There is a silver lining. When we eventually realize that we need these departments and their services, we can re-hire many of the displaced staff at more moderate salaries and benefits. This is exactly what is necessary in the long run.
4
Trying to save few pennies for show. That's it.
Trump doesn't have a clue but I will give him a hint anyway. You cut waste by indentifying it first, and then making program more efficient, not by cutting by pre-detrmined percentage. It is governing 101.
Trump doesn't have a clue but I will give him a hint anyway. You cut waste by indentifying it first, and then making program more efficient, not by cutting by pre-detrmined percentage. It is governing 101.
8
Thank you, president Trump.
Thank you for doing your very best to ensure that you will be the last president from the G.O.P.
Thank you for doing your very best to ensure that you will be the last president from the G.O.P.
5
If we are talking about departments that don't use their money efficiently then the defense department should be at the top of the list! But they are getting more money. For what? So that private contractors like Haliburton can fleece the government on a grander scale than they already do?
I never thought I would live to see the day that I would welcome the idea of having Bush and Cheney back in the white house but that day is indeed here.
I never thought I would live to see the day that I would welcome the idea of having Bush and Cheney back in the white house but that day is indeed here.
12
Presidential budget proposals are political documents calculated to please "friends" of the President. Everybody knows that those little blue books will be committed to the congressional trash bin on arrival.
Congressmen spend in ways that suit their own priorities, not those of the W.H.
Congressmen spend in ways that suit their own priorities, not those of the W.H.
2
But does his "base" really rely on all of these programs: "funding for the environment, diplomacy, housing, health services and the arts"? Perhaps a better analysis would be *some* of Trump's base, use *some* of these services, *some* of the time, while other programs are neither a top-priority nor highly-valued by his "base."
6
I don't like Trump one bit. But I acknowledge that in a sense he's being"honest" in proposing what he campaigned on. The facts are that wealthy people/corporations do pay most of the tax dollars. But those dollars represent a much smaller part of their wealth than the tax dollars paid by the bottom 90% of tax payers.
Many Federal programs are consciously designed to redistribute wealth as a matter of economic justice and to promote social harmony. And a good amount of that redistribution money goes to the upper middle class "professionals", supporting the 80-90% income group. So yes, those programs don't help the "poor" as much as they claim to. But nonetheless, I believe wealth redistribution is a worthy goal and increases the country's security.
Trump won't succeed in his agenda simply because the politics don't support it.
Many Federal programs are consciously designed to redistribute wealth as a matter of economic justice and to promote social harmony. And a good amount of that redistribution money goes to the upper middle class "professionals", supporting the 80-90% income group. So yes, those programs don't help the "poor" as much as they claim to. But nonetheless, I believe wealth redistribution is a worthy goal and increases the country's security.
Trump won't succeed in his agenda simply because the politics don't support it.
3
You forgot to mention "corporate welfare". This is wealth redistribution from the middle class to the rich. Trump's rich benefactors won't make $$ from the state department programs that help the developing world(think Ebola prevention- they were involved with that).
They sure will through the "military industrial complex".
They sure will through the "military industrial complex".
12
"For now, the president and his advisers appear willing to take that risk by casting the administration as better caretakers of taxpayers’ money. 'We are trying to focus on both recipients of the money and the folks who give us the money in the first place,' Mr. Mulvaney said." A noble sentiment--especially considering that the taxpayers must shell out three million bucks for every one of Trump's jaunts to Mar-a-Lago.
7
It is unfathomable that Trump and Mulvaney are cutting programs for disadvantaged children, meals on wheels for home-bound elderly, the Arts, etc.
For Example: If Trump eliminated 1, just 1 trip to his florida resort that taxpayers are paying for him to vacation every weekend at the cost of
$3 Million per trip...this amount would pay for "meals on wheels" for 1 year
and why are taxpayers still paying to defend his wife and child when every other president moved their children to the White House, defense and homeland are leasing trump tower space, not sure exact amount of that taxpayer bill but believe its something like $10 million per day or more...again would cover many other programs for a year instead of accommodating his spoiled family months in. Mulvaney is just part of trump's billionaire's club who consequently didn't mention anything about the hundred of thousands going back in to the pockets of his wall street billionaire buddies he appointed, Its shameful what this administration is doing.
Here's an idea Mulvaney...one trip to his family resort
For Example: If Trump eliminated 1, just 1 trip to his florida resort that taxpayers are paying for him to vacation every weekend at the cost of
$3 Million per trip...this amount would pay for "meals on wheels" for 1 year
and why are taxpayers still paying to defend his wife and child when every other president moved their children to the White House, defense and homeland are leasing trump tower space, not sure exact amount of that taxpayer bill but believe its something like $10 million per day or more...again would cover many other programs for a year instead of accommodating his spoiled family months in. Mulvaney is just part of trump's billionaire's club who consequently didn't mention anything about the hundred of thousands going back in to the pockets of his wall street billionaire buddies he appointed, Its shameful what this administration is doing.
Here's an idea Mulvaney...one trip to his family resort
12
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the antithesis of this proposed budget. It's cruel, it will cause harm, suffering and deaths of Americans. It will result in massive job losses. It will destroy whole industries. It will drive the best and the brightest from our country permanently.
Who does it benefit? Russia, North Korea and China. It benefits war mongers and gun manufacturers. It will cause a rally in the funeral industry.
This is the result of a domestic enemy running amok in the President's office. All who aid and abet him are complicit, and they will sink with him wearing the same chains.
Impeach or invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment immediately, GOP. Anything less exposes your contempt and breach of oath for the Constitution and our beloved country.
Who does it benefit? Russia, North Korea and China. It benefits war mongers and gun manufacturers. It will cause a rally in the funeral industry.
This is the result of a domestic enemy running amok in the President's office. All who aid and abet him are complicit, and they will sink with him wearing the same chains.
Impeach or invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment immediately, GOP. Anything less exposes your contempt and breach of oath for the Constitution and our beloved country.
15
Due to his own mendacity and inherent corruption, Trump is already in a Bunker Mentality.
This budget would put the US in one too.
This budget would put the US in one too.
7
I have to add....and paraphrase the author...
If we can afford bullets and bombs, we can afford health care for all.
My belief is that if we take care of everyone's health, we as a country would also have a stronger society, a healthy populous. And, we would save lives and money doing so. Those lives saved are also investors in our country.
If we can afford bullets and bombs, we can afford health care for all.
My belief is that if we take care of everyone's health, we as a country would also have a stronger society, a healthy populous. And, we would save lives and money doing so. Those lives saved are also investors in our country.
10
LJAM HATRICK
UNFORTUNATELY, WE STILL NEED BULLETS, BOMBS AND SOLDIERS.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE STILL NEED BULLETS, BOMBS AND SOLDIERS.
1
Mulvaney must consider himself a budget omniscient, able to see what is valuable to our citizens and what is waste. Amazing when his estimation is so flawed. "We are trying to focus on both recipients of the money and the folks who give us the money in the first place," Mr. Mulvaney said, In his flawed omniscience, does he overlook that we folks who give the money are almost 100% blue states? Red states receive more in return from that nasty old big government than they pay in. Oops!
11
And next President Trump will take food out of the mouths of pre-k and kindergarteners by eliminating the school breakfast and lunch programs. Or reduce the overall amount of government money that helps any of our public schools food programs.
6
Karen
The states get the money and make the decisions.
The states get the money and make the decisions.
I guess PBS will be reduced to something like the old cable access channels or else we're faced with the never-ending pledge-a-thons.
2
Good. Public money shouldn't fund partisan activities.
1
Nope. It will simply force them to turn to corporate sponsors. Expect to see more advertising. It will probably be minimal and not flashy, but that's what will happen. Proctor and Gamble knows there is niche market there! Same with NPR? Like: "We thank our corporate sponsor Ford Motor company, introducing the all new Fusion Hybrid for 2018?" That's not really advertising, now is it?
I still have hope it will survive. Call your senators and representative. I cannot afford cable tv but can get PBS on the antenna. It's a wonderful station.
6
Social Security in Not an entitlement. Stop calling it (and Medicare) that. I've paid in to it for 50 years, and Medicare since Johnson put that in place. These are the old fashioned savings plans, which our esteemed representatives should quit stealing from.
15
You've paid for the folks who came before you, as I did and as others will after me.
3
Egregious! A billionaire cuts funding for programs like meals on wheels because it's an "ineffective waste" for taxpayers?! If Trump wants to cut funding for the most vulnerable of society then he can tell the elderly, sick, and poor himself that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Come down from your gilded tower and explain to those living paycheck to paycheck that they are not that important. Are you too much of a coward to defend your bottom line? Plenty of working class people did not vote for Trump but we will all be suffering the consequences. It's not shocking that these programs are cut by a billionaire whose limited understanding of the poor and middle class can be summed up by wearing a baseball hat, but these injuries are no less insulting. And for many the long term results will be devastating.
14
They are living paycheck to paycheck because of laziness, poor choices, resistance to relocating to where the jobs are, a lack of self-discipline and/or a bad bloodline. None of which should be anyone else's problem.
2
And my 98 year old mother?
5
How dare you judge and make those kinds of generalizations? I hope it happens to you, you deserve to experience it.
7
The Trump/Ryan budget is morally revolting, the quintessential expression of modern American fascism: statistical, sterile, deadly. It is a deliberate slow-motion walk to a cultural, and in some ways literal, extermination oven, one that can't be found or photographed, into which they find fiscal ways to march the disabled, the different, the non-white, the non American-born, the non-Christian, the non-Trumpist, artists, intellectuals, internationalists, cultural and academic diplomats. The object of these cuts, which save chump change, is to silence these "types", who are holding back the White Supremacist wave. This budget treats millions of Americans as undeserving to live and an expense to prudently avoid. It is cheaper than providing health care, raising the minimum wage, or jailing them.
12
And Republicans call themselves the party of family values? The hypocrisy leaves me dumbfounded...
13
At some point, those who have ruled Washington DC in the past ought to remember the truth in the saying 'government governs best that is closest to the people'. There are many roles reserved for state and local government - including education and human services.
What is it about those in Washington that does not understand our system of government?
What is it about those in Washington that does not understand our system of government?
3
NPR, PBS...corporate welfare.
1
NPR and PBS are the byproducts of corporate welfare to real corporations. All commercial broadcasters operate on over the air frequencies that are owned by the public, but used for free by commercial enterprise. The possession of those publicly owned frequencies for commercial use creates vast wealth for those who hold them. If a radio station can be sold for 20 million for example, many of those millions will be because the seller has the use of a publicly owned frequency. PBS, NPR, CPB were set up in part to compensate for the commercial exploitation of public property. Increasingly commercial broadcasters moved away from public affairs programming in the public interest, and PBS,NPR, CPB were intended to take up what the commercials had left behind.
7
Our country benefits from libraries, museums, historical societies, and cultural events. We need to preserve and support these institutions.
Meals on Wheels, after school programs, Public radio and television, Planned Parenthood, food banks are all necessary.
If we don't support these sorts of programs, we will be ruining what our country stands for.
It is not all about building up our military and keeping out Muslims. We are a beautiful country which should not turn to fascism as it looks like it might.
Bannon, Miller and Trump have no experience in running this country, and we must stop them from turning us into an oligarchy run by liars.
Nazi Germany cannot happen here. This is what fascist leaders did there and elsewhere..and we know the results.
Speak up to save our country....join rational groups and make phone calls and reach out to your representatives in Congress...let's fight this group of terrible leaders.
Meals on Wheels, after school programs, Public radio and television, Planned Parenthood, food banks are all necessary.
If we don't support these sorts of programs, we will be ruining what our country stands for.
It is not all about building up our military and keeping out Muslims. We are a beautiful country which should not turn to fascism as it looks like it might.
Bannon, Miller and Trump have no experience in running this country, and we must stop them from turning us into an oligarchy run by liars.
Nazi Germany cannot happen here. This is what fascist leaders did there and elsewhere..and we know the results.
Speak up to save our country....join rational groups and make phone calls and reach out to your representatives in Congress...let's fight this group of terrible leaders.
13
No one is stopping localities from having historical societies or museums. These are programs best left to local government anyways. But Washington has far overstepped it's boundaries and become far too involved in our lives.
3
My parents lived a 2-hour round trip away from me and mom had dementia. I don't know what I would have done without the Meals on Wheels program. It was a relief to me that they were getting a meal and someone was checking on them every day. Those delivering the meals were volunteers and my parents paid a small amount for each meal. The food isn't fabulous, but at least I knew they were getting fed. I did not have to give up my job, my livelihood, to move and care for them. With an aging population and many families dispersed across the country, I feel this program will be needed more. One of the representatives in congress said it is a 3 million dollar program. If Trump would stay at the White House for one weekend instead of going to Mar-a-Lago, it would pay for the program.
12
Can we please get someone to put up billboards, fly banners across the sky and buy air time to get out the word that NO ONE IS STOPPING MEALS ON WHEELS. The one third of its income that is federally funded will no longer be there. That's all. Our government is deeply in debt so maybe MOW can use volunteer drivers, stop idling their trucks at each stop, negotiate greater discounts from their suppliers and review their salaries and admin overhead.
1
Or maybe the guy could stay in Washington one weekend and read a book or something rather than waste 3 million going to Florida. Or maybe we could allow his children to go galivanting out into their new world of conflict of interest business deals without having to buy whole floors of Dubai hotels for the secret service. The amorality of this man, his family and his budget is appalling. It's got to stop.
8
Interesting that President Trump and OMB Chief Mulvaney were not able to find any "bloated and ineffective federal work force" or "mission creep" in the Department of Defense, instead bumping up DoD funding by $54 billion.
It is especially surprising given the negative comments the President has made over the last two years about DoD overspending and waste and workforce size.
Sounds like the President intends to maintain overall federal spending and debt at current levels, while increasing the national deficit by at least as much as the Obama annual increases.
All this is just another way for republicans who run our government to push more national income to the wealthy in the from of more contracts to very profitable defense companies and cut money to the struggling poor and middle classes in the form of reduced spending on federal social programs.
It is especially surprising given the negative comments the President has made over the last two years about DoD overspending and waste and workforce size.
Sounds like the President intends to maintain overall federal spending and debt at current levels, while increasing the national deficit by at least as much as the Obama annual increases.
All this is just another way for republicans who run our government to push more national income to the wealthy in the from of more contracts to very profitable defense companies and cut money to the struggling poor and middle classes in the form of reduced spending on federal social programs.
11
"...necessary corrective to the growth of the government’s power. " If the freedom-loving GOP wants to correct the growth of government's power, they can start with curtailing the surveillance of our phone conversations and on-line activity. They can set free the estimated 1,300 US citizens being held illegally by ICE in private for-profit prisons and stop unreasonable searches of people of color. Finally, I would like to know why the accusations "Liberals just want to throw money at the problem" doesn't apply to Hawks throwing money at our military. We're trillions of dollars in debt thanks to wars that have achieved less than nothing. The Iraq fiasco has destabilized the middle east and allowed Al Qaeda and other groups to grow and spread, made us LESS safe. And what could more jeopardize our safety than nuclear escalation? We should have a pay-as-you-go military. If Washington wants and billions of dollars a year in military spending, we should pay for it THAT year with taxes. We should have the budget office tell us what we can reasonably expect for our investment. The electorate can tell their representatives whether they are willing to foot the bill rather than pass it off to future generations.
5
I believe the tremendous national debt was run up mainly in response to the financial crisis caused in a large part by banks and investment firms. It wasn't enough for Goldman Sachs and others to financially influence politicians, now they are the politicians. So long fiduciary rule. Hang on Consumer Protection Bureau. The next financial crisis will be a doozie.
6
If we had your attitude in 1941, I'd be reading your comment in German.
1
This has been asked many times:
"Stupid Democrats, couldn't you have had a better candidate than Hillary Clinton?"
Both Democratic possibilities -- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- were old, old, old (as is Trump). The Democrats needed some new blood then, and they need it even more now. I shake my head in disbelief and disgust when I read that Hillary Clinton might run again (which, if she won, would make her the oldest person ever elected President), or that Dianne Feinstein might run again (which would make her 91 years old at the end of her next term).
Hillary Clinton and Dianne Feinstein are not "new blood." Bernie Sanders is not "new blood." Elizabeth Warren is not "new blood" (if she runs and wins in 2020, she too will be the oldest person ever elected President). There are contenders out there, and it's high time the Democrats turn to them. They can't just keep running these old war horses.
"Stupid Democrats, couldn't you have had a better candidate than Hillary Clinton?"
Both Democratic possibilities -- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders -- were old, old, old (as is Trump). The Democrats needed some new blood then, and they need it even more now. I shake my head in disbelief and disgust when I read that Hillary Clinton might run again (which, if she won, would make her the oldest person ever elected President), or that Dianne Feinstein might run again (which would make her 91 years old at the end of her next term).
Hillary Clinton and Dianne Feinstein are not "new blood." Bernie Sanders is not "new blood." Elizabeth Warren is not "new blood" (if she runs and wins in 2020, she too will be the oldest person ever elected President). There are contenders out there, and it's high time the Democrats turn to them. They can't just keep running these old war horses.
8
I have not heard who these contenders may be. I would certainly like to see some younger blood in this. Hopefully, some with wisdom and compassion. Seems to be in short supply these days.
2
Ike warned us nearly 60 yrs ago about the military industrial complex and now we have a military budget larger than the next 6, 7 whatever countries combined. Why? We have become a country run by generals and businessmen which puts right in line with Germany in the late 30's. We have a cabinet filled with generals and the rich. There are actually more active four star generals now than during WWII, and many retired with huge pensions. Got to keep those military actions going because that's how colonels become one stars and two and three stars become full generals. If we cut back on our bloated military we could actually feed and educate all of our children allowing our diverse nation to access the talents of all. I think a good, single payer health care system would make far more people fell truly secure than a huge military fighting all over the globe.
9
No need to wonder why Mr. Mulvaney's Orwellian version of "Compassion" will sell. Outside the major cities in America there is no NPR programing or any other remotely moderate or liberal talk shows on the AM/ FM Radio dial. This phenomena has escalated over the last decade and has dumbed down the populous and upped the irrational hate spewed by Trump supporters to such an extent that they will buy this draconian Budget and the notion that eliminating programs like Meals on Wheels is "compassionate". Until the usurping of the Radio Airwaves by the far Right is addressed it's unlikely that we will come together as as one Nation indivisible.
9
Ralph Nadar, in his book "Breaking Through Power" has some good comment about OUR airwaves. A short book worth reading.
3
Well trump,you and your budget and its director show your monumental ignorance of how our country works.We are connected,and as we evolved (you can find that word in a dictionary ) we came to depend on each other
The states can't handle huge algae blooms like Toledo had ,they need federal help,which you want to cut,Islands around the world need help with rising sea levels,some needing to grow their food on land they rent in other.Take early retirement and take the leadership of the Republican Party with you.
Forest Gump said ,stupid is as stupid does.
The states can't handle huge algae blooms like Toledo had ,they need federal help,which you want to cut,Islands around the world need help with rising sea levels,some needing to grow their food on land they rent in other.Take early retirement and take the leadership of the Republican Party with you.
Forest Gump said ,stupid is as stupid does.
7
Can you imagine last night an older male Republican politician defended cuts to Meal on Wheels on CNN stating that the program was 'not very effective' or something equivalent!!. This was followed by an interview with a sad looking older woman who said "I have not left my house for seven years. I don't know what I would do without the program".
The administration's "talking points" on many of these cuts are outlandish. I think the word from 1084 is "doublespeak".
The administration's "talking points" on many of these cuts are outlandish. I think the word from 1084 is "doublespeak".
11
Trump didn't propose to end Meals on Wheels -- which I agree is a great organization that provides a valuable service. He just said MOW isn't something that should be funded by taxpayers, or by selling government bonds that future taxpayers will need to pay back some day. MOW gets 1/3 of its funding from the US government. Other sources -- wealthy people, for example -- can and should step up to the plate and fill that funding gap.
Yes, wealthy people should help pay for Meals on Wheels. The way this is done is by wealthy people paying taxes to the government and the government funding Meals on Wheels. How do you want to do it? Perhaps we should make Granny beg at the local golf course every Saturday for scraps. Since she is likely homebound, we could set her up with Skype.
16
I think many of these comments miss the point. They assume that Trump is behind the budget thinking, analyzing, making compromises. However, Trump does non of these things. What we have in his cabinet choices, Supreme Court nominee, and now the budget has been created by others, whose agenda has been and will be to privatize as much as possible and defund the rest, creating a giant vacuum cleaner for the extremely wealthy. There's no evidence that he even reads the budget, but he is a wonderful distraction from the destruction of civil society.
8
What kind of metrics are we applying to the White House for Trump and his advisors to receive funding? If we're cutting funding to programs they deem ineffective, why can't we cut funding to an organization that seems to botch something new every day?
6
Call me Crazy but I thought it was the presidents job to serve the people not to rule from on high while looking low. All of these proposals including HR610, Trumpcare, and his budget proposals seem to me like a direct attack on Americans. How could they not be when 15% of american's live at or under the poverty line?
How will these proposed changes help to make America better?
How will these proposed changes help to make America better?
13
SKYPIRATE
THE STATES MAKE THE FINANCIAL DECISIONS.
THE STATES MAKE THE FINANCIAL DECISIONS.
After watching developments since January twentieth, I can only wonder how much better the condition and mood in the US would be right now had Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders been elected President.
15
The reality is that the uneducated white American lower middle class has never voted in their best interest. The Republicans have been brilliant at making that happen. And now they have voted in a malignant narcissistic self-proclaimed billionaire to protect their their interests? As a person in in the upper 1%, I say, good riddance! I wish only that I truly felt that. A lot of people will be hurt.
5
Maybe, like me, they know (and accept) that what is in their interest is not what is best for the country. A more secure SS (it's likely I'll never collect) would bankrupt the nation. A higher, strongly enforced minimum wage (I'm a sub mw 1099 "contractor") would bankrupt my employer. Ten percent unemployment could see the Dow exceed 30,000.
1
Budget Director: Not Feeding Poor School Kids is “One of The Most Compassionate Things We Can Do”
School cafeterias should provide breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack to all children and yes it should be free to all. What is more important than feeding our children(other than their overall health)? I can hear the groaning now , yes free, and when these healthy kids graduate and start paying taxes they in turn will pay for kids meals in school. Everyone should be satisfied knowing our kids would be receiving proper nutrition I know it would make me sleep better at night. Students that are hungry aren’t able to focus on their schoolwork or interact in a positive way with their teachers and classmates, and that has dire implications for their future. They lose out on the chance to become engaged, productive citizens and we lose out on the talents of hundreds of thousands of future scientists, artists and innovators. We must provide for the young and old of our society. We have been failing for too long.
School cafeterias should provide breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack to all children and yes it should be free to all. What is more important than feeding our children(other than their overall health)? I can hear the groaning now , yes free, and when these healthy kids graduate and start paying taxes they in turn will pay for kids meals in school. Everyone should be satisfied knowing our kids would be receiving proper nutrition I know it would make me sleep better at night. Students that are hungry aren’t able to focus on their schoolwork or interact in a positive way with their teachers and classmates, and that has dire implications for their future. They lose out on the chance to become engaged, productive citizens and we lose out on the talents of hundreds of thousands of future scientists, artists and innovators. We must provide for the young and old of our society. We have been failing for too long.
6
If taxpayers are to be en loco parentis, then we should have far more say in how they are raised or even born.
Meals-on-wheels enabled my elderly mother to age-at-home before she passed away. Surely a worthy program like Meals-on-wheels saves money for the federal government in the long run. It helps allow our most elder seniors to stay where they want to be - at home.
6
'We the People.........provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare.....' Two important directives in the preamble to the Constitution of the United States. Article I, Section 8 repeats this direction as it lists the powers of Congress to collect revenue to pay the Debts, while providing for the common Defence, and promoting the general Welfare of the United States. These were the three primary reasons why revenue needed to be raised, but the allocation between them has been a irksome struggle ever since.
I take great exception to the Times' use of the politically biased term "entitlement program" to describe Social Security. It is no more an entitlement than your paycheck or your bank account. You earned all three. None were handouts from the government. Stop aiding and abetting the Republicans' agenda of claiming that what you earned with honest work was really given to you by the government, so that you don't deserve it.
Kindly change that paragraph to leave out the phrase "entitlement program." Substitute "worker- and employer-paid program."
