut, with actual funds available insufficient to cover inflation.

Older women will also pay the price for the Bush tax cuts and budget proposal. The Bush budget and tax cut would decrease the solvency of both Social Security and Medicare, and result in a completely inadequate prescription drug benefit. Allowing workers to pull 2% of their current payroll tax out of the Social Security Trust Fund means the fund would be depleted 14 years earlier than is now expected.

No doubt the president expects his daughters to be safe at school and at home. If only he showed the same concern for other families' children. Bush proposes to cut the discretionary portion of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, freeze funding for Safe and DrugFree Schools and for 21st Century AfterSchool Centers, and eliminate entirely the School Counselors Program that provides someone to whom children can turn. The man who would be our "Education President," Bush wants to cut all of the funding for Reading is FUNdamental, an effective program championed by both his wife and his mother.

Every mother is a working mother. Most mothers are also in the waged workforce, but Bush's budget proposal shortchanges these women. Like the president's wife when she was a teacher and a librarian, more than half of women in the waged workforce are in lowpaying jobs, in the income brackets least likely to benefit from the proposed tax cuts.  And, the Bush budget decreases funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission below the level needed to maintain current services by this agency.

Women who own small businesses will pay for the president's tax cuts through higher loan costs and new taxes disguised as fees, while critical programs spurring minorityowned businesses will be eliminated. The Bush budget slashes funds for the Small Business Administration and restricts access to capital, already difficult for women.

An irresponsible budget and tax plan is only half the story though. Last week Bush named to federal judgeships eleven nominees who further reflect this Administration's ultraconservative agenda. The majority of these nominees would likely dismantle the laws that protect and promote women's rights.

During his first 100+ days in office, Bush's record on women has been abysmal. Rather than govern from the middle as he promised during his campaign, Bush continues to rule from the right by cutting social programs important to women, and appointing right-wing extremists to key government positions and judgeships. When I remember the "W is for Women" Bush campaign buttons, I think it's about time the President put his money ­ and his judicial nominees ­ where his motto is. Today, the National Organization for Women challenges President Bush to "show us the money" and to show us a little bit of that campaign promise of compassion.

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