While over its tenure, the Bush administration has increased baseline military spending by 30% to fight a global “war on terror,” this month with the release of the President’s last budget, Bush delivered a final, parting blow to 9/11 victims of terror at home.

According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the cost of treating sick ground zero workers has reached $195 million a year, a cost likely to expand. Nevertheless, Bush’s proposed budget cuts 2009 funding for 9/11 healthcare to $25 million–a 77% drop from the previous year’s appropriations.

Meanwhile this December, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt eliminated plans for the center that would treat the 10,000-plus First Responders suffering health problems as the result of their service after the attacks.

First Responders are rallying today on the West Lawn for Congressional action.