Kindly change that paragraph to leave out the phrase "entitlement program." Substitute "worker- and employer-paid program."
11
There was an old aphorism in public administration - something like "programs are created, but never die". I am sure there is plenty of federal spending we can get along without; but it is too bad the Trump people are heavy handed rookies.
All work should be valued and it is better for person's health - young or old. For some, work is a "positive addiction" - far preferred to opioids. Remember the Clinton welfare reforms included requirements to work. The poor and working poor need to be engaged by the larger civic society.
All work should be valued and it is better for person's health - young or old. For some, work is a "positive addiction" - far preferred to opioids. Remember the Clinton welfare reforms included requirements to work. The poor and working poor need to be engaged by the larger civic society.
Trump bleats repeatedly that his programs are "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful." Eventually the OED will be forced to add a new definition for the word.
3
It's not a "gamble" for Trump.
He doesn't care about anyone but himself. And the people who love him will continue to love him no matter what effect it has on their lives.
"I love the poorly educated"
- Donald Trump
He doesn't care about anyone but himself. And the people who love him will continue to love him no matter what effect it has on their lives.
"I love the poorly educated"
- Donald Trump
8
A gamble? It was his plan all along. He planned to get into office and change government to work for the rich. That's exactly what he's doing.
6
john smithy
please explain your statement. thank you.
please explain your statement. thank you.
1
Class warfare is on. It is here. when pee king yam spend 3 million each week flying to key largo to play golf and cut off funding for meals on wheel. That 3 million of American tax payer money defend white supremacy of the 1%. it's just that simple. those who stand with pee king yam, republicans, so call conservate are the enemy of the American people. ya. It's just that simple.
2
Just wait until he starts cutting benefits for us middle class not so needy Seniors.
5
Peggys Mom
The states make the financial decisions re the Federal Government money.
The states make the financial decisions re the Federal Government money.
1
It is sickening that many of our elected representatives believe that their duty is to advance the profits of the corporate world at the expense of the American people. Then they have the nerve to sell it as "Individual Freedom".
10
he is our president we want him to do good it benefits all of us.he is our president if you dont like it move to canada
2
The problem Todd, is that what he's doing is only good for the wealthiest people. It hurts older and lower income Americans in a way that can ruin their lives or kill them. Do you have any idea of how expensive immigration to Canada is? Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll start accepting political refugees from the US. Otherwise, you have to be wealthy to move there and if I were wealthy, why leave?
7
His Base also includes the rich and ultra rich who will happily receive hundreds of billions of dollars in further tax relief. The extremes of wealth already rival those of the late Roman Empire whose Punic War ventures bled dry the vibrance of that Societies trickle down economy. A funny thing did not happen on the way to the forum to save its citizens as they scrambled for the easy solution.
4
Cut Education, the Arts, Science, Health Care, Housing, Environmental protection.... Dumb down Americans and sink them further into poverty - destroy their environment... How is this making America "great again"
6
The math:
* Pass AHCA with these cuts and you're a liar.
* Don't pass the AHCA and you're ineffectual.
* Modify the AHCA to make good on your promises, you're a democrat.
Good luck.
* Pass AHCA with these cuts and you're a liar.
* Don't pass the AHCA and you're ineffectual.
* Modify the AHCA to make good on your promises, you're a democrat.
Good luck.
4
Well, building up the military worked for Hitler, at least in the short run--got people back to work (both in factories and in the armed services). But even Hitler went in for building roads, the Autobahn.....whatever happened to the infrastructure in Trump's new budget???
3
Donald Trump's not "taking a gamble." If you follow his presidency carefully, you'll become aware that he doesn't remember much from hour to hour or day to day. He covers it up with typical dementia patient ploys. One of dozens was his response to Tucker Carlson's observation that his budget would hurt the people who elected him. He said, "Oh, I know," and preceded to speak of upcoming negotiations in Congress.
This is his daily modus operandi as he struggles to appear presidential.
This is his daily modus operandi as he struggles to appear presidential.
6
Again, and again. When is this man going to be removed from the White House? When is someone with a large enough voice going to start the conversation, as it will inevitably be started somewhere down the road. Better sooner than later. The budget will not survive as it is currently written, but it demonstrates a moral bankruptcy and lack of basic human empathy that is killing us, our self-image as a nation and in the rest of the world.
8
Where is the pushback about Trump handing out tax cuts for the wealthy while trying to claim the country is bankrupt? I watched as ABC News did a good job at the presser challenging Trump's cuts to things like Meals on Wheels and student lunches, all while the administration lied and said those programs don't work. But when the administration said "we're $20T in debt", nobody questioned the GOP's constant tax cuts for the wealthy including Trump's new tax cuts for himself and the rest of the wealthy. When it comes to handing out MORE tax cuts to Trump and the wealthy, Trump and the GOP never seem to care about the deficit or debt.
6
Do you understand the difference between spending and cutting? Letting people keep more of their own money in their pockets isn't giving them anything in the way that social programs are a give away to buy votes with other people's money.
1
Not requiring the wealthy to pay for all the government services they rely upon is stealing.
5
Frankly speaking, increasing military spending by eliminating domestic programs sounds like the first steps to going the same way that the Soviet Union went. If Republicans want to reduce the deficit to avert financial catastrophe, many things must go and not just the pet projects of Democrats and liberals or anything considered not of use to big business.
5
President Trump's proposed budget increases military spending while cutting spending just about everywhere else. Among the agencies that Trump hopes to eliminate entirely: the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Those who stand to lose out here are not the coastal elites Trump loves to hate but Americans in rural and underserved communities. Approximxately 25% of NEA block-grant funds go to rural communities and 54% to low-income areas. The cuts would devastate local TV and radio stations in places where lots of Trump voters live. As for the savings, well, the combined national budgets for the Center for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities account for much less than one-tenth of 1% of the United States’ annual federal spending.
Many of the cuts Trump proposes in his budget, like the elimination of a program that makes sure low-income families can have heat in their homes and another that delivers meals and safety checks to senior citizens in need, are cruel but in character.
Trump's budget is compassionless and shortsighted, with a particular malice toward the poor - just like Trump himself.
Those who stand to lose out here are not the coastal elites Trump loves to hate but Americans in rural and underserved communities. Approximxately 25% of NEA block-grant funds go to rural communities and 54% to low-income areas. The cuts would devastate local TV and radio stations in places where lots of Trump voters live. As for the savings, well, the combined national budgets for the Center for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities account for much less than one-tenth of 1% of the United States’ annual federal spending.
Many of the cuts Trump proposes in his budget, like the elimination of a program that makes sure low-income families can have heat in their homes and another that delivers meals and safety checks to senior citizens in need, are cruel but in character.
Trump's budget is compassionless and shortsighted, with a particular malice toward the poor - just like Trump himself.
11
Social services cuts should be last on the line, not first. The most egregious 'welfare' violations and spending come from the corporate sector, not the citizenry.
6
I voted for you Donald Trump to end illegal immigration and to vet the Muslims coming over here but NOT cutting social programs. Now I am sorry I ever did. Stupid Democrats, couldn't you have had a better candidate than Hillary Clinton??????????
15
Hillary is not to blame for your stupidity, misogyny and racism. Own it....then let it go. We all need to fix this whatever yours, our motives.
Perhaps you could have paid better attention during the campaign. He was quite clear about it all.
1
Good god almighty, now it is the fault of the Democrats y'all couldn't see thru the charlatan you elected! Give me a break!
5
So Trump's plan is to take money from deserving social programs to throw it carte blanche at the Pentagon. We need to be reminded that the Pentagon is famous for its profligacy. Currently it cannot pass an audit. From the financial times:http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/07/31/Pentagon-s-Sloppy-Bookkeeping-M...
"The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the behemoth Indianapolis-based agency that provides finance and accounting services for the Pentagon’s civilian and military members, could not provide adequate documentation for $6.5 trillion worth of year-end adjustments to Army general fund transactions and data." To coin the phrase used by Trump's apologist for this budget, I can see no benefit to giving more money to the Pentagon when I cannot see any benefits from it. There is probably enough money Wasted by the Pentagon to achieve the 59 billion dollar increase in defense spending.
"The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the behemoth Indianapolis-based agency that provides finance and accounting services for the Pentagon’s civilian and military members, could not provide adequate documentation for $6.5 trillion worth of year-end adjustments to Army general fund transactions and data." To coin the phrase used by Trump's apologist for this budget, I can see no benefit to giving more money to the Pentagon when I cannot see any benefits from it. There is probably enough money Wasted by the Pentagon to achieve the 59 billion dollar increase in defense spending.
16
Wasn't that money lost in the previous administration? Mismanagement by Obama.
1
But here's the thing, Trump was elected by a sizeable minority to whom he never needs pander again (though he enjoys their cheers) so he is doing all of the stuff his wealthy patrons and allies want - this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them, to refashion the economy in their image, to conduct a grand experiment that just happens to insure fantastic growth in their wealth for the next few years. They will walk away from the calamities with the money to protect themselves and their families, laughing all the way to their banks. The rest of us are just dross to their diamonds.
13
what super rich don't remember is that the majority of poor people throughout history always win in the end.
they will be alive. the super rich will be killed or pushed out of the country. history only repeats itself.
they will be alive. the super rich will be killed or pushed out of the country. history only repeats itself.
1
If the US is relying o foreign governments to increase their self-defense spending, reducing the US's role, why is it that defense spending needs to eclipse national programs that directly benefit citizens rather than using the supposed savings from a reduced global role? What toys does DOD need that are more valuable than citizens' well-being?
9
What reduced role? We attacked seven countries in the last eight years.
Good point. I was referring to NATO and the defensive resources in Asia.
2
That weeping and gnashing of teeth you hear today is from the house-bound seniors who will no longer receive one healthy meal a day from the eliminated Meals on Wheels program. Having volunteered for that organization, I am outraged that Trump's heartless budget director justifies this draconian cut by saying "it doesn't produce results."
22
The result he wants is for old people to die quickly so he does not have to deal with them (meaning financially) anymore. So stopping Meal-on-Wheels helps achieve that goal. -UGE Results!!
5
I wonder how many of those seniors voted for him???
5
Probably a lot, unless they were a minority in states that have made it more difficult to vote to combat "voter fraud." I would like to see the percentage of voters for our so-called president affected negatively by his edicts, healthcare, and draconian budget. Most of them will blame someone else.
3
Recently I was talking to a Trump supporter. She said to me" He doesn't care about you.He only cares about us, his followers"! Before walking away I had to remind he that he was the president, not a cult leader. So no, they won't care. They'll blame Obama, Hillary, or whoever Trump tells them to.
17
She has a point, he does only care about his supporters. When their Meal-on-Wheels stop showing up, they will begin to learn how much he really cares.
4
It is too easy to simply blame Trump for this budget and the ACA replacement bill. But these latest creations are totally in line with what Paul Ryan, governors like Scott Walker, Mitch McConnell and other conservative leaders have promoted for years. Fiscal conservatives have moved closer to the Libertarian views of the "Pauls", Ron and Rand, and envision a society of much smaller government, insulated from the rest of the Globe - America First - and last. If only there were no old people, disabled people including vets, no sick people, no poor families and their irritating hungry kids, no immigrants, no artists, and please, no people who are not white - what a wonderful world it would be. Is that the new vision for Ameica? Is that what is meant by Make America Great Again? Let's all look in a mirror. Is this who we are? Is this who we want to be?
17
Maybe they hope that all of those vulnerable have a few rough years as they die out, and thereby solve the problem of funding anything more than the Pentagon - and themselves, of course.
I think we the citizens not actively working in government need to restructure how we compensate these people in government who decide these things, making it more like how it works for us in the private sector. Also - I really, really want the ability to allocate where my paid taxes are used. Better than voting for a politician to represent me, I want to choose for myself at the same time as I complete and submit my annual taxes. I care about a lot of things, but subsidies for the rich boys in charge is not one of them and neither are excessive amounts to the Pentagon so we can have more to work with for starting unnecessary wars. We are still trying to recover from the damages of the last preemptive war movement.
I think we the citizens not actively working in government need to restructure how we compensate these people in government who decide these things, making it more like how it works for us in the private sector. Also - I really, really want the ability to allocate where my paid taxes are used. Better than voting for a politician to represent me, I want to choose for myself at the same time as I complete and submit my annual taxes. I care about a lot of things, but subsidies for the rich boys in charge is not one of them and neither are excessive amounts to the Pentagon so we can have more to work with for starting unnecessary wars. We are still trying to recover from the damages of the last preemptive war movement.
4
This is not a serious budget - it is a sop for his hard core supporters. Nothing resembling Trump's budget will get thru Congress.
4
Congress should all be fired period most them allowed 9/11 to happen twice. Not one congress person took accountabilty to what happen on 9/11 an i doubt any one would today if another event occures
1
If the bottom line is roughly the same as under Obama, then he really hasn't done a thing to reduce taxes and money spent. All he does is cut social programs and give that money to the military.
11
Reality check alot countrys who love to see america fail ,best defense is good offense . With mexico corupt government who send poison herion into our beautifull country to poison our children Trump is going to need bigger wall size great wall china to stop whats coming.Every american must serve our country going to need bigger army when red dawn occures
Shame on his base for having believed a spoiled, rich boy who was bailed out time and time again by his father, the Fred. Trump kept claiming to know the pain of the blue collar worker. He doesn't even know what a blue collar shirt is. He wears his uniform, day in and day out - white shirt, not blue. He keeps costing about $3Million every weekend he goes to Mar-a-Lago - enough to fund many programs that would aid those who are in need.
26
If a program is judged as "not doing any good", perhaps he should share the criteria for this judgment . As anyone with a simple knowledge of accounting knows, numbers can be very flexible and moved to advantage a desired outcome.
I wonder if Mr. Mulvaney will apply the same logic of "not doing any good" when considering tax breaks for the wealthy. That would suggest that "trickle down" works.
I wonder if Mr. Mulvaney will apply the same logic of "not doing any good" when considering tax breaks for the wealthy. That would suggest that "trickle down" works.
14
Until the defense budget is not used as a cudgel to show that the other side as unpatriotic, our budget will not get under control. How much is enough? Where are the studies about the waste and corruption? We are all patriotic, period.
6
Defense spending is 22% of the budget. It is not the problem.
Trump's budget is significant in only one, but significant, way. It sends a signal that for the first time there is someone in the White House who would sign on to the most radical reduction in domestic spending ever if Congress were to send him a budget that does just that. The key questions now, given that the executive has no authority to actually set the budget, is how much stomach does the Republican majority in Congress really have for what it has been saying for years it advocates; and, how resolutely will the minority Democrats fight to prevent it. A corollary question will be which way will the public turn when many of the programs they've consciously and unconsciously relied on start to go away?
10
So the plan is to pump up military spending at the expense of everything else. Does anyone think that placing another five or ten aircraft carriers (no doubt all called the USS Trump) on the high seas is going to deter terrorists like those who staged 9/11? WWII ended over 70 years ago. We can address the needs of the country and the world as they exist today or we can put on blinders and make a futile effort to go back to the past. This budget does the latter.
13
Since when is Social Security an entitlement? People PAY into Social Security--money from THEIR checks, some for over fifty to sixty years before dipping back into the funds they helped build. Please stop using words like "entitlement" as many neo-cons wrongly do. This isn't a handout--it is a program, carefully devised, that mandates payment through people's pay; words are important--don't misuse them and belittle people's own contributions.
16
What do you call it when recipients collect more than they put in? Go to your SS benefits website, look up your projected monthly payment at your full retirement age and the totals paid in by yourself and your employers. Now divide the withholding amounts by the estimated payment. If you live longer than that, SS becomes an entitlement.
Let's cut the entire Congressional budget. It suffers from "mission creep." Cut the White House Budget entirely. It's "not well run." Let's cut the Supreme Court Budget targeting Alito, Clarence Thomas and Roberts. They "don't do any good."
14
Education and the environment are important to all Americans. But when government agencies start defying common sense and over-zealously forcing their will on private citizens, the public starts to loose faith in them.
E.g.
Obama's EPA went after a farmer for building a trout pond on his own property.
Obama's Dept. of Ed went after High Schools for refusing to allow boys to shower with girls.
People who manage escape violent ghettos and move to stable lower middle class neighborhoods often find the government forcing them to accept public housing next door for the very gang-bangers they thought they gotten away from. Of course section 8 housing never gets built in wealthy neighborhoods.
I could go on, but the idea that Trump supporters don't agree with most of these cuts is ludicrous. Trump campaigned on this and it's the one part of his platform that I largely agree with.
E.g.
Obama's EPA went after a farmer for building a trout pond on his own property.
Obama's Dept. of Ed went after High Schools for refusing to allow boys to shower with girls.
People who manage escape violent ghettos and move to stable lower middle class neighborhoods often find the government forcing them to accept public housing next door for the very gang-bangers they thought they gotten away from. Of course section 8 housing never gets built in wealthy neighborhoods.
I could go on, but the idea that Trump supporters don't agree with most of these cuts is ludicrous. Trump campaigned on this and it's the one part of his platform that I largely agree with.
3
There is something that the people that voted for this administration miss.
Even with these MASSIVE cuts to social programs, essentially making everyone pay that much more for less, the budget is still going to produce a massive deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Where are all the fiscal ''conservatives'' ? * crickets
Even with these MASSIVE cuts to social programs, essentially making everyone pay that much more for less, the budget is still going to produce a massive deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Where are all the fiscal ''conservatives'' ? * crickets
11
Considered just one of Trump's proposed cuts: a drastic reduction in the "Food for Peace" Program. This program has been providing needed food to starving refugees and those affected by natural disasters for decades. So much for the humanitarian aspects of the program. The other side of the coin is that those who benefit by it are American farmers in the Midwest, American food processors, and American shipping companies. It is doubtful that Midwest congressman will ever let this happen since it hurts the interest of their constituents.
10
Please stop calling Social Security an "entitlement." Workers invest in the fund their entire lives.
18
In the past, liberals offered a deal: To promote our agenda, we'll eliminate your job but sign you up for welfare. Many demographics accepted this "bargain". What's unusual is that the Trump base said: We'd prefer to work for our living, even if it's for less money.
2
Well your about to get that very soon. No tax credits, or cuts for middle class. No assistance, if you loose your job there will be no unemployment. You will definitely get what you want. Even then a good majority of jobs trump is saving are all ran by robots especially in Manufacturing plants.
4
great sarcasm.
2
It's time to stop equating the "entitlements" that people are entitled to, such as Social Security and Medicare, by virtue of having paid into the system with entitlements that are derived from discretionary spending. While I vehemently disagree with the path the government is taking to disenfranchise the poor, the sick and the elderly, I feel the media does a disservice to all readers by continuing to use the term entitlement for programs that have been based on taxes specifically earmarked to fund such programs.
19
A large portion of voters really don't get it that 45 doesn't care about anyone who doesn't have a billion dollars (give or take a few million). Does. Not. Care. Plus, being a decent person wouldn't get him nearly the attention he's getting now.
10
I'd say Ker is right:
"I don't think Trump's supporters would be opposed to these cuts....Obamacare is a different story. ... I think Trump supporters might fight changes to this. But other programs? I don't see much outcry."
I agree. I part company with conservatives who don't believe government should assure health care coverage for all. I do. I consider that to be like roads, bridges, defense, police, fire.
On the other hand, much of what's being cut shouldn't have been funded by government in the first place. We aren't spending our tax dollars for this stuff. We're selling bonds to finance it, which means our children and grandchildren will pay for it (not that we've asked them, since many haven't even been born yet) -- unless, of course, we've trained them well enough that they too kick the can down the road to THEIR unborn children and grandchildren. And so on.
It's very easy to give away money that isn't yours. That's exactly what we do when we spend money today but stick future generations with the bill.
"I don't think Trump's supporters would be opposed to these cuts....Obamacare is a different story. ... I think Trump supporters might fight changes to this. But other programs? I don't see much outcry."
I agree. I part company with conservatives who don't believe government should assure health care coverage for all. I do. I consider that to be like roads, bridges, defense, police, fire.
On the other hand, much of what's being cut shouldn't have been funded by government in the first place. We aren't spending our tax dollars for this stuff. We're selling bonds to finance it, which means our children and grandchildren will pay for it (not that we've asked them, since many haven't even been born yet) -- unless, of course, we've trained them well enough that they too kick the can down the road to THEIR unborn children and grandchildren. And so on.
It's very easy to give away money that isn't yours. That's exactly what we do when we spend money today but stick future generations with the bill.
2
Please stop playing into the Republicans' hands with this deficit fear mongering. The US has always had a "debt". Have you received a bill for your grandparent's spending? Of course not.
Their game is simple -"Taxes hurt the economy and spending hurts our grandchildren". Who could argue? So, reasonable people will continue to be backed into a corner until we wise up and reject that premise.
Their game is simple -"Taxes hurt the economy and spending hurts our grandchildren". Who could argue? So, reasonable people will continue to be backed into a corner until we wise up and reject that premise.
3
How is increasing the military budget making a smaller government? The military is a government program.
13
The cuts to Amtrak are job killers and a transportation that many people use to visit this country. It also sees disconnection between states. Amtrak has been a g great part of the railroad story in America and congress refunded it 2 years ago to improve it. Many states provide funding for additions, and it keeps people off hebroads and the airplane. In an air crisis it would be an invaluable asset. It cost very little.
4
Hopefully this thing is DOA. Maybe if the military stopped spending outrageous prices for things because of deals negotiated with the help of congressmen and lobbyist, they would be just fine with what they have. Funny, government for education, the ability to have a roof over your head are 'inefficient' but government for war needs more money.
This isn't exactly original. That said, I know that government agencies can be unwieldy, but frankly that's often because of the quality of the legislation that create and support them. Some things are well intended, but poorly implemented. That's true in business as well as government. Having worked in both, I've see great examples of both, and some that needed improvement. In both government and non-government I've seen employees that were totally dedicated and productive, some not so much. So I've never really bought, based on my experience, this myth that if it's run by the government it's inefficient, if it is not it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.
This isn't exactly original. That said, I know that government agencies can be unwieldy, but frankly that's often because of the quality of the legislation that create and support them. Some things are well intended, but poorly implemented. That's true in business as well as government. Having worked in both, I've see great examples of both, and some that needed improvement. In both government and non-government I've seen employees that were totally dedicated and productive, some not so much. So I've never really bought, based on my experience, this myth that if it's run by the government it's inefficient, if it is not it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.
7
I am unhappy but not the least bit surprised at this budget. The election of Donald J Trump has given this country over to the fossil fuel industry. Research into Global Warming is out. Drilling on public lands in. Poor people, workers who lost jobs will suffer--military contractors are licking their chops.
There is some good news. Much, I'm sure to Paul Ryan's sorrow, Social Security and Medicare are untouched--oh and please--NYT--stop calling them entitlements--that's what the people who want to eliminate them call them. Also veterans benefits did not get cut--that's good--with all of the wars The Donald appears to be planning we are going to have many, many, many more veterans in need of medical services.
Folks, next time there's an election, even if its an election for dog catcher, remember, elections have consequences. Vote.
There is some good news. Much, I'm sure to Paul Ryan's sorrow, Social Security and Medicare are untouched--oh and please--NYT--stop calling them entitlements--that's what the people who want to eliminate them call them. Also veterans benefits did not get cut--that's good--with all of the wars The Donald appears to be planning we are going to have many, many, many more veterans in need of medical services.
Folks, next time there's an election, even if its an election for dog catcher, remember, elections have consequences. Vote.
5
"Trump takes a gamble"?
How unusual --- a President who proposes policy based upon what he perceives as best for the country instead of what is politically advantageous.
Furthermore, perhaps there are some voters who are likewise motivated rather than being guided entirely by their own perceived self-interests.
How unusual --- a President who proposes policy based upon what he perceives as best for the country instead of what is politically advantageous.
Furthermore, perhaps there are some voters who are likewise motivated rather than being guided entirely by their own perceived self-interests.
We should consolidate all federal means tested welfare programs to eliminate redundancy and perverse cliff effects and to make these programs more accountable.
There's is too much bloat.
There's is too much bloat.
I hope Trump makes America great again. Not by allowing his bizarro world views to rule, but by the awakening of the people. All the numb skulls who voted for him or didn't bother to vote, all the GOP feckless politicians, all the alt-right nationalistic supremacist jerks, all the conservative and religious hypocrites, need to be taught a lesson in civility, humility and what real Democracy can be. America got what it deserved because although Hillary won by 3 million votes, our outdated electoral system, our educational system and the 62 million opposing voters failed us. Our leaders need to be the smartest people in the room, not jug heads. The people just might wake up and make America great again not because of Trump's doings but because he is so toxic.
6
Why are we increasing the military? I'm dumbfounded. The DOD is where the cutting needs to start.
The head of the Pentagon called for an independent study to be done in 2015 to try and discovery areas of the military where they could reduce spending. That report showed over $125 BILLION in waste that could be easily saved over 5 years just in the military. Upon reviewing the report the head decided the report made the military look too wasteful (especially since the military was going to ask for more money) and decided not to release the findings. BUT, the report ended up being leaked not long ago. There are over 1 MILLION back-office employees in the military. The military has almost as many people working desk jobs in its business operations as it does active-duty troops.
The budget moves to cut needed Social programs, the Arts, Public Broadcasting, the EPA, and many other local programs. Obviously Trump's priorities aren't with the American people. For those that voted for him - Good luck, he's YOUR President.
The head of the Pentagon called for an independent study to be done in 2015 to try and discovery areas of the military where they could reduce spending. That report showed over $125 BILLION in waste that could be easily saved over 5 years just in the military. Upon reviewing the report the head decided the report made the military look too wasteful (especially since the military was going to ask for more money) and decided not to release the findings. BUT, the report ended up being leaked not long ago. There are over 1 MILLION back-office employees in the military. The military has almost as many people working desk jobs in its business operations as it does active-duty troops.
The budget moves to cut needed Social programs, the Arts, Public Broadcasting, the EPA, and many other local programs. Obviously Trump's priorities aren't with the American people. For those that voted for him - Good luck, he's YOUR President.
6
White House Leak: the master plan of Pol Pot Trump and his fellow zealots is to eventually turn the built-up military on us, US citizens, just like Putin has done. The pogrom starts with the vulnerable. These people are really sick.
7
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but didn't Hitler build up his military before WW II not to mention inciting racism and bigotry.
10
As long as the party is not held accountable for anything harmful that they do, they have no reason to change their agenda of enriching the rich even more at the expense of the needy. I suppose it fits with their reading of the Bible. The more they disrupt progress, and obstruct when the other party is in the WH, the more rewards they reap, by being given control of the state houses as well as almost all branches of government. Why would they want to do anything different?
2
Sadly, people are going to have to get hurt badly before they realize that Republicans don't care about them. It's all about $ for the wealthy. I feel bad to a degree, but anybody who voted for Trump should've known this was coming. More sadly, is they keep defending him. Hatred is a tough stance to overcome.
7
Please stop calling Social Security an entitlement. I have paid into it for 45 years and will need to get something back from it. I am certainly not alone.
14
The poor needs jobs more then free stuff. The democrats have the poor believing that free is better then work. They hand out free to the poor black communities and at the same time promote ilagal aliens to move into their neighborhoods and compete for work.
Climate change is real but we don't have to spread hundreds of billions for people to study it. Yes the world is getting warmer. We don't have to fly scientists to Antarctica to watch the ice melt. We have satellites for that. Population growth is a much bigger problem. We don't spend billions studying that.
And this is an easy one. People should not be paid by the government for any sort of art.
Climate change is real but we don't have to spread hundreds of billions for people to study it. Yes the world is getting warmer. We don't have to fly scientists to Antarctica to watch the ice melt. We have satellites for that. Population growth is a much bigger problem. We don't spend billions studying that.
And this is an easy one. People should not be paid by the government for any sort of art.
1
It's good to know that nothing matters. Ut money.
Simplifies life.
Simplifies life.
1
The 'voting against their interests' articles are always fun, but you should understand the interests of white Republicans as they understand them. Here's my best effort at the mindset:
"Anyone can vote in a democracy, including people who disgust and frighten you. They are probably going to vote to give their own group free stuff. It's what you would do, after all. The world runs on patronage. People in power send resources to their own tribe. That's why Obama was the food stamp president. We always knew a black guy would govern for the blacks.
The CEO of your company, though, is relatable. He's a straight, white Christian with a lovely wife and a nice house who works for a living. And he will give you things: a good income, health insurance, a 401k. He is of your tribe - the good, decent, hard-working people - and people stick with their own.
The government, which is run by and for those other types, is stopping your patron from rewarding you with a good job. It's tying him up with regulations and laws and taxes."
Liberals see the government as a check on rapacious corps who would poison our water, raid the public trust, and return us to the days of The Jungle. Republicans see a system where good people get good jobs, except when government interferes to reward undeserving people who vote but don't contribute - people who use political power to steal things for themselves.
I say: Yes, anyone and everyone can vote for government, but nobody has a vote at their job.
"Anyone can vote in a democracy, including people who disgust and frighten you. They are probably going to vote to give their own group free stuff. It's what you would do, after all. The world runs on patronage. People in power send resources to their own tribe. That's why Obama was the food stamp president. We always knew a black guy would govern for the blacks.
The CEO of your company, though, is relatable. He's a straight, white Christian with a lovely wife and a nice house who works for a living. And he will give you things: a good income, health insurance, a 401k. He is of your tribe - the good, decent, hard-working people - and people stick with their own.
The government, which is run by and for those other types, is stopping your patron from rewarding you with a good job. It's tying him up with regulations and laws and taxes."
Liberals see the government as a check on rapacious corps who would poison our water, raid the public trust, and return us to the days of The Jungle. Republicans see a system where good people get good jobs, except when government interferes to reward undeserving people who vote but don't contribute - people who use political power to steal things for themselves.
I say: Yes, anyone and everyone can vote for government, but nobody has a vote at their job.
5
This article shows one of the prime problems of allowing the stupid and/or ignorant population to chose its leaders. The only good thing about election by the masses is that, theoretically, this keeps a few delusional psychopaths from making the choice.
3
Welfare for the wealthy has been the theme of all Trump's proposals, including the American "Health Care" Act, which is really a major tax cut for the upper 2% masquerading as some sort of health plan.
The rubber will hit the road in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan where no jobs will return, even if (automated) manufacturing does. And where the lower middle class will not be able to afford health care.
Trump and crew live in a Potemkin village—no surprise coming from a real estate developer, the specialty of choice for flim-flam artists.
The rubber will hit the road in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan where no jobs will return, even if (automated) manufacturing does. And where the lower middle class will not be able to afford health care.
Trump and crew live in a Potemkin village—no surprise coming from a real estate developer, the specialty of choice for flim-flam artists.
2
As the administration budget director stated, "What did you expect?" Exactly why they did not get my vote. All of you who thought otherwise need to start paying attention.
4
Ha -- don't kid yourselves: Ryan will be gunning for Social Security next (privatization i.e. raiding/robbing by Wall Street) -- even though he, his mother and grandmother benefited significantly when he was a teen:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan
"When he was 16, Ryan found his 55-year-old father lying dead in bed of a heart attack.[18][21] Following the death of his father, Ryan's grandmother moved in with the family, and because she had Alzheimer's, Ryan helped care for her while his mother commuted to college in Madison, Wisconsin.[21] From the time of his father's death until his 18th birthday, Ryan received Social Security survivors benefits, which were saved for his college education."
And (alleged) billionaires like Agent Orange don't need it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan
"When he was 16, Ryan found his 55-year-old father lying dead in bed of a heart attack.[18][21] Following the death of his father, Ryan's grandmother moved in with the family, and because she had Alzheimer's, Ryan helped care for her while his mother commuted to college in Madison, Wisconsin.[21] From the time of his father's death until his 18th birthday, Ryan received Social Security survivors benefits, which were saved for his college education."
And (alleged) billionaires like Agent Orange don't need it.
2
A measly 1.2% overall budget cut turns the Democrats into hand wringing crybabies, wailing that the world will come to an end. The very Democrats who created our current $20 trillion federal debt with endless social welfare programs and federal agency growth, now blame Trump for facing the problem head on. What is their solution, other than more taxes on the top 10% of earners who already pay more than 80% of all federal income taxes collected? The spending spree has to stop. More debt is unsustainable, and would soon make interest on the debt the largest line item in the federal budget. Take the pain now, or face an unimaginably larger pain very soon.
2
Dear Britain---now you see first hand the situation we're trapped in here across the pond. Our predicament is indeed dire, and by extension, so is it for a great many other countries, yours included. Please immediately have M reactivate 007 to address the worldwide threat posed by Goldenhair. We need you!
1
Of course Social Security will be protected. For now.
But after all the Republican Senators get finished adding back all their pet state projects to this budget, and trying to decrease the deficit, we'll see.
Maybe it will be only a $250 cut to that $800 - $1100 a month check. How about that Trump supporters?
Just a small price to pay to make America Great Again.
But after all the Republican Senators get finished adding back all their pet state projects to this budget, and trying to decrease the deficit, we'll see.
Maybe it will be only a $250 cut to that $800 - $1100 a month check. How about that Trump supporters?
Just a small price to pay to make America Great Again.
1
Or maybe, move people's SS accounts to the private sector and make each of us responsible for securing our own retirement.
OK lca. If we had enough good paying jobs and if workers invested at least 15% of every paycheck and if they made good investment choices and if they didn't draw it out then this approach might work. But I can promise you that none of the above will happen. So what then. They were desparate enough this time to elect Trump. When this doesn't solve their problems, and it won't, then what. If we are "lucky" parents will move in with their children as used to happen. Or maybe they will decide to come for your stuff, either through politics or through a more direct route.
1
If Trumpolini wants to save a few dollars he can start with 38 BILLION that goes to Israel , our arrogant war mongering bully in the mideast, whose last gift to us was ISIS .
2
Many of the cuts proposed, when conditioned on the assumption that no entitlement will be altered, reflects a fiscal reality. And I can even accept the idea of hamstringing "the administrative state" with these cuts.
Many of the social services currently provided by the Feds could and would be supplied by donations and charity.
However to wall off and consider the military to not have elements of the administrative state and to consider it immune from fiscal discipline is absurd.
If massive cuts are to be made, they should be made across the board, at least for my support, for what it's worth. This set of spending proposals is about as ludicrous as the billionaire tax cut called "AHCA". Once again I am left, as I have been since i first voted in 1984, loosely attached to the Democratic Party, because, for all their flaws, they present me with the most palatable way to spend our children's future into the ground.
Sad. Bigly Sad.
Many of the social services currently provided by the Feds could and would be supplied by donations and charity.
However to wall off and consider the military to not have elements of the administrative state and to consider it immune from fiscal discipline is absurd.
If massive cuts are to be made, they should be made across the board, at least for my support, for what it's worth. This set of spending proposals is about as ludicrous as the billionaire tax cut called "AHCA". Once again I am left, as I have been since i first voted in 1984, loosely attached to the Democratic Party, because, for all their flaws, they present me with the most palatable way to spend our children's future into the ground.
Sad. Bigly Sad.
1
Bring back the draft and the personnel costs of defense could be whittled down to a fraction by paying only a $25 stipend rather than the volunteer pay scales now in effect.
This is more like a warfare first, Americans last skinny budget. It is extremely short-sighted and would undercut American competitiveness now and for decades in the future.
I'm sure all the farmers who voted for Trump are thrilled as he slashes money to the Agriculture Dept. With the abandonment of TPP, agricultural exports to the Pacific rim are already going to fall. Australia will now undercut American beef exports, for instance. Not to mention the falling prices for dairy and grain. Farmers will be earning a lot less money anyway and now will lose more with this budget.
My elderly mother, who voted for Trump because she thought the Supreme court was too "liberal," is appalled at the proposed cuts to scientific and medical research.
Many poor who voted for Trump thinking he was going to make their lives better are going to be extremely angry when their lives become demonstrably worse under the Trump administration as they lose health care coverage.
Just two days ago, the Times reported on an article in Nature showing that wide swaths of the Great Barrier reef were now dead due to climate change. Climate change is a looming economic and humanitarian disaster for all of us. But this administration said, "We’re not spending money on [climate change] anymore,” “We consider that a waste of your money to go out and do that.”
I'm sure all the farmers who voted for Trump are thrilled as he slashes money to the Agriculture Dept. With the abandonment of TPP, agricultural exports to the Pacific rim are already going to fall. Australia will now undercut American beef exports, for instance. Not to mention the falling prices for dairy and grain. Farmers will be earning a lot less money anyway and now will lose more with this budget.
My elderly mother, who voted for Trump because she thought the Supreme court was too "liberal," is appalled at the proposed cuts to scientific and medical research.
Many poor who voted for Trump thinking he was going to make their lives better are going to be extremely angry when their lives become demonstrably worse under the Trump administration as they lose health care coverage.
Just two days ago, the Times reported on an article in Nature showing that wide swaths of the Great Barrier reef were now dead due to climate change. Climate change is a looming economic and humanitarian disaster for all of us. But this administration said, "We’re not spending money on [climate change] anymore,” “We consider that a waste of your money to go out and do that.”
5
Conversation with an old-time progressive who is sympathetic to Donald Trump. He thinks the Democrats are making a great mistake by focusing on Russia.
Why?
It’s not that big a deal.
What about conflicts of interest?
So what?
Or worse, collusion through venality?
Who cares?
You don’t think that matters?
Trump made a great speech yesterday in Detroit to the auto workers, that’s what matters.
Even if everything he says is a lie?
He told them what they wanted to hear.
But none of it is true.
So what, they wanted to hear it.
But if you make promises that you can’t deliver on, it does more harm than good, right?
Someone needs to talk to them.
With lies? Lies that trump up hysteria like “Lock her up”?
Hillary was a warmonger.
That’s cartoon thinking, and you know it. Do you prefer an emotional toddler in the White House?
Russia is the wrong way to go.
If you have more allegiance to Russian totalitarianism than your own government because you are in Russia’s pocket, you can affect the world with totalitarian policies, right? Isn’t that what Charles Lindberg attempted in the fascist 30s? McCarthy in the blacklist 50s? That’s your era, right?
Right.
So why are you defending today what you fought against yesterday?
I don’t’ want to talk about this.
If an old-time progressive can think this way, so can all of Trump’s supporters, and it shows just how deep their cognitive dissonance lies. This budget is their reward.
Why?
It’s not that big a deal.
What about conflicts of interest?
So what?
Or worse, collusion through venality?
Who cares?
You don’t think that matters?
Trump made a great speech yesterday in Detroit to the auto workers, that’s what matters.
Even if everything he says is a lie?
He told them what they wanted to hear.
But none of it is true.
So what, they wanted to hear it.
But if you make promises that you can’t deliver on, it does more harm than good, right?
Someone needs to talk to them.
With lies? Lies that trump up hysteria like “Lock her up”?
Hillary was a warmonger.
That’s cartoon thinking, and you know it. Do you prefer an emotional toddler in the White House?
Russia is the wrong way to go.
If you have more allegiance to Russian totalitarianism than your own government because you are in Russia’s pocket, you can affect the world with totalitarian policies, right? Isn’t that what Charles Lindberg attempted in the fascist 30s? McCarthy in the blacklist 50s? That’s your era, right?
Right.
So why are you defending today what you fought against yesterday?
I don’t’ want to talk about this.
If an old-time progressive can think this way, so can all of Trump’s supporters, and it shows just how deep their cognitive dissonance lies. This budget is their reward.
3
Maybe your old-time progressive wasn't as progressive as he/she liked to believe.
3
STOP calling Social Security an ENTITLEMENT! We pay for it out of every paycheck.
6
“That sound you hear from Washington, D.C., this morning is the weeping and gnashing of teeth from bureaucrats and politicians who have built the federal government into an industry on the backs of taxpayers,” said David McIntosh
Um, yeah - try weeping and gnashing teeth of hundreds of thousands of rank-and-file federal government employees and their dependent families – who did nothing to "build" the size of government but just show up, do what their told, and do a good job (without any political positions) – now facing uncertain future and layoffs. What happened to the JOBS candidate? What happened to reducing the size of government by attrition? Why is Trump hurting families and ELIMINATING JOBS?
Um, yeah - try weeping and gnashing teeth of hundreds of thousands of rank-and-file federal government employees and their dependent families – who did nothing to "build" the size of government but just show up, do what their told, and do a good job (without any political positions) – now facing uncertain future and layoffs. What happened to the JOBS candidate? What happened to reducing the size of government by attrition? Why is Trump hurting families and ELIMINATING JOBS?
4
These are the kids who take over the High School and all they can think about is raiding the lunchroom and trashing the place. How soon until the adults get back here?
4
The payback , or benefits from any Fed $ program which purports to moderate or ameliorate the identified socio-economic or environmental problem should be measured not in currency but in the overall health of the nation . This includes elimination of extreme poverty, environmental pollution , educational opportunity, and guidance on the future use of energy and climate change problems. The Fed is not a corporate enterprise , and must gauge results in the health of the nation, not in the profit of a few.
4
We've spent trillions since LBJ and his Great Society and yet we're told that's not enough. Eliminate ALL these programs and let the free market identify those who deserve the rewards of their hard work.
Really; it gets sillier and sillier. Nobody know what is happening or why. Trump is your president not mine, thanks be to Allah Adonai elohenu, Adonai echod! A Cesspit is a sewer. Let it be. Tomorrow there will be more confusing news to fret about. That's certain. I prefer to giggle and maintain my own sanity.
2
One of the reasons America was great because it out did other countries in research in science and medicine.......Total lack of understanding and vision
4
Trump supporters are not reading this article or any other reputable, mainstream news outlet. They are watching Fox News, which irresponsibly praises this madman every move.
Midterms are going to be so important.
Midterms are going to be so important.
4
I listened to Mick Mulvaney yesterday and he sounded like a man without a plan and one who doesn't understand what day to day regular American's go through, whether it's meals on wheels or after school programs for children at risk, really pathetic.
I heard that it it's about 4 million dollars a year for the Meals on Wheels program, it cost the country 3 to 4 million dollars a each time Donald Trump travels down to Maro Lago to spend the weekend golfing and schmoozing at his country club and Trump has gone down there every weekend since he has taken office.
I think Donald Trump should spend a little more time in the Whitehouse doing his job, and passing up a few weekends at Maro Lago.
I heard that it it's about 4 million dollars a year for the Meals on Wheels program, it cost the country 3 to 4 million dollars a each time Donald Trump travels down to Maro Lago to spend the weekend golfing and schmoozing at his country club and Trump has gone down there every weekend since he has taken office.
I think Donald Trump should spend a little more time in the Whitehouse doing his job, and passing up a few weekends at Maro Lago.
6
The cuts to science and research are no surprise: merely an admission that we have lost the "Education Race" and this is also reflected in the "DeVos Dumbing Down."
All the science this nation needs is in the belly of a Stealth Bomber.
All the science this nation needs is in the belly of a Stealth Bomber.
3
"..industries built on the backs of taxpayers..",,,sounds and looks like our military/industrial complex. We have more firepower that all other nations on this planet. Republicans want to feed this dragon rather than think about programs and initiatives that can make our culture vibrant and our people educated, healthy, happy and engaged. I am very tired of hearing how "people have health insurance shoved down their throats", as though we all should "do what we want" with regard to health insurance coverage. Car insurance used to be like that until there were so many injured people who could not get compensation since a driver who hit them "went bare" that mandatory car insurance is now the norm. It is the same with health insurance. Remember how packed the ER's were before the ACA, with families showing up there for basic care? Inefficient and costly, the ACA helped alleviate that serious drain of resources. The government keeps cutting the doctor fees for Medicaid/Medicare. It is not a surprise that doctors are dropping out of those services, leaving the uninsured and elderly with no choice other than finding a marginally trained, overbooked doctor who cannot possibly deliver good health care to this patients. We have had about 70 years of no world war. Why is Trump gunning for another? We have much better uses of our resources. How about adequate prenatal and postnatal care for all women...just for starters.
2
I'll start out by saying I'm an independent that leans left socially, except for baby killing, and leans right on business and taxes. I'm a strong supporter of the environment and believe business and environmentalists can work together...they don't most times, but I believe they can.
So, this budget...I HATE it...but, honestly, we can't afford what we've been doing...and is this the adult in the room that is telling us the free ride is over? With a $20 TRILLION dollar national debt...is the era of free-spending really over?
Raising taxes isn't the answer. At some point, we will be taxed out...then what? So, has the time come to get spending under control OR we will reject this budget and kick the can down the road?
I don't have the answers...sorry, if I did I'd share them with you. I'm just saying, in some ways, as much as I hate this...there is a lot of stuff we spend money on that maybe we shouldn't be spending tax dollars on.
We want the country to move forward...but we can't keep dragging the MONSTER known as our National Debt with us forever. At some point...the Federal budget is going to be cut...the question is when?
So, this budget...I HATE it...but, honestly, we can't afford what we've been doing...and is this the adult in the room that is telling us the free ride is over? With a $20 TRILLION dollar national debt...is the era of free-spending really over?
Raising taxes isn't the answer. At some point, we will be taxed out...then what? So, has the time come to get spending under control OR we will reject this budget and kick the can down the road?
I don't have the answers...sorry, if I did I'd share them with you. I'm just saying, in some ways, as much as I hate this...there is a lot of stuff we spend money on that maybe we shouldn't be spending tax dollars on.
We want the country to move forward...but we can't keep dragging the MONSTER known as our National Debt with us forever. At some point...the Federal budget is going to be cut...the question is when?
hey tom, nice thoughts but wrong on many levels. lets start with the military. ok, who is our biggest threat now and then how will an aircraft carrier or nuclear weapons ameliorate that threat? They won't is the answer, so why would we build on that basis. The Federal Government employs about 1.4 million people in the civilian workforce and 2.8 million in the combined forces thats 4.2 million employed by us, the citizens. Now the military needs more money? Taxes are part of the way it works, the environment is key to life - you need air, water and food to live. rich or poor, and if you bother to read things like the DOD report on the effects of climate change. That is the number one threat to our safety.
3
I'll let you cut as much as you want if you let decide where.
1
The wealthy don't vacation in National Parks and on public lands.
The wealthy don't send their children to public schools.
The wealthy don't live near polluted streams, mines, coal plants or any other industry that destroys their view or immediate environment.
The wealthy build walls around their neighborhoods to keep the deplorables out.
The wealthy's children don't watch PBS.
The wealthy's children don't fight in wars.
The wealthy have all the "access" they want to healthcare.
It should be no surprise who Donald Trump is fighting for.
The wealthy don't send their children to public schools.
The wealthy don't live near polluted streams, mines, coal plants or any other industry that destroys their view or immediate environment.
The wealthy build walls around their neighborhoods to keep the deplorables out.
The wealthy's children don't watch PBS.
The wealthy's children don't fight in wars.
The wealthy have all the "access" they want to healthcare.
It should be no surprise who Donald Trump is fighting for.
12
So why should they have to contribute to those things? Let those who use them pay for them. And on a local level, let those who overuse police and fire services and public schools pay the cost of those services.
LCA
First, this isn't capitalism, it's a plutocracy.
There is nothing free about your phony free markets.
There is nothing capitalist about denying your workers the right to a rewarding life based upon their labor.
There is nothing capitalist about warping the system to be able to squeeze the maximum satisfaction for your personal avarice.
And there is nothing that says capitalism outweighs democracy at every turn.
You're not just wrong. You're ignorant.
The answer is to your bigger question "Why should they pay for these things" should be "Because the rest of us pay for their security, for their roads, for the judicial system that guarantees their freedom and their safety, or did until it became a Dickensian mire of privilege and corruption, and because like sheep we pay to shield them from the righteous wrath of those they steal from and neglect".
But I'll just let it go at "Because we are a nation, and these are the things we value".
Of course, we're talking about people who believe they are above such care-worn concepts as 'nation' and who, in their arrogance, honestly believe they are solely responsible for where they are today.
First, this isn't capitalism, it's a plutocracy.
There is nothing free about your phony free markets.
There is nothing capitalist about denying your workers the right to a rewarding life based upon their labor.
There is nothing capitalist about warping the system to be able to squeeze the maximum satisfaction for your personal avarice.
And there is nothing that says capitalism outweighs democracy at every turn.
You're not just wrong. You're ignorant.
The answer is to your bigger question "Why should they pay for these things" should be "Because the rest of us pay for their security, for their roads, for the judicial system that guarantees their freedom and their safety, or did until it became a Dickensian mire of privilege and corruption, and because like sheep we pay to shield them from the righteous wrath of those they steal from and neglect".
But I'll just let it go at "Because we are a nation, and these are the things we value".
Of course, we're talking about people who believe they are above such care-worn concepts as 'nation' and who, in their arrogance, honestly believe they are solely responsible for where they are today.
6
This is not a gamble. That gives the administration more intellectual power than it has.
They are hoping nobody will notice, just like the AHCA. How many minutes did that joke hold up. Smirking Ryan and all. Even Fox was incredulous.
Of course it will have to pass Congress, but then they have no skill in governing and have swallowed their own lies for so long anything they do will be just jingoistic homage to the party lies. That is the problem when you run on lies for 40 years. The alternate reality becomes reality. They think average Americans are the enemy and want to, in some cases literally kill them.
The only reason to raise military spending is to go to war. America today has more arms than any other 5 countries and conventional war is so passe. Yet Trump wants to build more nuclear arms, and throw away arms reduction treaties.
Has America gone mad. What enemy is at the gates? Nuclear bombs? We are done as a species if they start flying!
These are dangerous times. The nuts are loose and running the show.
Stop the madness!
They are hoping nobody will notice, just like the AHCA. How many minutes did that joke hold up. Smirking Ryan and all. Even Fox was incredulous.
Of course it will have to pass Congress, but then they have no skill in governing and have swallowed their own lies for so long anything they do will be just jingoistic homage to the party lies. That is the problem when you run on lies for 40 years. The alternate reality becomes reality. They think average Americans are the enemy and want to, in some cases literally kill them.
The only reason to raise military spending is to go to war. America today has more arms than any other 5 countries and conventional war is so passe. Yet Trump wants to build more nuclear arms, and throw away arms reduction treaties.
Has America gone mad. What enemy is at the gates? Nuclear bombs? We are done as a species if they start flying!
These are dangerous times. The nuts are loose and running the show.
Stop the madness!
6
My, how you do see everything through the prism of last year's election results. Is this to please your own billionaire share holders because it helps you sell more newspapers?
But puhleeze! - quit trying to con people into believing you care what happens as a result of this budget to those low-educated deplorables of the white working class you regularly denounced as racists, bigots, xenophobobes, Islamophobes, and misogynists during the campaign. We know you don't - and it's obvious.
But puhleeze! - quit trying to con people into believing you care what happens as a result of this budget to those low-educated deplorables of the white working class you regularly denounced as racists, bigots, xenophobobes, Islamophobes, and misogynists during the campaign. We know you don't - and it's obvious.
2
To take food out of the mouths of the handicapped, elderly and children so you can buy more military planes is unconscionable. To spend 2.3 billion dollars on a unnecessary southern wall while cutting money to protect embassy's abroad is just crazy. My hope is the Trump supporters forgo the alternative facts on this budget.
2
Even an article such as this one, one that purports to merely report the facts of a proposed budget, no longer holds any credibility. Let us remember, this is the paper that predicted for months, day after day, that Hillary would win -- and by a landslide. All kinds of articles and charts and graphs and polls, each and every day spread all across the front page, that also purported to list facts were nothing more than cheap agenda driven made-up news. Such is this paper.
2
People forget that when DJT was running, he mentioned that if he said he would cut Social Security/Medicaid /Medicare, that would be a non starter, hence one would not say that. I am paraphrasing, nevertheless, DJT said words to that effect. Folks are surprised at his removing protections for the 'little guy'? Interestingly, the 'forgotten man', caused his/her own set of problems by failing to be aware of programs or fighting with agencies available to assist them. For example, many folks who are entitled to Food Stamps or educational scholarships, didn't avail themselves because they didn't want to fill out the paperwork or believed others didn't have to fill out paperwork, so why should they. Many entitled to low income housing didn't want to live next door to people of color or next to people who were different than they. When Mr. Obama developed common core to improve the educational standards in the US, the common man and others fought tooth & nail, upholding failed educational models. Need more examples?
Now DJT voters can pick your own lettuce, take care of grandma/grandpa with dementia, support your parents, perform your own births, abortions, watch your sick die absent medical care, drink polluted water, buy & take worthless drugs, paying more taxes than the rich & educate your own children given the limits of your own knowledge. Keep listening to right wing pundits, Fox News & voting republican. Now America is great because the rich are richer!
Now DJT voters can pick your own lettuce, take care of grandma/grandpa with dementia, support your parents, perform your own births, abortions, watch your sick die absent medical care, drink polluted water, buy & take worthless drugs, paying more taxes than the rich & educate your own children given the limits of your own knowledge. Keep listening to right wing pundits, Fox News & voting republican. Now America is great because the rich are richer!
39
And this is why NYC needs to leave these United States. Our values differ, our culture differs and we are getting tired of losing upwards of 10 billion a year to support ideas we cannot stand behind and people who do not only vote against our interests, but also against their own. California is on the way and we will get there, too.
2
It seems that significant job cuts would be the result of reduced funding to federal agencies, which would likely lead to recession.
The barbarians have indeed breached the gates. This budget does nothing for anyone other than the generals and admirals.
And when it's all over, Trump, Bannon, Price, and all the other millionaires and billionaires who make up this administration will walk away from their jobs, leaving the country in total disarray, morally, economically, both domestically and internationally.
And when it's all over, Trump, Bannon, Price, and all the other millionaires and billionaires who make up this administration will walk away from their jobs, leaving the country in total disarray, morally, economically, both domestically and internationally.
5
This should be entitled "America Last" as it proposes to decimate small arts and humanities programs that actually help unite us not divide us.
Tell me again why we need more defense spending in lieu of domestic programs and how does a 31% cut in the EPA help us get to making America first?
Tell me again why we need more defense spending in lieu of domestic programs and how does a 31% cut in the EPA help us get to making America first?
5
Satan called, he finds this budget a bit extreme but is pleased to be getting a bit of R-and-R.
1
Ha Ha,
Yes his base will take a bunch of hits,
But they snd he will still be White at the end of the day, and that's enough for both Trump and his base base.
Store this under
Promises Kept.
Yes his base will take a bunch of hits,
But they snd he will still be White at the end of the day, and that's enough for both Trump and his base base.
Store this under
Promises Kept.
The New York Times is adept at presenting objective evidence regarding the budget to induce chaos, conflict & unrest. It is Dickensian & draconian. It is a Spartan punishing strategy sand empathy & sympathy. It signals power over compassion, might over right & destruction over creation. It is Nietszche s "will to Power" & Machiavellian. From this dyslexic democracy & cataract culture a new brighter inclusive democracy will arise. To counter act fake news, alternative news. vicious Right wing rampant Christianity a neo-Beat arts must morph this mayhem into a Beatific reckoning. Dramatists arise.
Amazing responses from Fake news sources. Comments from the left wings (crooked hillary supporter), of courses are Negative. This does not support me at all . That is the reason I never read any fake news anymore.
Then get off this page. If you cannot remove the blinders from your eyes & see that Trump has conned you, and is going to gut programs that you & your family rely on, you are a fool. Good luck with no health insurance too, your Grand Old Party is going to do its best to make sure you die uninsured in the streets
But, that's fine, it's all just 'fake news' and at least Trump 'tells it like it is'
But, that's fine, it's all just 'fake news' and at least Trump 'tells it like it is'
5
He;s gambling with a lot more than that. that headline is benign. The whole moral base of the country is crumbling quickly, and nobody seems to be stopping it. There's no future thinking in this budget and it's beginning to seem that's because there won't be a future.
1
Re: Trump Takes a Gamble in Cutting Programs His Base Relies On
Uh - no those voter do NOT rely upon the programs on the hit list
They are not on Food Stamps
They are not getting the Home Heating Assistance
They are not getting their kid's daycare paid for by welfare
They can not afford to travel abroad so they have nothing to do with other countries
They are the voters who work and work and struggle to get by whose taxes go to pay for that 'stuff' for the poor who keep having more and more kids they can't afford. Medicaid-eligible population under 64 are about 14% of the US - they are 48% of the births
They are the voters the NYT readers call 'stupid' 'ignorant' and 'uneducated' (but the most uneducated voters are blacks & Hispanics - high school dropout rate 13%+ & 35% compared to 6% for whites)
Uh - no those voter do NOT rely upon the programs on the hit list
They are not on Food Stamps
They are not getting the Home Heating Assistance
They are not getting their kid's daycare paid for by welfare
They can not afford to travel abroad so they have nothing to do with other countries
They are the voters who work and work and struggle to get by whose taxes go to pay for that 'stuff' for the poor who keep having more and more kids they can't afford. Medicaid-eligible population under 64 are about 14% of the US - they are 48% of the births
They are the voters the NYT readers call 'stupid' 'ignorant' and 'uneducated' (but the most uneducated voters are blacks & Hispanics - high school dropout rate 13%+ & 35% compared to 6% for whites)
3
Trump is even cutting infrastructure spending after repeated promises to increase it (As recently as in a speech to congress a few weeks ago)
There is no evidence of Obama instigated wiretapping, but there was a birth certificate all along and Trump knew there was no merit to his accusations.
Lyin' Trump.
We need ten years of every page of tax returns NOW
There is no evidence of Obama instigated wiretapping, but there was a birth certificate all along and Trump knew there was no merit to his accusations.
Lyin' Trump.
We need ten years of every page of tax returns NOW
4
I've never subscribed to the fascist comparison and I've never been given to conspiracy theories in general. But between the existing proposed AHCA and what this budget impacts, does it add up to T4 plan for the US? Trump's Fourth Turning plan? Has the term 'useless eater,' in reference to lower income Americans, the sick and disabled, been uttered out loud in the West Wing?
Simplistically a couple of things stand out in the graphics accompanying this article:
Justice in the 25$ to $30 billion range from Bush 02 to the present — twice the median for the Regan years. Just wondering why?
A spike in State and development programs 09 through 2017, from around $40 billion to nearly $60 through the Obama years. Trump’s proposal brings ti back to the level under Bush 02.
VA shows the most sustained up ramp through Bush 02 and the Obama years with Trump continuing the trend. A good call after 15 years of continuous military combat deployments and certainly no end in sight.
Defense at first glance looks like a restoration of the Sequestration. So far nothing has been revealed about credible data on why, other than Trump’s apparent swing to more hard power.
Traditionally these presidential budget proposals have not had much direct impact on what the Congress actually appropriates. Something akin to the absence of concrete effectiveness of the State of the Union addresses.
However, so far this is the closest thing to any broad plan for Trump governance out there.
As for being true to the Trump constituency, all the resultant moaning and gnashing of teeth from the usual suspects over this budget should suffice to keep them in the president’s corner for now.
Justice in the 25$ to $30 billion range from Bush 02 to the present — twice the median for the Regan years. Just wondering why?
A spike in State and development programs 09 through 2017, from around $40 billion to nearly $60 through the Obama years. Trump’s proposal brings ti back to the level under Bush 02.
VA shows the most sustained up ramp through Bush 02 and the Obama years with Trump continuing the trend. A good call after 15 years of continuous military combat deployments and certainly no end in sight.
Defense at first glance looks like a restoration of the Sequestration. So far nothing has been revealed about credible data on why, other than Trump’s apparent swing to more hard power.
Traditionally these presidential budget proposals have not had much direct impact on what the Congress actually appropriates. Something akin to the absence of concrete effectiveness of the State of the Union addresses.
However, so far this is the closest thing to any broad plan for Trump governance out there.
As for being true to the Trump constituency, all the resultant moaning and gnashing of teeth from the usual suspects over this budget should suffice to keep them in the president’s corner for now.
I don't see the gamble. If Trump is right about one thing, his followers, his base, those individuals who wear those goofy hats, are all in no matter what hardships his administration will visit upon them. It is not about logic or sensemaking, it is all emotion for his followers. They have been waiting for eight long years, suffering under an African American muslim president, and before that, an establishment Republican, and now finally, it is their time in the sun and all the CO2 gas they can inhale.
1
WH trips to Marlago budget +100% (what is it, $3M a weekend? How many meals is that?)?
Nice entitlement, if you can get it.
Nice entitlement, if you can get it.
3
How about cutting the money spent on Trump's strips to Florida?
6
Maybe if Trump and the Republicans inflict enough pain and do enough damage the voters will elect a president and a congress who will ultimately do things that will benefit the people. That is what happened when President Obama and the Democrats won after the mess made by President Bush.
4
If you didn't vote, and these cuts end up affecting you, then I really have no sympathy for you.
If you did vote, voted for Trump, and these cuts end up affecting you, then you're about to get exactly what you deserve.
If you did vote, voted against Trump, and these cuts end up affecting you, then I'm sorry for what you're about to go through.
In any case, bring it on. Let's see how much conservatives can destroy peoples' lives, before the people wake up, and do something about it.
If you did vote, voted for Trump, and these cuts end up affecting you, then you're about to get exactly what you deserve.
If you did vote, voted against Trump, and these cuts end up affecting you, then I'm sorry for what you're about to go through.
In any case, bring it on. Let's see how much conservatives can destroy peoples' lives, before the people wake up, and do something about it.
3
A truly great American, Martin Luther King, once prophetically proclaimed in a NYC church, "a nation that spends more year after year on the military budget than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death". The Trump regime is already there, but must it drag America down to its spiritually dead abyss?
4
"Hard power", indeed. The Republican Party as a whole has been trending in the direction of this budget for a long time. It's the natural result of Reaganism -- destruction of the commons to enrich the few.
Appears the Times is already backing out of the budget story, too boring? The Trump budget presented is the single most illustrative action revealing the real Donald Trump. First of all, a total hypocrite/lair, next, an ignoramus who has appointed a dozen or more gargoyles who toss out cruel advice that does little more than reveal their pusillanimous nature.
And what about this Flynn character working for the Turks while attending intelligence briefing at the same time? This is not a story? The press and Republicans don't care. Where are the headlines, where's the investigation?
And what about this Flynn character working for the Turks while attending intelligence briefing at the same time? This is not a story? The press and Republicans don't care. Where are the headlines, where's the investigation?
3
Trump voters are like alcoholics.
You can tell an alcoholic that drinking is ruining their life, their family & their job until you are blue in the face. You can only hope that when they hit rock bottom, they will see the light. But when you think the alcoholic has hit rock bottom, there is another rock bottom further down.
Is this rock bottom for the Trump voters?
You can tell an alcoholic that drinking is ruining their life, their family & their job until you are blue in the face. You can only hope that when they hit rock bottom, they will see the light. But when you think the alcoholic has hit rock bottom, there is another rock bottom further down.
Is this rock bottom for the Trump voters?
3
I agree with President Trump. In the U. S. we have a spending problem, not a tax problem. Finally, someone is cutting government programs. Both Republicans and Democrats are good at spending YOUR money, not trying to SAVE. He should find more areas to cut. We have a depleted military and running trillions of dollars in debt.
But he isn't cutting spending. He's redirecting it. Same amount.
2
"He should find more areas to cut".
Trump proclaims that he will "make America great again," but his vision of America is without soul, without integrity and without any kindness for the poor, elderly, disabled, children and our country's newcomers.
Cutting meals on wheels for home seniors says it all.
Cutting meals on wheels for home seniors says it all.
5
Are we going to bomb North Korea or turn into it? Either way I'm not happy.
5
So apparently "Make America Great Again" really means "Make America Ignorant, Hungry, and Sick Again."
6
We are happy with the size of government as long it's military. Eisenhower warned us about it 56 years ago. We never listened.
3
Congress must do its job and impeach this mad man!
This budget is an assault on the American people.
Why are we putting up with this insanity?
This man is crazy and simply can't be taken seriously by the Republican leadership.
Wake up everybody before it's to late!
This budget is an assault on the American people.
Why are we putting up with this insanity?
This man is crazy and simply can't be taken seriously by the Republican leadership.
Wake up everybody before it's to late!
1
Before we all overreact, let's take a deep breath and acknowledge this one important item:
1) the rich will be getting an obscene tax break.
Now, doesn't that take the sting out of this article a bit?
You're welcome,
Mark in Montana
1) the rich will be getting an obscene tax break.
Now, doesn't that take the sting out of this article a bit?
You're welcome,
Mark in Montana
2
So ... we're cutting the State Department. (Tillerson said it's fine because they don't expect much war. In fact it seems they hardly have anything for him to do.)
... And we're cutting funding for terrorism to places like the NYPD, despite New York City's having been a hot spot for terrorism. (I guess that means Trump isn't expecting terrorism.)
... And we're cutting the Coast Guard. (Russia is cruising past our coasts on a regular basis now. But I guess Putin has a special agreement with Trump so Trump's not worried about Russia.)
... And we're hollowing out the CIA. (I guess because Trump doesn't think we need any Intelligence.)
So, what the heck does Trump need with all that money for the military for??? ... I mean really. If he's not expecting war or terrorism, what does he need it for?
Is it a payoff of some kind? ... Maybe to Putin? Maybe we're helping Putin out with arms now, cos he's definitely involved in war for the foreseeable future.
Maybe Trump is going to slip this military budget into his own pocket? Or into the pocket of his new cabinet member from Boeing?
Or maybe it's so Bannon can play the war games he's always dreamed of with real people.
This smells really fishy ...
... And we're cutting funding for terrorism to places like the NYPD, despite New York City's having been a hot spot for terrorism. (I guess that means Trump isn't expecting terrorism.)
... And we're cutting the Coast Guard. (Russia is cruising past our coasts on a regular basis now. But I guess Putin has a special agreement with Trump so Trump's not worried about Russia.)
... And we're hollowing out the CIA. (I guess because Trump doesn't think we need any Intelligence.)
So, what the heck does Trump need with all that money for the military for??? ... I mean really. If he's not expecting war or terrorism, what does he need it for?
Is it a payoff of some kind? ... Maybe to Putin? Maybe we're helping Putin out with arms now, cos he's definitely involved in war for the foreseeable future.
Maybe Trump is going to slip this military budget into his own pocket? Or into the pocket of his new cabinet member from Boeing?
Or maybe it's so Bannon can play the war games he's always dreamed of with real people.
This smells really fishy ...
5
All you Trump lovers out there. What do you think of this great president now? Get prepared to get stabbed in the back. You vote stupid, you get stupid.
6
Add sadistic to their incompetence, who though the elimination of Meals on Wheels was a brilliant idea?
3
These programs aren't for people who voted for Trump. These are the heart of the Democratic base. Trump voters make just a little too much to qualify for all these single mother type programs, but they do pay for them.
Hahahahaha you are sorely mistaken. Good work though- young liberals stand to benefit the MOST from all the inane proposals coming out of D.C. these days- so thanks for being so ignorant & short sighted. Enjoy your dirty drinking water & taking care of your parents without health insurance while I enjoy a 10% drop in my premiums.
Wake up, you've been conned.
Wake up, you've been conned.
2
I am shocked and dismayed that the people of the U.S. are so willing to throw the poor to the wolves rather than acknowledge Trump is what he has always been. A self centered Scrooge who does not care for anyone except himself; and will step on anyone who does serve his pathetic agenda for feeding an ego so out of control nothing ;LEAST of all the TRUTH: will stand in the way of making the idiot King of the World. If Americans only realized how the rest of the world is disgusted beyond belief over your Liar-In-Chief; they might finally wake up and start acting like Americans again. Your constitution was designed to elect a President...NOT another King George111; Wake Up
1
Let get something straight here;
Trump has begun a war on the poor.
[To those who object to deep cuts in those programs, Mick Mulvaney, the president’s budget director, had a blunt message on Thursday: What did you expect?
He said that after-school programs had failed to help children in schools, that housing programs were “not well run,” that government health research had suffered “mission creep” and that grants to local communities “don’t do any good.”]
No one will ever mistake Mick Mulvaney for an actual human being again. After seeing him on television last night he revealed himself to be a mean little man who feels it's his job to hurt people unnecessarily.
As for Michael Shear's letting Paul Ryan off the hook, it's inexcusable, the budget has Ryan's name all over it. Only lacking the complete elimination of the safety net. These idiots know not what they do and we are all going to be sorry.
Trump has begun a war on the poor.
[To those who object to deep cuts in those programs, Mick Mulvaney, the president’s budget director, had a blunt message on Thursday: What did you expect?
He said that after-school programs had failed to help children in schools, that housing programs were “not well run,” that government health research had suffered “mission creep” and that grants to local communities “don’t do any good.”]
No one will ever mistake Mick Mulvaney for an actual human being again. After seeing him on television last night he revealed himself to be a mean little man who feels it's his job to hurt people unnecessarily.
As for Michael Shear's letting Paul Ryan off the hook, it's inexcusable, the budget has Ryan's name all over it. Only lacking the complete elimination of the safety net. These idiots know not what they do and we are all going to be sorry.
8
I thought Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell stood alone as the three most depraved characters polluting our government... Seems Mick Mulvaney has earned an invitation into this Royal Den of Thieves and Liars and Traitors.
3
Some Florida Republicans are deeply concerned about the future of older low-income workers under Ryancare. They need their votes, don't they?
Some people have even referred to the infamous Death Panels. Will the poor workers adopt "One foot in the grave" as their inevitable song? Or will they alternatively adhere to Mr. Ryan's newly resurrected immiseration thesis?
Some people have even referred to the infamous Death Panels. Will the poor workers adopt "One foot in the grave" as their inevitable song? Or will they alternatively adhere to Mr. Ryan's newly resurrected immiseration thesis?
1
It's not like he has anything to lose.
1
Let's see, "Trump Takes a Gamble in Cutting Programs His Base Relies On." So what's new there? Look at his business career; he's always betrayed those he won over. And this clown still doesn't understand that he was elected to be a servant--albeit, the head servant--of the American people. Businessmen did not elect him, Wall Street did not elect him, the people did ... or were supposed to. Actually, the Electoral College or Vladimir Putin--take your pick--appointed him, as he lost the election by 3 million popular votes. But still, the POTUS is the servant of the people. Add that lesson missed (even after 18 months of campaigning) to his other major lesson missed: that a career in business does not prepare one for a career in politics. Finally, add the two missed lessons to just one of his flaws as a human being: that he ultimately betrays those he wins over. And behold the man naked, nothing new there. EEEEEEuuuuuu!
1
Trumpnomics explained.
Trump wants everybody to be rich. So to encourage poor people to get rich quickly, there will be no tax on rich people.
In order to pay for stuff the very poor needs, less poor people will pay for it. But, Trump has compassion. So he's going to take away stuff from the very poor so that less poor people will not get huuuuuge tax bills. As very poor people die because they don't get stuff they need, there will be less people. That will lower tax bills for less poor people. Then those people will die because they're also not getting stuff they need to live, like clean air and water.
The result will be that there will only be rich people left in America.
Then, America will be great again.
Trump wants everybody to be rich. So to encourage poor people to get rich quickly, there will be no tax on rich people.
In order to pay for stuff the very poor needs, less poor people will pay for it. But, Trump has compassion. So he's going to take away stuff from the very poor so that less poor people will not get huuuuuge tax bills. As very poor people die because they don't get stuff they need, there will be less people. That will lower tax bills for less poor people. Then those people will die because they're also not getting stuff they need to live, like clean air and water.
The result will be that there will only be rich people left in America.
Then, America will be great again.
2
This budget is a Koch Brothers dream.
We are all Kansan's now.
We are all Kansan's now.
3
The swamp spilleth over.
4
I've long gave up hope on conservative voters - they're too brainwashed to know the difference. But where were all 44% of eligible voters who chose not turn out? Where were those liberal voters who couldn't think strategically that they're not going to get Buddha to run for office - that Hillary is not the same as Trump. About all those people who believed that Hillary's e-mails were so damning that we need Trump - seriously? Are those e-mails going to make the Universe explode? I blame dumb voters who don't pay attention - because Republicans have revealed their true colors decades ago. Republicans have crashed the economy in 2008. They sent us into phoney wars in Iraq... And voters still voted for Trump, or did not vote at all because they can't think straight to see that Hillary is not Buddha, Bernie or Jesus...but she's also not a Republican.
7
Trump's supporters claim he is just doing what the voters want. I doubt "the voters" voted to give the wealthy additional tax cuts and to cut or eliminate programs that benefit large numbers of Trump's base. This budget blindly hacks at nearly every agency, eliminating programs whose value could not possibly be understood by OMB. That's not surprising when the only goal is to make the numbers look good.
3
Trump has proposed is a bloated budget for the military at the expense of everything else.
Republicans have long taken aim at environmental controls and disbelief of global warming. But it appears that this budget has gone too far even for Senator Rob Portman, the Republican of Ohio, who has long championed the protection of Lake Erie.
Dirty air equals more health problems and with the proposed efforts to destroy the Affordable Care Act, less medical coverage.
Do not expect any help from Ryan, who is spineless and will push forth "the conservative agenda." The bottom line, will the Republicans give Trump what he wants at the expense of their constituents.
Republicans have long taken aim at environmental controls and disbelief of global warming. But it appears that this budget has gone too far even for Senator Rob Portman, the Republican of Ohio, who has long championed the protection of Lake Erie.
Dirty air equals more health problems and with the proposed efforts to destroy the Affordable Care Act, less medical coverage.
Do not expect any help from Ryan, who is spineless and will push forth "the conservative agenda." The bottom line, will the Republicans give Trump what he wants at the expense of their constituents.
3
The MSM still is clueless as to how Trump operates. It is far more likely that Trump is just 'pacing and leading' the Republican house by proposing their dream slate of draconian budget cuts in concert with his budget increases for defense and the border wall. He has never prayed at the altar of the balanced budget and is just preparing the field so that the Republican house will accept a unbalanced budget in order to get his additional expenditures.
Why not get Rachel Maddow to report? HA HA HA HA!
Social Security is untouched. Rachel could point that out.
It's no secret that the government is a bloated sow. Just because many think that a 20 Trillion debt isn't bad only because Obama doubled it, doesn't mean there isn't a lot of wasteful fat to be slaughtered.
Isn't it rich that those who were aghast that the Benghazi hearings that uncovered Hillary's illegal server (and bleached 30,000 emails)
COST 5 MILLION DOLLARS all of a sudden want to keep every wasteful program in place.
Rest assured the NYT and the rest of the Left will scream that millions will die as a result of PBS getting its funding pulled.
Billions are wasted (and much of it stolen by hypocrites that claim to be so compassionate--just read the Chicago Tribune about the guy who got 2 million under the table from Chicago Public Schools funding).
Less money means less bribes and greased palms. Municipalities--gasp! may be forced to spend on actual programs that help actual people in need. No one can say with a straight face that billions aren't just flushed down the toilet or given to crooked cronies.
Drain the swamps. Everywhere.
Social Security is untouched. Rachel could point that out.
It's no secret that the government is a bloated sow. Just because many think that a 20 Trillion debt isn't bad only because Obama doubled it, doesn't mean there isn't a lot of wasteful fat to be slaughtered.
Isn't it rich that those who were aghast that the Benghazi hearings that uncovered Hillary's illegal server (and bleached 30,000 emails)
COST 5 MILLION DOLLARS all of a sudden want to keep every wasteful program in place.
Rest assured the NYT and the rest of the Left will scream that millions will die as a result of PBS getting its funding pulled.
Billions are wasted (and much of it stolen by hypocrites that claim to be so compassionate--just read the Chicago Tribune about the guy who got 2 million under the table from Chicago Public Schools funding).
Less money means less bribes and greased palms. Municipalities--gasp! may be forced to spend on actual programs that help actual people in need. No one can say with a straight face that billions aren't just flushed down the toilet or given to crooked cronies.
Drain the swamps. Everywhere.
If you were serious, you would have included the bloated, incompetent Defense department in your rant. But people like you know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
4
So who is this "Mick Mulvaney"?
Dump the after-school programs?
Dump the infant feeding programs under WIC?
No more meals for Granny?
Grampie gets to starve?
All because "Mick" says so?
All because the Republicans are leaping in joy: "Finally! Someone with the guts to zero out that bunch of programs for a bunch of ZEROS!!
Hey, hey, Who's our man?
If Mick can't do it, NO ONE CAN!!!"
Well, Trump-voters:
Mick isn't going to be showing up at your folks house out in North Overshoe, with a steaming hot balanced meal.
Mick won't be knocking on your parent's door, won't be checking on them to see if they fell in the night.
Mick won't know what to look for to see if medications got missed or doubled.
Mick won't care.
Trump won't care.
Republicans won't care.
Libertarians won't care.
They'll all be off, busy checking out the new cache of guns they just got.
And, you'll want to be with them....
..... but, darn! Who will be around to check on Grandpa!?!
Who will be watching little Bobby after school!?!
Who will get that stuff at the store for Sweet Mary and her little baby?
"Oh, not me!" you'll think, Mr. and Ms. Trump-Voter. "They've never been my problem before - why should I take it on now? Oh, wait! I know! I'll call up Pastor Gimmy! He'll handle it all! That's his job!"
Well, there we go, Trump-Voter.
Problem solved.
"Mick" saved us a couple of bucks, and Pastor Gimmy will take up the slack.
And you get to trot off and go play with your guns.
"Mission accomplished."
Dump the after-school programs?
Dump the infant feeding programs under WIC?
No more meals for Granny?
Grampie gets to starve?
All because "Mick" says so?
All because the Republicans are leaping in joy: "Finally! Someone with the guts to zero out that bunch of programs for a bunch of ZEROS!!
Hey, hey, Who's our man?
If Mick can't do it, NO ONE CAN!!!"
Well, Trump-voters:
Mick isn't going to be showing up at your folks house out in North Overshoe, with a steaming hot balanced meal.
Mick won't be knocking on your parent's door, won't be checking on them to see if they fell in the night.
Mick won't know what to look for to see if medications got missed or doubled.
Mick won't care.
Trump won't care.
Republicans won't care.
Libertarians won't care.
They'll all be off, busy checking out the new cache of guns they just got.
And, you'll want to be with them....
..... but, darn! Who will be around to check on Grandpa!?!
Who will be watching little Bobby after school!?!
Who will get that stuff at the store for Sweet Mary and her little baby?
"Oh, not me!" you'll think, Mr. and Ms. Trump-Voter. "They've never been my problem before - why should I take it on now? Oh, wait! I know! I'll call up Pastor Gimmy! He'll handle it all! That's his job!"
Well, there we go, Trump-Voter.
Problem solved.
"Mick" saved us a couple of bucks, and Pastor Gimmy will take up the slack.
And you get to trot off and go play with your guns.
"Mission accomplished."
2
As Ker from upstate NY says, the Predator's "base" will not object to cutting programs for the poor, because half of their anger is directed at people they perceive to be the undeserving "poor" -- either some of their own no-good relatives, or imagined Black folks in the urban areas. We're dealing with profound ignorance and aggressive resentment here. What's amazing about Trump is how a man who has grown up in such obscene and irresponsible wealth so cannily exploits these sad and angry people.
2
If Trump can convince his supporters that Meals on Wheels is a selfish indulgence for the lazy, we really are lost.
3
This is the Bannon budget not the Trump budget. It has the fingerprints of Bannon who has sworn to dismantle the administrative state; but why do the wealthy and the GOP enablers think they will be spared when the time comes? If he successfully dismantles the programs that support the poor he will settle his sights on the tier above them and so on until he brings about the total destruction of the state as it exists. All so that he can re-build his fantasy of a culturally and religiously homogenous bygone era when men were men and everyone else knew their place.
Bannon/Trump: All story and opinion and emotion, all the time. He was a fraudulent, lying candidate and now he is a fraudulent, lying President with nothing but destructive, vindictive or antagonistic plans. And this is only after less than two months!
One of the first "ENTITLEMENT" programs should be 100% DEFUNDING OF THE REFUGEE IMMIGRATION AND SERVICES organizations which receive billions of dollars from our federal government paid for by our taxes, and goes 100% to the welfare and housing of illegal aliens. In Florida alone, $250 million/year is doled out to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other pro-illegal alien "charitable/humanitarian" organizations. This is insane. Insofar as the defunding of the National Endowment for the Arts, let the multi-millionaire/billionaire celeBRATS donate a percantage of their share of profits from their entertainment venues to this organization. They can afford it better than the average, middle income taxpayer.
5
4PROGRAMPROGRAP
5
4PROGRAMPROGRAP
2
My dad Dennis Wrong was not Jewish but part of the group. He wrote for Dissent, Commentary and Partisan a Review. He was what was termed a Cold War liberal and shared Podhoretz's contempt of the New Lefties published in the New York Review of books leading to his authoring (in Commentary) a major piece in the war that developed between the journals entitled "The Case Against The New York Review of Books." But dad was still a liberal and as Norman, Midge and Irving turned their back on any kind of reform or progressive society and embraced conservatives and reactionaries, dad broke with Commentary and Dissent became his main home for political writing. Dad is still alive and will no doubt be highly annoyed about this profile of Norman.
1
We don't have to worry - Mexico will pay for the wall. Uh-oh, gotta go - the jolly green giant is taking me for a tour of never never land.
How long, oh Lord, must we suffer this petulant child?
2
How does Trump determine that after school programs - especially feeding kids who may not get another healthy meal (or breakfast?) doesn't work. Or determine that Meals on Wheels don't work? De funding the Arts, depleting the funding for scientific research.... I believe Trumps budget cuts reflect his own personal experience with the world - he is clueless on what benefits research funding to universities, care for the elderly & indigent, or providing a helping hand (& hot meal) to kids in difficult home circumstances - he is clueless on how these programs touch lives - so he figures "axe them".
The same with providing assistance to neighboring countries in our efforts to provide self sufficiency & our better ideals. I know it is not black & white - all these programs don't work "100%" but depleting funds from virtually every area that might help fight poverty, crime, & violence - so we can create an even greater military state - is a very sad, bad reflection of our values.
The same with providing assistance to neighboring countries in our efforts to provide self sufficiency & our better ideals. I know it is not black & white - all these programs don't work "100%" but depleting funds from virtually every area that might help fight poverty, crime, & violence - so we can create an even greater military state - is a very sad, bad reflection of our values.
2
Everyone needs health insurance, private or public, including medicaid, Medicare, "Obama" care, etc. "Everyone means all of us, from the poorest to the richest. Of course we all should pay what we're ABLE TO. My wife had lung cancer (never smoked) and has "Obama" care. She was operated on in NYC's Langone Medical Center and is now cancer free. I am 74 and recently had a colon blockage. I have Fidelis Care Medicare and was operated on (successfully) at NY Presbyterian in Queens, although I need a follow up operation. I'm sure that Donald Trump and all other politicians also have Health Insurance. Health Insurance (aka healthcare) is a necessity for all of us, not just the wealthy.
Changing the subject, but also one that involves life and death. The United States has AT LEAST 4000 atomic bombs, each one of which is much more powerful than those which destroyed two large Japanese cities and killed hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. Eight other countries, including Russia and China, also have atomic bombs, AT LEAST 5000 in total. Donald says our forces need more of these bombs. Why? Why?
I believe he regrets his cowardice in weaseling out of military service in Vietnam, even though he received FIVE draft notices (his doctor said he had a sore heal). What he wants is not really being president but having the title of COMMANDER IN CHIEF (without ever serving in our armed forces). We need many more PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS, not more atomic bombs!
Changing the subject, but also one that involves life and death. The United States has AT LEAST 4000 atomic bombs, each one of which is much more powerful than those which destroyed two large Japanese cities and killed hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. Eight other countries, including Russia and China, also have atomic bombs, AT LEAST 5000 in total. Donald says our forces need more of these bombs. Why? Why?
I believe he regrets his cowardice in weaseling out of military service in Vietnam, even though he received FIVE draft notices (his doctor said he had a sore heal). What he wants is not really being president but having the title of COMMANDER IN CHIEF (without ever serving in our armed forces). We need many more PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS, not more atomic bombs!
2
Military hard power without diplomatic soft power is idiot power, as every good general knows. As for slashing spending on science, the arts, public education, public broadcasting, housing for the poor and environmental protections, that too is the work of idiots. If Congress doesn't rein in this idiocy it will be complicit in doing untold damage to our nation and its standing in the rest of the world.
2
I watched Mulvaney on the televised press conference yesterday and was mostly disgusted. Meals on Wheels doesn't show a benefit?? I wonder if he could have said that when he met my mother (now deceased) who had Alzheimer's and looked forward each weekday to the blessed visit of a Meals on Wheels volunteer with cheery words and a hot meal at noontime. Then I think I saw a Democratic senator on the PBS Newshour compare what Meals on Wheels costs with a weekend for the Trumps at Mar-el-Lago. I'll choose Meals on Wheels for the benefit to the country, thank you. But the Repubs are planning to cut funding for PBS, also. Their priorities are incredibly wrong.
3
Watch for the bait and switch of this "shock & horror" budget. By that I mean the bully who threatens to kill you but then "only" kills your dog....and half your family. We are relieved and grateful the other half survives.
This tactic has been used by our Bully-in-Chief before, just like his tactic of telling "the Big Lie" in order to manipulate people or to divert attention fro issues like the corruption of his Russian connections. We need to keep him honest (k, we need to call him out on his lies and broken promises – honesty is not a possibility with this man)
– Where are you tax returns Mr. Trump. Why do you have such disrespect for the American people?
– It looks like the U.S. taxpayer is going to get stuck paying for your phallic symbol of a "wall". You said Mexico was going to pay. Why did you lie to us?
– You said you had evidence that former President Obama "wire tapped" you. Where is this "evidence"?
– You said you were going to come up with a "great plan" to "take care of everyone's healthcare". Where is this plan? All we see is a massive tax cut for the wealthy and an abandonment of 24 million Americans.
Stop lying Mr Trump.
This tactic has been used by our Bully-in-Chief before, just like his tactic of telling "the Big Lie" in order to manipulate people or to divert attention fro issues like the corruption of his Russian connections. We need to keep him honest (k, we need to call him out on his lies and broken promises – honesty is not a possibility with this man)
– Where are you tax returns Mr. Trump. Why do you have such disrespect for the American people?
– It looks like the U.S. taxpayer is going to get stuck paying for your phallic symbol of a "wall". You said Mexico was going to pay. Why did you lie to us?
– You said you had evidence that former President Obama "wire tapped" you. Where is this "evidence"?
– You said you were going to come up with a "great plan" to "take care of everyone's healthcare". Where is this plan? All we see is a massive tax cut for the wealthy and an abandonment of 24 million Americans.
Stop lying Mr Trump.
2
The bottom line is that dummies that voted for this goober do not even realize that he is hosing them big time. Most of the so called "forgotten" people are "forgotten" for a reason. Take a look at the reasons; poor school systems, rampant drug use and teen pregnancies among others . My guess is that these same people will cheer cuts to the very programs and institutions that will help them. Planned Parenthood, drugs counseling' educational programs to train them for new industries. They live in such a fog stating that the aforementioned programs are only for blacks; Mexicans and others. What they really need to do is look long and hard in the mirror.
4
I hope it's a gamble he loses but it's the dirty little secret of the GOP their voters continually vote against their own best interest. I hope in 2018/20 they change course.
3
For me it' so obviously he devided your country. Just not hope he'll provocate a war to hide all his fails.
2
And let's not forget all those golf excursions that are likely to cost the tax payer in one year what the Obama spent in eight. Oh yeah, and add to that the globehopping twins, dumb and dumber.
3
Trump clearly wants a very different America than I do. If he gets everything he wants we would have a much more polluted America, a more dangerous America for consumers and employees, a very internationally isolated America, and an America with fewer educated "elites" and more unskilled laborers (who will be paid less). In Trump's America we will lose land to coastal flooding, lose endangered species, lose biomedical research, and lose free education. In Trump's America everything will be privatized, the economic divide will become much larger, public lands will be developed, and we'll all pay more for everything from using the internet to driving to work to health insurance. In Trump's America, Trump himself will become much richer, and almost all the rest of us will become poorer. I don't want to live in Trump's America.
5
Republicans are trying to relive Ronald Reagan. This budget even take that a step further. They are so insistent that well Reagan was a great president they ignore all the helpful things his presidency cost.
Reagan was the first tea party president. It was the first George Bush that saved America by raising necessary taxes that cost him his second term.
But Trump is the first president who'smean streak, along with his lack of ability and total incompetence can cause unrepairable damage to this nation. And 40% of America actually approves of this bombastic and uncouth behavior. The majority must impeach him for incompetence.
Reagan was the first tea party president. It was the first George Bush that saved America by raising necessary taxes that cost him his second term.
But Trump is the first president who'smean streak, along with his lack of ability and total incompetence can cause unrepairable damage to this nation. And 40% of America actually approves of this bombastic and uncouth behavior. The majority must impeach him for incompetence.
4
This is just the first round of cut. When the Ogligarcs want another tax cut Social Security will ne next.
Why does every budget story say "whithout cuts to Social Security" like they are daring them to do it?
The Dems are saying that Trump is so bad they dont have to change at all for 2018/2020. Say hello to Trump for 8 years then.
Why does every budget story say "whithout cuts to Social Security" like they are daring them to do it?
The Dems are saying that Trump is so bad they dont have to change at all for 2018/2020. Say hello to Trump for 8 years then.
1
Our Military programs are the most mis-managed programs we have with constant cost over-runs and insider corruption permeating the arms establishment. However, rather that supervise and make them more efficient, we will just throw more money that way at the expense of programs designed to support our citizens and help maintain a clean environment. I am all for our soldiers and vets getting the tools and help they need but many of these new weapons programs are about shiny new toys that use an abundance of technology that falls apart in real life usage. I hate to sound conspiratorial but when a dictator takes control, one of the first actions they take is to make sure the military gets what they need. We have a surplus of military people being given high ranking jobs in the government and a new bloated military budget at the expense of the common citizen. Everyone can form their own opinions of what this might mean.
5
O.K. Deficit bad and spending bad except for armaments and soldiers. State Department and diplomacy bad. In each choppy sentence from Trump and his people we get a short subject, short predicate and no explanation, no vision of what our country does or does not want to accomplish in the world. As the Nazi propaganda would say, "That's all you need to know."
3
This so called president likely has no idea what is actually in the budget. He is not one for doing actual work.
It looks like he got the bean counters together and told them to cut whatever they wanted from the discretionary non-military budget until it added up to the absurd increases he wants to useless military spending.
However, it is important to remember that his "style" in the private sector was always to make outrageous proposals then back down from them to appear "reasonable" even while still being unreasonable.
It looks like he got the bean counters together and told them to cut whatever they wanted from the discretionary non-military budget until it added up to the absurd increases he wants to useless military spending.
However, it is important to remember that his "style" in the private sector was always to make outrageous proposals then back down from them to appear "reasonable" even while still being unreasonable.
4
As long as his base, the poorly educated as he affectionately calls them, can enthusiastically chant 'lock her up' not much is going to change in Trumpland.
1
Please stop calling Social Security an entitlement. It is not. It is a return of investment for people forced to save through the SS process. The more often people read entitlement, the more often they think it is a program that can and perhaps should be cut. So call it what it is, please.
4
Okay, I will. Social Security is a) a socialistic, government program created under that well-known commie, FDR; b) an entitlement, which allows retirees to live decently by taking far more in benefits than they ever put in.
It's also a social contract: younger workers agreed to support the elderly, that they in turn will be supported when they're old.
This also just in: pretty much the same is true of Medicare.
So, please stop pretending that you built your benefits all by your lonesome.
It's also a social contract: younger workers agreed to support the elderly, that they in turn will be supported when they're old.
This also just in: pretty much the same is true of Medicare.
So, please stop pretending that you built your benefits all by your lonesome.
Robert
Challenge accepted. We'll stop pretending its a good idea not to let people die and pile up in the streets when you bozos stop pretending you are personally responsible for your success and that you owe nothing at all to the country that makes you possible. And maybe admit that there is such a thing as enough personal wealth.
Challenge accepted. We'll stop pretending its a good idea not to let people die and pile up in the streets when you bozos stop pretending you are personally responsible for your success and that you owe nothing at all to the country that makes you possible. And maybe admit that there is such a thing as enough personal wealth.
1
So, let me see if I have this straight. Cut education, aid to the infirmed and elderly and the good stewards of our environment. For argument purposes let's go along, if only for moment. But. Where are the 'balance' cuts to the entitlement programs written specifically for corporate welfare kings, Wall Street firms and their Ayn Randian financial engineers who continue to make backroom deals with their government employed buddies to make laws which allow them to dump their employer benefit responsibilities onto near bankrupt taxpayers.
C'mon. This kind of free for all for the rich cannot continue to go on ad infinitum. The camel's back is about to break and I fear that we are watching the tragic implosion, in real time slow motion.
C'mon. This kind of free for all for the rich cannot continue to go on ad infinitum. The camel's back is about to break and I fear that we are watching the tragic implosion, in real time slow motion.
7
Trump's character makes him the most ridiculous President in history. But make no mistake, his policies are very mainstream Republican. The programs Trump wants to cut make people like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell giddy. The real force beneath all Republican - including Trump - policy motives is that it drives them crazy for taxpayers to pay for something that another American gets for free. They see PBS and the NEA as moochers, too. Their value system is tied closely to what a person earns. If you earn millions, you are valuable. If you earn minimum wage, you are a lazy, uneducated government-mooching bum. This is how Trump's mind works, and the vast majority of Republican's in Congress. Meanwhile, they refuse to raise the minimum wage, but insist on cutting taxes for wealthy Americans. Trump is working on crippling the EPA, in the name of anti-climate-change dogma. But what about clean air, water and soil? The modern Republican is very dangerous and we may be about to experience, with blunt force, the truest manifestation of their darkest ambitions.
3
“We’re not spending money on that anymore,” Mr. Mulvaney told reporters at the White House. “We consider that a waste of your money to go out and do that.”
Mick Mulvaney is from my home state so I hear him when he does interviews on local talk radio. On one show, he was on with his friend and colleague, Trey Gowdy. A question was asked about global warming. He didn't want to answer and passed the question off to Gowdy. So why does he consider money to deal with the issue "a waste of money"? We'll probably never know.
Mick Mulvaney is from my home state so I hear him when he does interviews on local talk radio. On one show, he was on with his friend and colleague, Trey Gowdy. A question was asked about global warming. He didn't want to answer and passed the question off to Gowdy. So why does he consider money to deal with the issue "a waste of money"? We'll probably never know.
1
Little trump never wanted to be president, he only wanted attention! trump needs medical help and no one will help him.
4
Only the GOP could describe killing "Meals On Wheels" as compassionate. I guess starving old people is their definition of "compassionate conservatism". Talk about "doublespeak!"
3
Trump lied again with no surprise to his supporters.
3
So how many times we have these voters been warned not to vote against their interests? - should we be sorry for them? My guess is that they'll doubled down on their vitriol against Democrats and vote Republican again.
3
I think that many people who supported Trump in the election listened to the " music" rather than his words. Possibly they thought much of what he said was campaign bluster not what he really believed in. Now they will find out and may end up suffering for it. It won't be the first time that people followed a Pied Piper off the cliff. The sad thing is that many more will fall into the sea with them.
2
Let's not be too quick to blame dt - lord knows he didn't prepare this budget; he has the attention span of a gnat. He won't even know what's in it til he watches that "hard news" show, Fox & Friends and they tell him.
5
I think the fallacy here is in thinking that Trump actually cares what his base thinks. His base served the useful purpose of getting him elected. They can now be discarded so that he can pursue his agenda of expanding his empire. And if the Republicans think that Trump cares about their reelection prospects, they are in for a rude awakening.
3
WE the PEOPLE are making a list of every Republican on the Hill that will vote in favor of this budget atrocity and we will vote you out of office in 2018, that's next year, that's a promise. GLAD.
2
You think there will be free and fair elections next year?
1
Lazy budget, a copy-and-paste job from the Heritage Foundation, with Bannon's death blessing to delete the administrative state. I doubt very much that Trump has reviewed it.
2
There is nothing wrong with cutting budgets as long as they are timely not onerous, fair, and make sense.
Increasing the military budget by 53 billion is insanity.
Our military budget is already bigger than the next 8-10 biggest countries combined..
Wake up America.
Increasing the military budget by 53 billion is insanity.
Our military budget is already bigger than the next 8-10 biggest countries combined..
Wake up America.
4
The Bannon/Miller budget reflects the fundamental racism in the the WH. the absurd argument that a "single mother in Detroit" wants the wise men to protect her from invading words from Mexico rather than provide services to enhance the life of her child or advance her job opportunities manages to attack two minorities in one stroke.
Trump is swindling his base? Gee, I didn't see that one coming...
4
This budget is another clear, frightening example of a self-inflicted wound made by the Trump administration and chief puppeteer, Bannon...Unfortunately. we're the recipients.
Yet in Wisconsin, Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Ron Johnson continue to respond with a deafening silence to the thousand cuts budget now being attempted by their president of convenience, who lost the popular vote by nearly 3,000,000.
Yet in Wisconsin, Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Ron Johnson continue to respond with a deafening silence to the thousand cuts budget now being attempted by their president of convenience, who lost the popular vote by nearly 3,000,000.
2
Let's be clear. This is President Bannon's budget,not 45s. 45 had very little,if any input into the budget, because he has neither the interest nor the knowledge to have done so. Bannon's name is all over it,it reflects his ideology. 45 is happy to let others do the dirty work so he can have his dinners, trivial meetings and fly offs to his rallies,and of course,his Mar-A-Lago weekends. This is what the minority of voters elected, an emperor without any substance who lies and denies and is destroying whatever greatness is left in America.
3
The rich won't be happy until everyone is scrambling to fill their bellies, find shelter, and die in their homes from being unable to afford health care. Why should they care? This is what voting for 45 has allowed. The meanest element of our society to raise its ugly head. It's pure, unadulterated evil.
1
Clearly the low-information president is counting on his base remaining low information themselves.
1
Juggling, juggling! Robbing from Peter to pay Paul. In other words taking from the states and our quality of life to beef government, the rich, and corporate interests. I foresee higher state taxes for individuals in response to the impending irresponsible social harm to those needing a helping hand in their living day-to-day. Why have not governors taken up the baton to speak out?
2
The republicans in congress are worse for allowing this... Twitter in Chief has always been a clear glass of water ... no surprises, just evil... but congress? what is that about? If they don't rein the man in they are doomed as well as the rest of us.
1
Why does the NY Times repeatedly suggest (to the point that it's now an expected part of any lead paragraph regarding the budget) that Social Security and Medicare benefits might be cut in order to pay for defense spending increases? Please have someone do a little fact-checking on how Social Security payroll taxes pass through Treasury and on to benefit recipients and/or the Trust Fund.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that there is a steady flow of new, special (SS-only), Treasury securities being purchased with payroll tax receipts, and an almost equal flow of existing Treasury securities being redeemed by SS to pay outgoing benefits. The amount redeemed annually is now slightly greater than the amount purchased, so the trust fund of ~$2.8T is being gradually drawn down. It is this difference that must be paid out by Treasury each year from other (non-payroll) tax revenues. If benefits for future generations are reduced as Ryan, et. al. intend, the effects on the flows described above will be essentially untouched, so no funds would be freed up to buy weapons until somewhere far in the future.
So how exactly does the Times suggest this payroll tax/benefits cycle will be interfered with during the coming decade to enable an increase in defense spending? Please explain, rather than creating yet another "meme" of dubious veracity.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that there is a steady flow of new, special (SS-only), Treasury securities being purchased with payroll tax receipts, and an almost equal flow of existing Treasury securities being redeemed by SS to pay outgoing benefits. The amount redeemed annually is now slightly greater than the amount purchased, so the trust fund of ~$2.8T is being gradually drawn down. It is this difference that must be paid out by Treasury each year from other (non-payroll) tax revenues. If benefits for future generations are reduced as Ryan, et. al. intend, the effects on the flows described above will be essentially untouched, so no funds would be freed up to buy weapons until somewhere far in the future.
So how exactly does the Times suggest this payroll tax/benefits cycle will be interfered with during the coming decade to enable an increase in defense spending? Please explain, rather than creating yet another "meme" of dubious veracity.
So this is how trump is going to make America great again!
1
Why does the headline say "gamble"?
Trump's supporters are getting exactly what they voted for. There was never any secret.
Trump's supporters are getting exactly what they voted for. There was never any secret.
3
His budget is just a negotiating tactic.
By putting extreme numbers on the table, there is much more room to come to the middle and still pull the monolithic federal administrative state slightly in his direction. Trump knows that very little of this budget will be reflected in what Congress eventually approves.
By putting extreme numbers on the table, there is much more room to come to the middle and still pull the monolithic federal administrative state slightly in his direction. Trump knows that very little of this budget will be reflected in what Congress eventually approves.
1
Social Security is NOT an entitlement. The NYTIMES should edit the style book and NEVER refer to SSA as ENTITLEMENT. Taxpayers pay for SSA as an investment to maintain a modicum of stability to their retirement. It should be treated as a loan, which, currently has $2.7 trillion loaned to federal coffers. GOP lies about SSA. It can be maintained by raising the earnings cap for purpose of SSA investment to $150K.
4
SS is most definitely not an investment. It's a ponzi scheme. Workers pay into it and it goes out to retirees, no interest earned.
1
"Thanks for the votes, suckers! Time to cut taxes for the rich and cut services for everyone else!" --Every Republican, every time.
4
I believe these programs like meals on wheels and NPR will be Trumps negotiating tools to get money for his wall and increased military.
I hear what most of you are saying and I wholeheartedly agree that Mr. Trump's approach is one of a 5 year old who does not have the capacity to think things through, evaluate how to reduce waste (ie. 8 people fixing a pothole on an interstate might be a good first step) and caring enough about ALL OUR CITIZENS to go through a MATURE, LOGICAL PROCESS TO CUT WASTE, identify what programs need to be adjusted based on waste, not punitive actions against institutions that create culture and safety for all of us.
Cutting taxes on the wealthy and large corporations is a mature approach -but to Trump, they are the chosen! Do you not have the basic mental capacity to realize that having them pay their fair share would solve the deficit.
Point out states like North Carolina that without notice changed their income tax rates by eliminating the graduated tax of 1%to 8% to a flat rate of 5.75% giving the average resident a tax increase of 3%to 4% while giving the $20 million a year banker a 2.25% ($445,000) tax reduction as if their lifestyle is going to change by requiring them to pay their fair and honest share. Well, this is a Republican state with teaching pay ranking is the 3rd lowest in the United States .
BOTTOM LINE, THE TRAILER TRASH MAJORITY VOTED HIM IN AND NOW IT IS TIME TO GET HIM AND HIS BILLIONAIRE BUDDIES OUT.
Cutting taxes on the wealthy and large corporations is a mature approach -but to Trump, they are the chosen! Do you not have the basic mental capacity to realize that having them pay their fair share would solve the deficit.
Point out states like North Carolina that without notice changed their income tax rates by eliminating the graduated tax of 1%to 8% to a flat rate of 5.75% giving the average resident a tax increase of 3%to 4% while giving the $20 million a year banker a 2.25% ($445,000) tax reduction as if their lifestyle is going to change by requiring them to pay their fair and honest share. Well, this is a Republican state with teaching pay ranking is the 3rd lowest in the United States .
BOTTOM LINE, THE TRAILER TRASH MAJORITY VOTED HIM IN AND NOW IT IS TIME TO GET HIM AND HIS BILLIONAIRE BUDDIES OUT.
5
The 'trailer trash'? Wow, nice. Glad you're not my neighbor. None of my immediate neighbors are white, wonder what you would call them?
Trump supporters will blame Obama for any cuts Trump makes to benefits they rely on. This sounds absurd to a logical mind and is difficult for any educated person to visualize, but Trump supporters are not capable of logical thinking; after eight years of accumulated resentment, their minds are still trilled to have put the black boy back in his place. At this moment, the country is wriggling in an orgy of barbarism, and the average Trump supporter won't allow any facts, however painful, to spoil the sweetness of revenge.
6
Maybe the jobs plan is simply: join the military for life? That must be it, you need a job? Join the military, we gots wars among-us.
...and then start some warmongering. I mean if the US is good at anything it is 'starting' wars. Not really good at winning wars. But real good at starting wars.
...and then start some warmongering. I mean if the US is good at anything it is 'starting' wars. Not really good at winning wars. But real good at starting wars.
2
I am shocked, shocked that President Trump is shafting the rural and working poor voters who elected him in favor of corporations and the wealthy. What is this world coming to?
You really have to wonder if Republican leaders sit around sipping single-malt with their billionaire donors asking each other, "Seriously, how dumb ARE these people?!"
You really have to wonder if Republican leaders sit around sipping single-malt with their billionaire donors asking each other, "Seriously, how dumb ARE these people?!"
2
I am surely trapped in a nightmare. Please tell me that I didn't just hear Mick Mulvaney say that "there's no proof" that a program that feeds impoverished children breakfast, helps them perform better at school. Also, add to the list of things that "don't work": Meals on Wheels. I just heard some Republican congressman saying that charities can step in and feed all those lower income elderly or disabled housebound Americans. He said, and I quote: "It's not the federal government's job".
2
It's about time a President took a knife to government employees. That is what the people of this country elected him to do. Shrink GOVERNMENT!!
But no cuts for Israel
2
Excuse me. Social Security is an entitlement?
It is just a starting point for negotiation. Put everything on the table and see what will happen. At least, we the people see everything under the sun. Not like before, we the people except insiders see what is going on. We will know who are the naked swimmers under the low tides.
Trump, the Koch brothers and their ilk are killing this country and his supporters are complicit in the act. Allowing pollution to go unchecked is not reversible when and if sanity comes back to this nation. The planet is doomed.
1
I'll stow my dismay at this proposal for now but instead pose this: Why is Social Security called an entitlement program? We pay into it expecting something back, as the program promises. If we paid nothing in and expected something back, that would be entitlement. The use of that adjective doesn't make sense to me.
66
The term "entitlement" goes back to the New Deal, and it means that you are entitled to Social Security precisely BECAUSE you have paid into it. That is a legitimate and standard use of "entitlement". Wikipedia has a good explanation of this.
The Republican party has twisted the meaning to make Social Security (and Medicare, which have also paid into) sound like a government hand-out.
The Republican party has twisted the meaning to make Social Security (and Medicare, which have also paid into) sound like a government hand-out.
2
The full term is "entitlement authority," meaning that the U.S. Government is required to make payments to persons or governments who meet the legal requirements for payment - who, in other words, are legally "entitled" to be paid. The term has nothing to do with who paid into what.
1
Social Security is due those who have paid into it, or the disabled. NOT all the illegal aliens who are draining the bank. They receive so much more than our seniors who have worked hard all their lives, paying into the fund expecting a portion of It back. Why not cut all the foreign aid we are funneling to the countries whohate us and try to kill our military?
On the brighter side of things, it would be nice to finally have a budget to work with. Unlike the last 8 years Harry Reid avoiding the subject at all costs (pun intended..).
To those blue-collar workers, coal miners, rural citizens, and the "poorly educated" who thought that a limousine city slicker would be "their voice", check out the word "Schadenfreude." :)
5
It is a wonder that the administration has not had time to review vetting procedures for potential immigrants but has found sufficient time to evaluate and determine that the hundreds of programs proposed for cutting are ineffective and redundant.
On the matter of our national debt, we have a proven model for reducing it. The history of taxation and federal spending following the second world war, when our national debt was at is highest in history, provides a blue print. Marginal tax rates on earning over $400,000 reached 92%, and the 1950s and 1960s. Those years are not remembered as a period of economic stagnation, and the debt was reduced. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that adults then are remembered as our greatest generation. They are remembered for what they gave, not for what they got.
On the matter of our national debt, we have a proven model for reducing it. The history of taxation and federal spending following the second world war, when our national debt was at is highest in history, provides a blue print. Marginal tax rates on earning over $400,000 reached 92%, and the 1950s and 1960s. Those years are not remembered as a period of economic stagnation, and the debt was reduced. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that adults then are remembered as our greatest generation. They are remembered for what they gave, not for what they got.
1
Perhaps we can calculate how many meals on wheels could be paid for with each of his expensive weekend trips to Florida. Perhaps he can pick the folks that can do without those meals each week before he leaves for his golf trip.
5
When will this regime stop calling Social Security and Medicare "entitlements?" We've paid into them for years; they are not gifts to be offered or denied by this megalomaniacal menace.
3
I agree completely that Social Security and Medicare are not "entitlements." But I don't see any cuts to either program in Trump's budget. Is one of us missing something?
They have been calling them entitlements for years and it irks me every time! Yes, I paid into SS for over 40 years and I, and we, are guaranteed these aids in our old age. This is what I live on and I'll be damned, I will fight to keep these programs. Just give me my cane and I'll March in the streets!
Well, I agree with one thing Mulvaney said: "What did you expect?" To all you Democrats who didn't vote because there was no difference between the candidates or voted for Stein, I hope you're happy, because this is just the beginning. Who needs PBS and NPR, and as one Republican said about the poor a few years ago, "why don't they just die." As our forest burn with no money for the U.S. National Forests - well most of you live in the cities, cities that will be choked with pollution and children with asthma, and no health care to give them.
4
It is not a gamble if he does not expect to run in 2020. It is also not a gamble if he tries harder to woo the independents and moderate Democrats so that he does not "need" the "red blooded vote" quite as much.
I remember last July when Comey decided NOT to indict Hillary. Trump said at that time that he was glad because he would rather face Hillary than face Sanders.
Would Sanders have won? We do not know but we do know that Hillary did not win.
Maybe Trump is smarter than the DNC who were stupid enough to sideline Sanders? Just wondering...
(And for the umpteenth time, Hillary did win the popular vote but it did not make her president did it?)
I remember last July when Comey decided NOT to indict Hillary. Trump said at that time that he was glad because he would rather face Hillary than face Sanders.
Would Sanders have won? We do not know but we do know that Hillary did not win.
Maybe Trump is smarter than the DNC who were stupid enough to sideline Sanders? Just wondering...
(And for the umpteenth time, Hillary did win the popular vote but it did not make her president did it?)
1
All the promises about improving infrastructure, gone. All the promises about healthcare for everyone, gone. All promises about not cutting Medicaid, gone. Building a wall and making Mexico pay for it, gone. Suing women who said he was sexually harassing them, gone. What has replaced these issues: Wiretapping accusations, Flynn ties and money to Russia while sitting in on security briefings, lies about Sweden, crowds at inauguration, trade wars...on the way next...and mishandled immigration bans. His budget and healthcare will pass because the GOP has been boxed in effectively. They will not support their constituents because Trump will strong arm them to his agenda. Too bad the base will pay. They just don't see it yet.
2
"All promises about not cutting Medicaid, gone."
I thought he promised not to touch Social Security or Medicare. I don't remember anything about Medicaid. I'm not saying I agree with Trump on that (I don't), just that I don't remember him promising anything about Medicaid.
Can you refresh our memories on that?
I thought he promised not to touch Social Security or Medicare. I don't remember anything about Medicaid. I'm not saying I agree with Trump on that (I don't), just that I don't remember him promising anything about Medicaid.
Can you refresh our memories on that?
Trump's base? You mean the Republican base? People who are older, whiter, and wealthier than the average voter, and much older, whiter, and wealthier than people who rarely or never vote? That's who voted for Donald Trump in huge numbers; those are his base, and Paul Ryan's base, and Mitch McConnell's base. Enough already with the constant poor white refrain. Yes, plenty of low and moderate-income people voted for Trump. Many more of these people voted for Hillary Clinton, and large numbers did not vote at all. Most "Trump" voters are comfortably planted in the middle class, with a mortgage, a couple of cars in decent shape, and kids who are bound for college. Most of them are not advertising the fact that they voted for him, and anyway you go out of your way to find struggling whites in Appalachia and the Rust Belt to tell your tales. Maybe there is something to the liberal coastal bubble after all. An income of $50,000 buys quite a lot more house, apartment, etc. in most of these Republican counties than in the large cities that went overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton. It is true that many of these cuts will indeed in the long run hurt everyone but the wealthiest - we all breathe the air and benefit from art and an educated populace, after all - but they're giving their voters what they asked for - lower taxes. Trump may be wielding too broad an axe, but he's swinging it in the "right" direction.
2
Let all legislators know that their handling of this budget proposal is Exhibit A in their campaigns for the 2018 elections. In a year when there is no Presidential election at stake and thus no front man to power a party-line vote for Congressional candidates, those candidates are really vulnerable. Let them know we won't forget. That election is coming just next year.
In addition to the "usual suspects", this budget proposal also includes unveiled threats to those who might be tempted to drop out of lockstep with the Republican agenda. For example :
excerpt : "Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, criticized Mr. Trump’s decision to cut $300 million from a program that aims to protect Lake Erie. “I have long championed this program,” Mr. Portman said, “and I’m committed to continuing to do everything I can to protect and preserve Lake Erie, including preserving this critical program and its funding.” "
Oklahoma has two Republican Senators ... FAA is a major employer in OKC.
etc.
excerpt : "Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, criticized Mr. Trump’s decision to cut $300 million from a program that aims to protect Lake Erie. “I have long championed this program,” Mr. Portman said, “and I’m committed to continuing to do everything I can to protect and preserve Lake Erie, including preserving this critical program and its funding.” "
Oklahoma has two Republican Senators ... FAA is a major employer in OKC.
etc.
Trump maybe itching for out right rebellion with a series economic and social provocations all in the name of liberty and the restoration greatness As Napoleon quoted by Tolstoy in WAR AND PEACE, PART THREE CHAPTER 25:"..... in the name of peace and tranquility I shall....." And then proceeded argue the for restoration of our borders and Frances destiny. He chose and destroyed and targeted his domestic enemies carefully, never allowing his own advisors where they stood, killing more than in the French revolution.
1
So when the new flu pandemic comes and people start to die because funding for research and vaccines was cut, can we sue Trump and Congress if they pass this budget? No - they all have immunity. No consequences ever for their behavior. Have to vote them out in 2018.
2
Republicans under the Bush Administration initiated unnecessary wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which have destabilized the entire region to this day and have cost many billions in dollars and hundreds of thousands of military and civilian lives. Republicans have long championed deregulation, including deregulation of the financial/banking industry which caused the worldwide recession in 2006/2007 that the Bush Administration handed over to the Obama Administration and the Democrats to fix, which they did. Our current deficit, the impoverishment of millions and unending war in the Middle East is the result of these Republican blunders.
Now these same Republicans are proposing a budget that slashes spending for the poor and needy, education and the EPA (sorry Trump, firing climate scientists won't make the fact of climate change go away) and wants to use our tax dollars to beef up our military for what? Another war perhaps? Mr. Trump also has installed his wall street buddies into key cabinet positions and promised more deregulation which will ultimately result in another market cliff dive.
Will the Republican Party of personal responsibility please take some and send this budget back to Mr. Trump DOA.
Now these same Republicans are proposing a budget that slashes spending for the poor and needy, education and the EPA (sorry Trump, firing climate scientists won't make the fact of climate change go away) and wants to use our tax dollars to beef up our military for what? Another war perhaps? Mr. Trump also has installed his wall street buddies into key cabinet positions and promised more deregulation which will ultimately result in another market cliff dive.
Will the Republican Party of personal responsibility please take some and send this budget back to Mr. Trump DOA.
Please consider that Trump is using his extreme and cruel budget proposal as a bargaining device. He'll keep coming back with revisions (e.g., Muslim bans) until he gets some of his plan through. He'll be whining, and he will have convinced us that we have prevailed, but let's not be suckered into thinking that is the case. He is ruthless in his bargaining and he'll gloat, in the end, that at least he got his way, if not in total, than bit by bit.
Perhaps overweight POTUS not just in body but brain should give up his food to the elderly and poor. "meals on wheels" he wants to cut . GOP as you reap so ye shall sow Say goodbye to all those seats coming up for re-election
The ramp up in military spending and tough talk on N Korea does not sound good.
The guy who ran on disengagement and letting others pay for military seems to be planing a war.
The guy who ran on disengagement and letting others pay for military seems to be planing a war.
1
This budget does NOTHING to reduce the national debt, it simply shifts existing funds from one category to another. If you right-winders want to defend it on the basis of this shift in priorities, okay, but don't try to fool us with phony arguments that this is about reducing the size of government.
1
Less than two months after the inauguration, the Trump administration----
Inexperienced and belligerent------is pushing the envelope towards war.
It is time to demand that Trump be removed from office; he is intellectually and psychologically unfit. It is also time to demand that, because of all the questions surrounding Russian interference, that the results of the election be declared illegitimate and void, and that a new special election for President be held as soon as possible.
Inexperienced and belligerent------is pushing the envelope towards war.
It is time to demand that Trump be removed from office; he is intellectually and psychologically unfit. It is also time to demand that, because of all the questions surrounding Russian interference, that the results of the election be declared illegitimate and void, and that a new special election for President be held as soon as possible.
1
The depraved know-nothing feel-nothing pathological liar is delivering the nightmare those of us who voted against him expected... It is only those who voted for this so-called president who are surprised.
May their suffering begin.
May their suffering begin.
1
If it's Trump's base that relies on the "programs" that Trump is cutting then why is it that the democrat "progressive" base are the ones crying, screaming, and hollering?
Because we do not wish ill on those who disagree with us. We consider all citizens of this country have a right to health care.
1
sjaco: answer to your question:
Because the Dems, for the most part, are concerned for the elderly, the poor, the disabled and women -- they really are the party that cares what happens to everyone.
Because the Dems, for the most part, are concerned for the elderly, the poor, the disabled and women -- they really are the party that cares what happens to everyone.
1
Trump doesn't want to be president. Most of his decisions are an unconscious cry for help to get him out of his situation.
He didn't want to lose and he wanted the notoriety but not the responsibility.
Of course, he wants to make more, better money.
Thus, he lets Bannon do the "thinking" while he emits tweets, almost all of which give reason for Republicans in Congress and his supporters to offer him a graceful way out, as soon as they've taken their pound of flesh from "entitlements".
He will find a way to make impeachment a hero's victory, even though, as with Nixon, he will have lost the political support he needs.
He misses Trump Tower. He will put up a "reality TV fight", but will return to its golden splendor and get a book deal, possibly better than Obama's.
He'll have to endure more time in the real world, but all of us who love this country and share its founders' values should do all we can to set the tweeting canary free.
Indeed, he is the canary in the cold mind, screaming of what lies ahead if he is kept in the cage he never expected to be caught in.
Free Trump!
He didn't want to lose and he wanted the notoriety but not the responsibility.
Of course, he wants to make more, better money.
Thus, he lets Bannon do the "thinking" while he emits tweets, almost all of which give reason for Republicans in Congress and his supporters to offer him a graceful way out, as soon as they've taken their pound of flesh from "entitlements".
He will find a way to make impeachment a hero's victory, even though, as with Nixon, he will have lost the political support he needs.
He misses Trump Tower. He will put up a "reality TV fight", but will return to its golden splendor and get a book deal, possibly better than Obama's.
He'll have to endure more time in the real world, but all of us who love this country and share its founders' values should do all we can to set the tweeting canary free.
Indeed, he is the canary in the cold mind, screaming of what lies ahead if he is kept in the cage he never expected to be caught in.
Free Trump!
3
The graphic attached to this article needs to accurately reflect that while the Dep. of Homeland Security may be getting a bump in budget, the funding for several essential agencies, such as the Coast Guard, are getting cut by Trump in order to pay for a wall that will never get built. Cuts to the Coast Guard go to show how much Trump is in the pocket of Russia. Who is the main force to counter Russian interference in the Arctic and America's exclusive economic zones of the oceans?
1
Let us give credit where credit is due. He did not put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block. Yet. We will see if he continues to protect those vital life support programs as he promised or if they are just "opening bid" bargaining chips to be negotiated away later with Republicans who are eager to turn them over to Wall Street for profiteering. Is there something in his budget that he wants so badly that he will throw future retirees under the bus? Maybe that "beautiful wall"?
1
45's budget ELIMINATES Low Income Heating & Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding. This is the program that provides heating and/or energy assistance to millions of low income families, many who are also working. The elderly, people with disabilities and families with children under the age of 5 years are specifically targeted. In FY14, over 5.7 million households were served for heating, 672,00+ for heating, 672,000+ for cooling, over 1.5million for winter & year round crisis situations, 162,550 for summer crisis, 83,000+ for weatherization services.
Additionally, he is eliminating CSBG funding which offers communities a wide variety of options on which to spend these funds. This allows communities to have some local input into what needs are uniques to their communities. The areas the CSBG funding range from emergency services, housing, employment, nutrition, to income management. Check out the Department of Health & Human Services web page for more information.
He is definitely going to be hurting those coal miners and others in his base. AND who will have to replace/address these needs? STATES!!!
The man is evil incarnate. Pump up the military and build a wall on the backs of the poor and state income tax payers.
Additionally, he is eliminating CSBG funding which offers communities a wide variety of options on which to spend these funds. This allows communities to have some local input into what needs are uniques to their communities. The areas the CSBG funding range from emergency services, housing, employment, nutrition, to income management. Check out the Department of Health & Human Services web page for more information.
He is definitely going to be hurting those coal miners and others in his base. AND who will have to replace/address these needs? STATES!!!
The man is evil incarnate. Pump up the military and build a wall on the backs of the poor and state income tax payers.
4
Exactly. But, unfortunately the coal miners will blame anyone and everyone but Trump.
Let him put the Dems in a pickle jar. The hardest thing to do is cut a govt. program. If he fails the Dems will have to enact massive tax cuts to bring back. That will be very Popular. Or these programs go away and somehow we are still here.
1
Well it makes sense. This frees up tax dollars to give to private contractors and billionaires which is all that really matters. I'm sure Trump supporters will love it. Then when the water and air are polluted, public education is broken, the nation is less secure from real threats, we are in the throes of new meaningless wars, and the market bubble bursts they can go back to the play book of blaming Obama, Hilary, and the poor. Truth and facts are only FAKE NEWS! anyway.
1
Trumps base is red states electoral votes not the voters living in those states. He'll win even bigger in Wisconsin as more residents get marginalized in blue islands like Milwaukee and Madison. Dairy farmers never seem to go hungry given all the government cheese laying around. And they can always go the vet for healthcare. Rural America loves the bootstrap myth, even though the bootstraps were given to them through governmental largess funneled through Real America(TM) approved sacred cow programs.
1
Get out and vote in next years mid-term elections. Trump and the GOP have to be stopped.
6
Agree, that will help some. But there's all those rust belt counties where more than the factories have rusted, where they'll vote for a TV star over reality every time because they honestly believe that anything that doesn't come from the likes of Brietbart and Bannon is fake. I live in a purple state, so for sure I'll be voting. But in the end, we can't save everyone, and that said, it's possible we can't save ourselves either.
Yes, the budget is terrible. The real question is what are we going to do about it.
Indignant letters to the editor and social media posts won't cut it. Calling our congress critters isn't enough either, especially since many are now refusing to pick up their phones.
We need to take to the streets and stay there until this budget is defeated and it's author is forced from office. We've had a day without immigrants and a day without women. It's time to take it up a notch and have a week without any of us.
The only thing that has any chance of stopping this madness is going to be a General Strike. The obvious starting day should be Monday, May 1, a day on which labor and immigrant rights protests are already scheduled.
Every union, professional organization, neighborhood organization, PTA, advocacy group, church, mosque, temple, etc... that can see the barbarity of this budget should begin organizing for such a strike now and on the morning of May 1 crowds should encamp in public spaces and refuse to leave until our basic demands -- Not One Dime of Cuts and Trump Out -- are met.
Indignant letters to the editor and social media posts won't cut it. Calling our congress critters isn't enough either, especially since many are now refusing to pick up their phones.
We need to take to the streets and stay there until this budget is defeated and it's author is forced from office. We've had a day without immigrants and a day without women. It's time to take it up a notch and have a week without any of us.
The only thing that has any chance of stopping this madness is going to be a General Strike. The obvious starting day should be Monday, May 1, a day on which labor and immigrant rights protests are already scheduled.
Every union, professional organization, neighborhood organization, PTA, advocacy group, church, mosque, temple, etc... that can see the barbarity of this budget should begin organizing for such a strike now and on the morning of May 1 crowds should encamp in public spaces and refuse to leave until our basic demands -- Not One Dime of Cuts and Trump Out -- are met.
6
Wasn’t there some guy a long time ago who warned people about some “military-industrial complex” – and another dude who said something about people who can’t remember the past having to repeat it? I don’t really know, I’m off my meds since I can’t afford them anymore what with health “care” the way it’s going, and I’m being sent to some Ministry of Re-Education camp anyway, I think that was in a book somewhere, but I can’t find it with all the cuts to the libraries. Besides, there are going to be all these new Ministries in the government, like for Love, Peace, Plenty, and Truth, that are supposed to help us, especially people like me who got “left behind.” It feels like we’re finally getting what we wanted! That’s what freedom, and liberty, and voting are all about, right? And don’t forget about all those folks from the after-school programs, and the housing programs, and the local communities, and "scientists" who are “losing funding” – they can all get “three hots and a cot” in one of those new private prisons. Plus, they’ll be getting lots of “health research” done on them there – what’s to complain about? And with all the “hard power” we’ll be using in the world, there should be plenty of jobs in the military. Boy, this is all making me thirsty just thinking about it – I better get a cup of water, you know, while it’s still drinkable. It’s so sad people just can’t figure out what’s good for them. I guess that’s why the government is there to take care of us.
2
Let the GOP crash and burn the entire system- it's going to take drastic consequences like this to awaken the 78 million people [who didn't vote last year] to finally participate in our democracy. Voices are heard but Votes matter!
3
All budgets are a matter of making choices and trade offs. Theoretically, there is not enough money to do everything you want to do. Most of the U.S. budget is non-descretionary since the biggest expenditures in the federal budget are mandated by law: social security, medicare and medicaid.
After these mandatory allotments, most of the discretionary budget pie goes to defense and homeland security already. Trump is proposing increases in both these areas. Included in this is money for increased border patrols and the ridiculous wall.
The programs he proposes to cut hurt all of us, not only his supporters. Cutting funds from the EPA, State Department and Education do much more to threaten our security than lack of increased border patrol and a useless wall. I suppose getting rid of Public Broadcasting is one way of attacking the "fake news" media, although PBS provides some of the best and thorough reporting around, not to mention its cultural contribution to broadcasting. If cuts to education eliminate Headstart and after school programs its like cutting off our nose despite our face. These are proven successes in the field of education. We have just had the warmest February in over a 100 years. Is this the time to defund the EPA, our only watchdog on the environment? And where's that expenditure on the failing infrastructure to create jobs?
With every choice there is a trade off and cost. What cost will we pay for the decisions of this administration?
After these mandatory allotments, most of the discretionary budget pie goes to defense and homeland security already. Trump is proposing increases in both these areas. Included in this is money for increased border patrols and the ridiculous wall.
The programs he proposes to cut hurt all of us, not only his supporters. Cutting funds from the EPA, State Department and Education do much more to threaten our security than lack of increased border patrol and a useless wall. I suppose getting rid of Public Broadcasting is one way of attacking the "fake news" media, although PBS provides some of the best and thorough reporting around, not to mention its cultural contribution to broadcasting. If cuts to education eliminate Headstart and after school programs its like cutting off our nose despite our face. These are proven successes in the field of education. We have just had the warmest February in over a 100 years. Is this the time to defund the EPA, our only watchdog on the environment? And where's that expenditure on the failing infrastructure to create jobs?
With every choice there is a trade off and cost. What cost will we pay for the decisions of this administration?
3
Not really a new thing from a Republican in the White House. Reagan made tons of cuts to social services. And the first President Bush relied on "A Thousand Points of Light" to fill in the gaps. Hey, this is America - personal responsibility - don't be born into a poor family and don't get old. Investing in education, protecting the environment, and focusing on diplomacy apparently are a waste of time for this White House. Nothing will change until Wall Street and the people in the small towns take a hit.
7
This is what you get from people who don't know how to care for citizens, to uplift their communities or to provide a sense of hope. I'm sure there are many families who could tell the billionaires running govt. that the following statement is untrue:
"He [Mulvaney] said that after-school programs had failed to help children in schools, that housing programs were 'not well run,' that government health research had suffered “mission creep” and that grants to local communities 'don’t do any good.' ”
"He [Mulvaney] said that after-school programs had failed to help children in schools, that housing programs were 'not well run,' that government health research had suffered “mission creep” and that grants to local communities 'don’t do any good.' ”
1
Regarding possible budget cuts to federally funded “scientific research,” the America people must realize that President Trump is a man who wants to see results, he wants to see a finished product. Much “scientific research,” especially conducted by academia is not results driven, instead the money is used to fund a professor’s laboratory, so that he may accumulate graduate students and post-docs, and publish or perish. Never-ending research with speculative and, especially, in the study in “evolution”, results with no real-world application (and contrary to Scripture). Same for medical research. Think about it, if a cure for cancer was discovered tomorrow, a lot of people would be unemployed! There would be no more need for research, as the problem would have been solved. A cure for cancer would be the kind of product that a results oriented person like President Trump is looking for. Solve the problem and then move on to the next on. Makes total sense to me. I thought in his final days as the Vice President, Joe Biden was supposed to marshal scientific forces to find the cure for cancer in a project that was supposed to be the equivalent of the Manhattan Project, which produced the first nuclear weapons that ended WWII and saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of American troops that would have died invading Japan. Well, Biden did not accomplish his goal. There’s no cure for cancer. But we have nuclear weapons, and the world is a much safer place for them. Thank you.
1
Blah, blah, blah! The GOP keeps talking about red ink yet they are the largest contributors to it in our history. This is more of the same with a "war" on the poor, the sick and those who need the safety net. Maybe Trump's ill-educated supporters will wake up and see who their real enemies are. Hint; it is not the "illegals" in California picking vegetables.
3
Gee is it any wonder. NOBODY want's to give up their piece of the pie.
Folks we all need to wake up..We have a 12 inch round pie that we USED to have 10 people sitting around eating from it.
We still have that same 12" pie, however, we now have 100 people sitting around eating from it.
Either we bake a lot bigger pie, of start chasing a lot of folks away from the table. Really need to do both, but as a start chasing some folks away needs to happen
Folks we all need to wake up..We have a 12 inch round pie that we USED to have 10 people sitting around eating from it.
We still have that same 12" pie, however, we now have 100 people sitting around eating from it.
Either we bake a lot bigger pie, of start chasing a lot of folks away from the table. Really need to do both, but as a start chasing some folks away needs to happen
1
Defund the White House it is ineffective and there is no proof it works.
7
Is anyone arguing that all government funding is spent efficiently? I hardly think so. President Trump is right to review this and take appropriate actions, including cuts, increased transparency and ensuring improved management of spending. It is his responsibility. The President is right in making hard decisions that are likely to make him unpopular with some, especially with those who will no longer receive easy money.
1
I'm struck by Mr. Mulvaney's comment that the administration considers our government's efforts to curb climate change a waste of money. Our environment and climate change are much more important to me than the over-the-top security efforts needed to protect Trump, his various homes and various family members as they flit around from place to place. I consider that a waste of our taxpayer money.
5
I can see the future now - America will be a country with a million extremely rich people surrounded by millions of poor who breathe toxic fumes released by gas guzzling cars that only we buy because they are made in America, and people walking in streets incessantly coughing and wealthy sitting in high towers, bored as they don't have anything to be entertained with as we killed off all the arts nor will they have any parks to visit as all the rare wildlife either moved to Canada or become extinct and yes, I forgot, we would have the most powerful armed force in the world but no one to fight with as no in the outside world beyond our great big wall wants to do anything with us. I see it. Perhaps I can only hope it would be legal to paint some arcane mural depicting the greatness of our President on huge beautiful wall. Like they do in North Korea!
1
Warren G. Harding is looking better every day.
I guess the military isn't a special interest category in Trumps world and no efficiencies can be realized there.
What `gamble` is Trump taking?
He could never get elected again, so he is not gambling his future votes. He doesn't care what happens to the Republican party: that's gambling with someone else's future, not his own.
He never 'cared' about his 'base' or their real pain. They were and are just pawns in his power game.
As long as he can continue to live in his ego-bubble, sadly, he has a no lose bet. Only we the people can lose and are losing.
He could never get elected again, so he is not gambling his future votes. He doesn't care what happens to the Republican party: that's gambling with someone else's future, not his own.
He never 'cared' about his 'base' or their real pain. They were and are just pawns in his power game.
As long as he can continue to live in his ego-bubble, sadly, he has a no lose bet. Only we the people can lose and are losing.
1
Don't mourn: Organize!
Get active in your local Democratic party. Demand a group meeting with your Congressional representative. Join a voter registration drive. Organize!
There are more progressive voters than Republicans - millions more. With fair district borders, Democrats would control the House in every cycle. Republicans want to steal our country, but we will take it back. Is this a partisan battle? You bet it is, and we will win it.
If we organize!
Get active in your local Democratic party. Demand a group meeting with your Congressional representative. Join a voter registration drive. Organize!
There are more progressive voters than Republicans - millions more. With fair district borders, Democrats would control the House in every cycle. Republicans want to steal our country, but we will take it back. Is this a partisan battle? You bet it is, and we will win it.
If we organize!
2
The Trump budget would defund PBS, the home of Sesame Street. Anyone who would put Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Bert and Ernie on the unemployment line is a cold hearted dictator. I won't stand for it. If he eliminates one weekend trip to Mara Largo he could fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for an entire year. What a monster this man Trump is.
2
Trump to all those people in the inner cities, "What do you have to lose?"
It's not like many realists were amped up with "Trump Hope". No surprise here except that more people will be joining the ranks of the forgotten.
And apparently more elderly will be hungry. Next up in the playbook. Skimpy block grants to the states to offset major losses to the Meals on Wheels programs.
It's not like many realists were amped up with "Trump Hope". No surprise here except that more people will be joining the ranks of the forgotten.
And apparently more elderly will be hungry. Next up in the playbook. Skimpy block grants to the states to offset major losses to the Meals on Wheels programs.
2
Two thoughts:
1. I think it's ironic that Trump is claiming that he's cutting money to social services like meals on wheels, block grants to states for infrastructure and after school programs because "there's no proof they work" but he's justifying spending more on the military because they've been unable to get the bad guys because they don't have enough money to do it right. So throwing more money at the military will make them successful but throwing any money at social services won't.
2. Trump probably has no intention of running for a second term, so he doesn't have to care about what happens to the people who voted for him. He's probably going to use this time in office to blow up all the regulations and agencies that kept at least a little bit of control over what business could get away with and then walk off at the end of four years to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
1. I think it's ironic that Trump is claiming that he's cutting money to social services like meals on wheels, block grants to states for infrastructure and after school programs because "there's no proof they work" but he's justifying spending more on the military because they've been unable to get the bad guys because they don't have enough money to do it right. So throwing more money at the military will make them successful but throwing any money at social services won't.
2. Trump probably has no intention of running for a second term, so he doesn't have to care about what happens to the people who voted for him. He's probably going to use this time in office to blow up all the regulations and agencies that kept at least a little bit of control over what business could get away with and then walk off at the end of four years to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
2
"Trump Takes a Gamble in Cutting Programs His Base Relies On"
This really has to stop. Trump's "emotional" base may be the coalminers down in the holler - but a large portion ( and the only one he cares about ) of his base is comprised of republican fat cats and others who are doing just fine.
"But the definition of “working class” and similar terms is fuzzy, and narratives like these risk obscuring an important and perhaps counterintuitive fact about Trump’s voters: As compared with most Americans, Trump’s voters are better off. The median household income of a Trump voter so far in the primaries is about $72,000, based on estimates derived from exit polls and Census Bureau data. That’s lower than the $91,000 median for Kasich voters. But it’s well above the national median household income of about $56,000. It’s also higher than the median income for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters, which is around $61,000 for both." Nate Silver - 538
As long as Trump keeps feeding his slug base, he could very well win again in 2020.
This really has to stop. Trump's "emotional" base may be the coalminers down in the holler - but a large portion ( and the only one he cares about ) of his base is comprised of republican fat cats and others who are doing just fine.
"But the definition of “working class” and similar terms is fuzzy, and narratives like these risk obscuring an important and perhaps counterintuitive fact about Trump’s voters: As compared with most Americans, Trump’s voters are better off. The median household income of a Trump voter so far in the primaries is about $72,000, based on estimates derived from exit polls and Census Bureau data. That’s lower than the $91,000 median for Kasich voters. But it’s well above the national median household income of about $56,000. It’s also higher than the median income for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters, which is around $61,000 for both." Nate Silver - 538
As long as Trump keeps feeding his slug base, he could very well win again in 2020.
2
How is this different than Stalin's first five-year plan, which left peasants to starve in the pursuit of "national strength"?
1
The only thing to like about this is that it is a wake-up call that the amount we have to spend is limited, so we had better be very careful in allocating those funds.
Regardless of anything Trump, or, for that matter, Congress, does, many more jobs will disappear. We need to prepare for that now, with a plan for new jobs or, more likely, with a plan for a universal benefit. And for heaven's sake, let's please bring compensation in the governmental and para-governmental sectors (such as healthcare) into line with what those in the private sector are making. People who don't have a decent pension cannot afford to fund Cadillac pensions for others. And before anyone says they funded that pension through out of their own compensation, I would point out that 1) their return on those contributions is far greater than like others get through the Social Security system, and 2) all of their compensation, including any amounts contributed to their pensions, is funded by taxes paid by others.
To fund more benefits, we need higher taxes or some alternative way for the government to make money. It's that simple, but implementing it will be complex. For a start, I would suggest rolling the Social Security and Medicare taxes into the federal income tax, because our country's demographics are such that the program is going to go deeper and deeper into the hole, but people cannot be expected to live on grossly inadequate benefits or work until they drop.
Regardless of anything Trump, or, for that matter, Congress, does, many more jobs will disappear. We need to prepare for that now, with a plan for new jobs or, more likely, with a plan for a universal benefit. And for heaven's sake, let's please bring compensation in the governmental and para-governmental sectors (such as healthcare) into line with what those in the private sector are making. People who don't have a decent pension cannot afford to fund Cadillac pensions for others. And before anyone says they funded that pension through out of their own compensation, I would point out that 1) their return on those contributions is far greater than like others get through the Social Security system, and 2) all of their compensation, including any amounts contributed to their pensions, is funded by taxes paid by others.
To fund more benefits, we need higher taxes or some alternative way for the government to make money. It's that simple, but implementing it will be complex. For a start, I would suggest rolling the Social Security and Medicare taxes into the federal income tax, because our country's demographics are such that the program is going to go deeper and deeper into the hole, but people cannot be expected to live on grossly inadequate benefits or work until they drop.
Does anyone really think any of these programs will be cut? Really? Government cutbacks? Not in my lifetime. The Federal Government Industrial Complex is "too big to fail" and every Senator and Congressman that has a vested interest in a program or a job will fight to kill it. The NIMB mentality is alive and well inside the Beltway. It's all talk. Trump may really want to cut programs but it will never happen. It never does.
6
Anita
The Federal Government gives money to the states, and they decide where to allocate it.
The Federal Government gives money to the states, and they decide where to allocate it.
I'm hoping that Trump's base will realize that they are being hurt by Trump's healthcare plan and vote accordingly in the 2018 midterms.
While this budget does not shock me, it is very upsetting. The housing programs that "are not well run" have effectively broken the cycle of chronic homelessness in parts of the USA. And have reduced veterans homelessness significantly. The after school programs that "don't do any good" may have been what allowed a parent to work to put food on the table as well as provide intellectual support/stimulation for their kids.
This is a very scary proposal. It is easy to lose touch with the real world when you are a billionaire who has bought and cheated his way through life. Trumps history demonstrates that he doesn't care who he steps on to advance himself. What he fails to realize is that significant cuts to many programs will affect the country as a whole. Ending Obamacare will cause people to lost subsidies and insurance and then use ERs as primary care--and not be able to pay for it. That cost gets passed on to the consumer. Cuts to housing will also affect all Americans. When people cannot pay their rent/mortgage and end up on the street, they access safety net programs at much higher rates. Without housing assistance/safety net programs, they need to rely on crisis or emergency services to meet their needs--hospitals, law enforcement, etc. And I guess since combatting climate change is a waste of money, the environment will fix itself.
We snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef last year. Climate change is real.
This is a very scary proposal. It is easy to lose touch with the real world when you are a billionaire who has bought and cheated his way through life. Trumps history demonstrates that he doesn't care who he steps on to advance himself. What he fails to realize is that significant cuts to many programs will affect the country as a whole. Ending Obamacare will cause people to lost subsidies and insurance and then use ERs as primary care--and not be able to pay for it. That cost gets passed on to the consumer. Cuts to housing will also affect all Americans. When people cannot pay their rent/mortgage and end up on the street, they access safety net programs at much higher rates. Without housing assistance/safety net programs, they need to rely on crisis or emergency services to meet their needs--hospitals, law enforcement, etc. And I guess since combatting climate change is a waste of money, the environment will fix itself.
We snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef last year. Climate change is real.
2
While the low income Trump supporters generally show little concern for their own personal health & even less for the collective health of their community & the environment at large, they still demand attention when bad habits cause pain or disruption in their lives. Many rely on the ACA; Trump is playing with fire in rocking that boat.
It's true that the low income Trump people have Libertarian impulses & have come to see the welfare state as a sort of capital source, to supplement & finance their wheeling & dealing, bartering & as an augment to their flimsy employments. Due to liberal programs, they've come to believe they can have their cake & eat it too. All but the most dimwitted know that the same political party that off shored their jobs will not bring anything back.
There was no mandate in the last election. The Paul Ryan crowd will prove Trump to be a one termer.
It's true that the low income Trump people have Libertarian impulses & have come to see the welfare state as a sort of capital source, to supplement & finance their wheeling & dealing, bartering & as an augment to their flimsy employments. Due to liberal programs, they've come to believe they can have their cake & eat it too. All but the most dimwitted know that the same political party that off shored their jobs will not bring anything back.
There was no mandate in the last election. The Paul Ryan crowd will prove Trump to be a one termer.
1
This budget is no surprise to those of us who listened to Trump during the campaign and voted against him. But now he has to govern. And those that voted for him will have to live or die with these drastic cuts that help the less fortunate among us. If government doesn't work efficiently you change those things that can be changed to make it work better. You don't just cut off the funding , Budget cuts because of inefficient use of government dollars is just the lazy man's way out. And we already know that Trump is a Lazy Thinker. And frankly this excuse is all just Bu--- Sh--. The most inefficient waste of taxpayers' money is the defense department and it got the biggest boost in spending. Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, VietNam, etc, not to mention the smaller hot-spots around the world where American troops waste money that could be spent improving American infrastructure. Until we improve our priorities we will not be able to make America Great Again. Wake up Republican voters and smell the stench coming from the Swamp.
1
The cornucopia of opinions about Trump's budget and healthcare plans can be quite staggering. Poetically speaking, Trump's policies are inclining towards apparently contemptible views on the banausic lives of the commoners. A recent reverse robin hood rhetorics of his AHCA, is a blatant example. No wonder it quickly became a bete noire.
OMB chief's ax is targeting NIH, EPA, and similar agencies, and many medical schools, and other medical bodies may and will cry foul, but it is likely to fall in deaf ears. With a ballistic batch of Sean Spicers and Kellyanne Conways watching his back, Trump has nothing to worry about.
Trump's trillion dollar infrastructure plan seems to collide with his promise of tax breaks for the affluent, and his own party-men are flabbergasted about the contradicting tactics. With his wiretap wisdom up his sleeve, Trump policies are perilously close to being dubbed as heuristically humorous.
OMB chief's ax is targeting NIH, EPA, and similar agencies, and many medical schools, and other medical bodies may and will cry foul, but it is likely to fall in deaf ears. With a ballistic batch of Sean Spicers and Kellyanne Conways watching his back, Trump has nothing to worry about.
Trump's trillion dollar infrastructure plan seems to collide with his promise of tax breaks for the affluent, and his own party-men are flabbergasted about the contradicting tactics. With his wiretap wisdom up his sleeve, Trump policies are perilously close to being dubbed as heuristically humorous.
I hope his base is happy when North Korea hits our coastline. A bloated military, goofy wall, and his endless lies and tweets will not protect them. America worst and last. Not my president. Sad beyond belief.
So no money on combating the biggest security threat to the US: global warming. Yep, Trump hates America and the world. When can we impeach him?
2
My wife reminded me this morning that, when we grew up, we talked about making love, not war.
Trump's budget priorities make it abundantly clear he wants to make war, not love!
Trump's budget priorities make it abundantly clear he wants to make war, not love!
2
As a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, I'm not about to get into the political ramifications of what #45 is proposing. I only wanted to express the on-the-ground impact of what he is actually suggesting here. The faces of the people I see every day, tell a story of lives well lived, of morals upheld, of families well raised. These people are not the "economic enemy". They are the underlying foundation on which today's society had been (haphazardly) built.
We are at an inflection point here. We are doing a grave disservice to previous generations with this budget, and we are dooming our next generation to a future of clawing and striving for table scraps. Is that how we want the "flower power" generation to be remembered?
We are at an inflection point here. We are doing a grave disservice to previous generations with this budget, and we are dooming our next generation to a future of clawing and striving for table scraps. Is that how we want the "flower power" generation to be remembered?
2
This is gettng serious: Trump needs to be impeached soon: he is a threat to our internal national security. We are falling apart from within.
Trump's base is like the dog who caught the car. What now?
How about 5% reduction across the board year over. No increase anywhere (since the military budget is already the sum of all other parts) and we make personal inocome taxes a flat 10% corporate 20% and if you domicile your company outside the US and have a US listed stock 50%. (pay some tax Apple)
Call it a day and move on to more important things.
Call it a day and move on to more important things.
THE LAST STRAW! There is just something about a mega-billionaire cutting off food and healthcare for the poor and elderly that makes me want to stick my finger down my throat. It all comes back to me now. I remember those people as I was growing up; and the pain that they intentionally caused those that could do nothing about it.
Senator Mike Lee needs to go back to school & take some remedial math courses - Trump's budget saves the TAX PAYER NOTHING - TRUMP merely shifts federal spending to different areas of the government. The areas of increased federal spending tend to be areas where Trumps supporters have businesses that stand to PROFIT handsomely from more federal bucks going their way...this budget is textbook PORK-BARREL spending...classic republican-ism economics.....2008 here we come - again...
2
Do people really still support this man and this administration? Really?
I despair for the future of this country, truly. We are digging ourselves into a hole that will take decades to climb out of.
I despair for the future of this country, truly. We are digging ourselves into a hole that will take decades to climb out of.
2
Trump is the front man for the most right wing gang of reactionaries ever to have held office in our country. Cut funding to NPR and PBS- a minuscule portion of the budget- to save money! Cut money for after-school programs that don't work! ( Have they ever visited a public school after 3pm to see all the kids in pm classes and sports?) Cut spending for science research! For the environment! For Meals on Wheels! Time to throw these disgusting self-righteous liars out of office.
11
Where is his promise to build bridges and streets new? Ahh... First the wall...
2
Trump supporters won't care much about these cuts. These are people who have voted against their own self interests for years and years, so Trump's budget is nothing new. Also, Trump supporters are willing to hurt some to ensure that the ones they consider unworthy hurt more.
2
MsPea, Trump's so called 'base', is not as dumb as it acts. This budget won't be passed but something bad will. Folks is red and purple states as well as the blue ones will feel it. Eventually, his base will wilt. None of this is good for anyone, except the very rich and very well placed. Trump may be the tragic means of our people coming together. I hope that we won't be too late.
How do the other branches of the U.S. government, and the
people, stop a wretched president and his circle of wretches
from wrecking a country, huh?
people, stop a wretched president and his circle of wretches
from wrecking a country, huh?
1
I'm reminded of Swift's "Modest Proposal". Of course O Reilly, Hannity and Mulvaney would not see the parallels.
2
I frankly hadn't thought about Jonathan Swift in all this, but you're right Carol Lee, it does smack of the "Modest Proposal". The Emperor not only has no clothes, he's pole dancing down Pennsylvania Avenue with his dirty little entourage tossing muck.
A big increase to an already bloated military budget yet zip zero nada for real American citizens. Wow....this is shameful behavior on the part of these sleazy GOP guys and their handful of female accomplices. No one voted for this...this scam is being forced down out throats and needs to be stopped without further delay. People will die because of these unnecessary and cruel actions brought to you by the literal merchants of death & destruction.
3
Let the red states bleed!
2
The central issue in Trump's budget proposal is the odious targeting of programs that aid in the betterment of our nation, notably in environmental, artistic, and educational issues. Why is Trump's proposal not targeting the rich who do not chip in, via a progressive tax system, their fair share to help support programs that Trump wants to destroy? Trump may rattle his sabre by increasing funds to the military. But there are many folks, who lives may be adversely affected by Trump's budget proposals, who will also be swinging their sabres and, perhaps, cut Trump's Presidency to one term.
45
I've been wondering what would happen if, since we (99%ers) can't stop paying our federal taxes or hire accountants to hide our income overseas, ALL of us changed our deductions to the maximum. They don't want a federal government, or at least one they have to pay into. Why not take a stab at making their dreams come true? If everyone acted like those at the top, would it force a fair tax rate for all, with no loopholes, or would they just take our homes and stick us all in private prisons?
Many of the Lefty groups and the rich D.C. empty suits are complaining about the proposed budget. PROGRESS!
Taking away meals for poor kids, allowing the air and water quality to deteriorate, and being the only country in the world to not fight global warming isn't "progress". It's STUPID.
Increases to defense and and corporate subsidies and cut social and environmental funding.cut. Larger and larger numbers of pople will be contained and treated like those in poor communities. Congress is disfunctuonal and incapable of acting on behave of the middle class. When the middle class responds the same as lower class communities the will be treated the same. Contained within there communities and controlled by authorities for private profit just as many lower class citizens have been thrown into incarceration and diced into minders slavery systems. Will the middle class who resist be judged criminal and sentenced to life indentured to the upperclass and incarcerated with leg bands for control and minioulatuon. What direction is our current government system forcing upon us. We as American People no longer have the political will nor the poet to act upon our own best interests.
10% to a bloated military budget? I knew a guy who was an internal inspector for the Navy. Policing them from the inside, so to speak. His stories of financial corruption in the military were hair-raising... as if anyone had any doubts.
If more money went to aid veterans, now that I can get behind. But with everything else being cut, these Repubs have shown themselves as truly vile, entitled and thoughtless characters... again, as if anyone had any doubts.
If more money went to aid veterans, now that I can get behind. But with everything else being cut, these Repubs have shown themselves as truly vile, entitled and thoughtless characters... again, as if anyone had any doubts.
6
I never thought I would begin to feel sorry for Trump supporters, who thought that he cared about the plight of the unemployed, the ill, and the impoverished, and were going to make there lives better. He's the sociopath boy in the schoolyard, who lures others who are weaker than he is with a promise of friendship, only to make fools of them, or worse. To Trump, these people--who voted for him--are losers. In Jordan Peele's extraordinary movie, "Get Out" it is African Americans who are are taken in by promised of goodwill and then lobotomized. That's what Trump and this administration (to dignify it with that word) wants to do to all of us.
2
EPA received $5.7B too much.
I doubt Trump even reads this stuff. Someone on his staff (Bannon and his ilk) write these stupid budgets and publish them, knowing Trump is to lazy to read them. Then Trump sees what those yahoos say on Fox & Friends, so he can get some perspective on the whole thing. I'm not kidding. I think this is how the government is run these days. Frankly, I think Trump should spend his time watching Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He'd learn more about how to act like a caring person than a bombastic blowhard. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
6
I had difficulty finding those programs proposed to be cut back which the president's voters "rely on". Good headline for the NYT, though the article was inconsistent with the headline. Again. Perhaps it is the 30% of the Department of State employees the Secretary says are not needed to conduct effective and efficient diplomacy and mission?
Eliminate programs to feed, house, and clothe those in need. Eliminate programs that protect the environment and our resources. Eliminate the laws that protect the savings, retirement funds, and healthcare systems for older Americans. Now i ask what "America" is Trump speaking of with this "America First" Budget plan? It sounds more like a wall of armaments and soldiers surrounding and protecting the castles of Donald and his 1% amigos and the rest of us i see scrounging for the scraps of "trickle down" tossed from the castle battlements.
3
Mr. Mulvaney, no, we are not "surprised" at the mendacity or ill-considered proposals from the trump administration Allow me to remind you that the campaign is over. It's past time for the short-fingered vulgarian and his enablers to start acting like adults and focus on governance, for all of the people.
We do not have, as congressional Republicans are fond of saying, a "spending problem." We have a failure of leadership to demand that those who benefit the most from our society pay their share. Effective tax rates for the top 5% continue at historic lows. Yet trump suggests his 25% tax rate should be reduced to around 5%.
As for the imbalance in Social Security the solution is simple. Impose means testing for those with AGI in excess of, pick a number, $250K. End the income cap on tax withholding for SS. Require SS contributions at normal rates for short-term capital gains. The funds are there. And the relative tax increases for someone making a 9 figure annual income are de minimis.
We do not have, as congressional Republicans are fond of saying, a "spending problem." We have a failure of leadership to demand that those who benefit the most from our society pay their share. Effective tax rates for the top 5% continue at historic lows. Yet trump suggests his 25% tax rate should be reduced to around 5%.
As for the imbalance in Social Security the solution is simple. Impose means testing for those with AGI in excess of, pick a number, $250K. End the income cap on tax withholding for SS. Require SS contributions at normal rates for short-term capital gains. The funds are there. And the relative tax increases for someone making a 9 figure annual income are de minimis.
3
Pay their "share?" Who uses more government services, the family of four with a Park Ave duplex or the family of six in the projects north of 96th Street? And if they're supposed to contribute to roads, schools and government systems then why do they have to idly accept that their tax dollars pay pothole crews, teachers and cops 5-10 times what they pay their own employees?
Reagan viewed ketchup as a vegetable, trump the Hun may acquiesce and provide potato peels for Meals on Wheels.
republicans have no sense of humanity.
republicans have no sense of humanity.
3
Americans contribute billions to charity each year. How are those monies being spent?
If we would have had an "America First" president in the 1930s, we would not have come to the aid of Europe and the world may not exist as we know it today.
It appears that we are moving to a period of isolationism. This is not a good sign. We are one of the voices of reason in the world, but our current "administration" and the heartless Republican Congress, we are not moving forward.
Another reason to continue to work hard so that we can regain control of Congress in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020.
It appears that we are moving to a period of isolationism. This is not a good sign. We are one of the voices of reason in the world, but our current "administration" and the heartless Republican Congress, we are not moving forward.
Another reason to continue to work hard so that we can regain control of Congress in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020.
3
And we've been carrying the Europeans ever since. We supply their defense with our troops on their soil, we rebuilt them after the war only to now have a trade deficit with them, we let them goad us into accepting refugees who may include large numbers of young men bent on destroying the west, and so on.
Anyone doubting Trump's committment to foreign aid should ask what nation(s) are benefiting the most from all Trump's actions since his election. Putin may be uneasy at Trump's more irrational acts, but every day has weakened U.S. influence in the world and strenthened Putin's position ability to do as he pleases with little restraint.
I think the media created "economic anxiety" crowd will balk when these cuts come to their doors. Trump will tell them that there are people out there living large off of food stamps but I think he misjudges how quickly they can turn their fury toward him when they personally start feeling his budget recommendations. I await the day.
2
Trump looks out only for himself and his crony capitalist buddies. As far as he's concerned, the rest of us need to just die and get it over with as soon as possible. To someone like him, a master manipulator, Meals on Wheels recipients are no-good "takers" from his millionaire, tax avoiding buddies.
This kind of 'leadership' smacks of new era Reaganism, where the rich and powerful tell the rest of us where our 'place' is. Which isn't at the Republican dinner table where freebies are handed to them on a silver platter, at the expense of the hard-working little people.
Even Russia treats it's people better than this.
This kind of 'leadership' smacks of new era Reaganism, where the rich and powerful tell the rest of us where our 'place' is. Which isn't at the Republican dinner table where freebies are handed to them on a silver platter, at the expense of the hard-working little people.
Even Russia treats it's people better than this.
2
This immoral budget is the Republican Party writ large. Do not blame Trump. Republicans have abdicated their responsibility to protect our Democracy. Republicans have obstructed every attempt to investigate Russian ties to the man they are using to push through their agenda to dismantle our government. Republicans do not want a democracy. Republicans want absolute power and must be stopped. Republicans are not doing the work of the American people, but then again, they never were. Let's start pointing the finger where it belongs. Republicans have done this to us and must bear the full weight of the blame.
59
Of course Republicans do not want a democracy; they want a republic, which is what we have, and have had since we won our independence from England. Apparently you need to re-visit history. And, it's a fact that Democrats have grown the government, such that it has more power and control over the lives of the people. Traditionally, Republicans are for more individual responsibility and choices, lower taxes, and a more business-friendly economy. Democrats are for more public aid and dependency. Yes, sometimes these goals are in conflict with each other. "Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; teach him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime." That's the essential difference. Part of our problem is that both political parties are corrupt, waste government money, and have their pet projects.
Immoral budget? You need to get a new talking point. Cutting $750,000,000 from NPR and PBS is simply ending corporate welfare for these two mouth pieces of the Democrat party.
Having just watched HBO's documentary, Cries from Syria (http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/cries-from-syria), I can't help but think about how all the military might we have can't be turned on our own citizens like Assad did to his people. Wouldn't that just be an extension of what this budget is attempting?
The shrill insistence that "the base relies on federal programs"....is delusional.
What people like Mr. SHear fail to understand is that govt spending is NOT decreasing.
Mr. Shear also refuses to comprehend this little fact.....even the people that preen in front of the mirror and tell themselves they are "liberal..yhud better than those awful commoners".....rely on defense spending.
...
Even so, this still does not clarify Mr. Shear's confusion. The bigger picture is note that the Federal Govt is no longer organized to run effectively, successfully in the 21st Century of Peer-to-Peer communications.
As the world draws closer together, Centralized Planning becomes impossible. Our 1930s Era Federal Govt System, based on the archaic GM Business Model.....no longer makes sense.
This is too much for the entrenched bureaucrat to accept....and so he/she along with his/her journalist enablers refuse...flat REFUSE....to adapt to modern times, retrenching back into a happy place called the New Deal (which is....eighty years OLD).
What people like Mr. SHear fail to understand is that govt spending is NOT decreasing.
Mr. Shear also refuses to comprehend this little fact.....even the people that preen in front of the mirror and tell themselves they are "liberal..yhud better than those awful commoners".....rely on defense spending.
...
Even so, this still does not clarify Mr. Shear's confusion. The bigger picture is note that the Federal Govt is no longer organized to run effectively, successfully in the 21st Century of Peer-to-Peer communications.
As the world draws closer together, Centralized Planning becomes impossible. Our 1930s Era Federal Govt System, based on the archaic GM Business Model.....no longer makes sense.
This is too much for the entrenched bureaucrat to accept....and so he/she along with his/her journalist enablers refuse...flat REFUSE....to adapt to modern times, retrenching back into a happy place called the New Deal (which is....eighty years OLD).
This is a budget to line the pockets of defense contractors, to to start a war in Asia, and to build Trump's Wall. N Korea and the US - two countries controlled by egomaniacs. Trump declared war on science, education, and literacy. The loss of the Corp for Public Briadcasting is a blow to education and unbiased news. It's the dumbing down of America and a blow to innovation and a strike at Californians who did not vote for Trump. Hillary Clinton's predications came true - all too soon. Trump's itchy finger is on the nuclear button and Rex Tillerson is his dummy. Hard to believe this man led a huge corporation. What does he get in return for his obedience? And Paul Ryan - the Trump cabal wants him gone? Darker and darker days ahead while Trump basks in the FL sunshine.
Lack of vision for the future. Lack of understanding of the current state of the country. Lack of care for people of the country. This budget by Trump shows the problem with having Trump and likes who have no understaning of government and governing a country.
This administration gets traction from its supporters through superficial sound bites like Paul Ryan's statement saying that he was "“determined to work with the administration to shrink the size of government, grow our economy, secure our borders and ensure our troops have the tools necessary to complete their missions”. Really?? Hasn't that been the goal of most of our Presidents? Supporters need to examine the issues beyond these trivial statements. These extremely complex issues have serious consequences if addressed through the devastating budget proposed by Trump which has no place in our country.
This budget is outrageous on purpose. Trump has several points in this budget he already knows he will concede on..that is how he negotiates. Meals on Wheels, the NIH, the CDC and education are probably the ones he will give on...there are probably more. This is all built in so he can be a hero.
It is all part of the negotiation. The issue now is to pull it apart, pay attention and make sure you catch all of the programs we really need to save or they will disappear.
This is a game to Trump/Bannon are playing.. they will laugh over the ones we miss or let go.
It is all part of the negotiation. The issue now is to pull it apart, pay attention and make sure you catch all of the programs we really need to save or they will disappear.
This is a game to Trump/Bannon are playing.. they will laugh over the ones we miss or let go.
1
I am thinking of sending a copy of Jonathan Swift's "A modest proposal" to all the repubs. They simply don't go far enough.
1
I observe with dismay that journalists are misreporting this "budget" plan as a effort to "downsize government" (e.g. Reuters). That is blatantly wrong. Overall this budget doesn't reduce government spending, it just moves some of the most productive and useful types of spending (research, environmental protection, community investment) to wasteful and useless expenses that are highly profitable for GOP cronies - border walls and the military.
The media once again is peddling unfiltered right-wing propaganda. In this NYT piece, Ryan is quoted calling for "fiscal discipline" and to "shrink the size of government" but his only comment on the budget is "that he was “encouraged” by the proposed increases in military spending". How on earth is that consistent with fiscal discipline? And Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, is quoted calling Trump’s budget proposal “a solid step toward addressing the gross overspending that is driving our national debt". The newspaper quotes this obvious lie without comment. Again we are served alternative facts by a media establishment that is either too uninformed or too timid to report the truth and call out propaganda lies.
The media once again is peddling unfiltered right-wing propaganda. In this NYT piece, Ryan is quoted calling for "fiscal discipline" and to "shrink the size of government" but his only comment on the budget is "that he was “encouraged” by the proposed increases in military spending". How on earth is that consistent with fiscal discipline? And Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, is quoted calling Trump’s budget proposal “a solid step toward addressing the gross overspending that is driving our national debt". The newspaper quotes this obvious lie without comment. Again we are served alternative facts by a media establishment that is either too uninformed or too timid to report the truth and call out propaganda lies.
1
If trump was serious about saving taxpayer money he would stop vacationing in Palm Beach every weekend which is costing taxpayers millions for each fling. Also his kids should pay for their own protection when they go on their flings in foreign countries instead of having the secrect service spending millions to protect them.
2
Trump's not risking anything. His base will be happy with anything he does, including putting them at a disadvantage and shifting wealth to the already wealthy. In the event that any part of his agenda sticks in the craw of the truly devoted, he will blame it on Hillary Clinton, or President Obama, Congress (either party).
I get it. Trump's budget proposal is attacked by mainstream Democrats and Republicans alike; it is expected and inevitable.
This budget spending proposal, however, brings into focus a crucial political economy question avoided by congress/society for a long time.
Given budget constraints and limitless military-social needs, how to allocate taxpayers money? the old guns or butter debate of the 1960s.
President Trump is saying military spending has priority over social spending. Congress and society will decide.
This budget spending proposal, however, brings into focus a crucial political economy question avoided by congress/society for a long time.
Given budget constraints and limitless military-social needs, how to allocate taxpayers money? the old guns or butter debate of the 1960s.
President Trump is saying military spending has priority over social spending. Congress and society will decide.
1
I'm surprised at the many comments that ask where this came form? Of course it was Robert Mercer, of international energy wealth, who elected President Bannon and VP Miller. There's no wonder there is no vision and deadly selfishness in this budget. It is draconian and defines the United States of America as nothing but an oligarchic state, with it military the pawn of Mercer, Bannon , Miller and Conway. . The wealth of the country is pushed even further into the top 400 families with this budget. Our society will look just like Russia, as Mercer and his cronies steal every bit of wealth from the US Treasury and line their pockets. I said this during the election, Trump wanted to get his hands into the US Treasury and he has. What 70,000 uniformed people can do. Russia has succeeded in electing Trump, with Mercer's help. And Russian has also influence our congressional runs as well. A silent coup for the oligarchy.
1
Remember the saying "be careful what you wish for".
1
Bannon and Miller throwing red meat to the far right is about all this so-called budget is. Anyway, executive branch budgets, and particularly budgets as ideological as this one, are DOA in Congress.
Focus instead on what Ryan and McConnell do. The Kochs and others of the rich class are the puppeteers. Whatever benefits them the most is what the Republican-controlled Congress will do.
Focus instead on what Ryan and McConnell do. The Kochs and others of the rich class are the puppeteers. Whatever benefits them the most is what the Republican-controlled Congress will do.
1
As Trump travels yet again to Florida to his resort, I wonder why no one is asking that cuts be made in the President's travel expenses? It costs millions of dollars each weekend he goes to Mar-a-Lago. Couldn't that money be used to support some of the programs he would like to cut? Maybe he should stay at "home" like the rest of us and save us the burden of paying for his luxurious lifestyle.
1
"risk" and "gamble" are not the right words. It's more like "the plan all along".
Our so-called President figures he will have enriched himself and his 'buddies' quite enough in 4 years. It could be said that Trump is laughing all the way to the bank, except he never laughs, a sure sign of a very damaged soul
Our so-called President figures he will have enriched himself and his 'buddies' quite enough in 4 years. It could be said that Trump is laughing all the way to the bank, except he never laughs, a sure sign of a very damaged soul
2
So everyone suffers greatly except for the military and his rich comrades. If there was some way that just his voters suffer, that would be a good lesson for them. Trump needs to go before permanent damage is done to this country.
1
How about balancing the budget by keeping the programs that help and enhance many lives, and increasing the taxes on ALL of us to pay for his big military buildup??
Big Bird for president. I would most definitely vote for him. If you want to put a smile on your face,close your eyes and imagine the celebratory rallies and parades in November 2020 (at the latest) when this is finally over. And he the margin of defeat will be stunning.
2
No one has mentioned ted Cruz list from last spring where he said to begin with people would be appointed to be heads of agencies to decide which ones to eliminate and which ones to be drastically cut funds for Everything that President Trump has signed off on including the Arts and PBS And the environment is on that list plus more to come. If you want to see the full list go to the Ted Cruz list of what he'd eliminate last May. It's all there and in detail
1
There is the old saying to the effect that give a man enough rope and he will hang himself. Is that what congress is doing? Metaphorically speaking, you could feel the tug to see if the noose was set when both houses of congress disparaged Mr Trump's claim of wire taps, they could have sugar coated it but they didn't, he is not well liked on the hill, everyone knows that, and with his pitiless budget his base, thin as it is, will erode further making it easier for the republicans in congress to find their backbones and rewrite the budget to hopefully be more reflective of America's core values.
1
This budget is consistent with Trump's America which is more disparity between rich and poor, more wars, more pollution, more inner city decline, and less science, less arts, less diplomacy and less affordable healthcare. This must be what those who voted for him wanted --- an angry, uncaring, uninformed and greedy America.
2
Since none of the reporters at the press conference asked Mulvaney where he got the data to back up his ridiculous claims about Meals on Wheels and school nutrition programs, we can only assume that it came from Trump's infamous "gut". Rural Americans will be suffering mightily under this budget and now they won't even be able to escape because Trump is also taking away subsidies for rural airports. In essence, they'll be trapped. Round them up, let them die, is Trump's motto. The more money for Trump. Eugenics at its finest. The old, the infirm, the sick, the black, the brown, the gay...they all have to go under Trump's regime. When we will awake from this nightmare?
1
I don't know why people are so surprised by this budget -- it is exactly what I would expect from Art of the Deal: Negotiate with me on my points or I'll burn down everything you hold dear. This is not leadership, and it is bad for the country. But is exactly what Mr. Trump calls good business.
2
Now I know that we are dealing with an administration that is heartless, cruel and evil. To take funding away from Meals on Wheels and school lunch programs and have the nerve to say that you are being compassionate is the height of cruelty.
2
We all need to sacrifice to sacrifice to fix the $ 20, 000,000,000,000 mess that Obama left us . Eliminate the funding for NEA and Planned Parenthood. We cannot afford to subsidizes art that depicts crucifixes in bottles of urine. Nor can we pay for almost 1/2 million abortions each year. Those days are over. We had an election. Trump won. Get over it.
1
My wife's family are working class from Elmira, NY. They are all Trump supporters who not only feel abandoned, but who have been. The good factory jobs that allowed the older generation to buy their own homes are gone. The most stark thing I see at family gatherings is the deterioration in the quality of life from generation to generation. Each generation's circumstances look increasingly dire.
Some commentators have asserted that Trump supporters will accept program cuts to the poor. It's true that the working class tends to be hostile to the poor, who receive government benefits that are unavailable to them. However, so many older Trump supporters have children and grandchildren who are poor. Cuts in programs for the poor will impact extended working class families.
Some commentators have asserted that Trump supporters will accept program cuts to the poor. It's true that the working class tends to be hostile to the poor, who receive government benefits that are unavailable to them. However, so many older Trump supporters have children and grandchildren who are poor. Cuts in programs for the poor will impact extended working class families.
3
I'm can't quite believe that President Trump had much genuine input into this budget. I am willing to bet he wasn't (and probably still isn't) aware of the many of the programs his budget prepares to ax. So who did write it?
1
Macroeconomics course:
Bankruptcy 101 - How to bankrupt a country in 100 days!
After all, who better to teach this course than someone who has done so on a micro/quasi-macro scale, no less than 6 times.
Ignore the possibility frontier, and discard all concepts of; guns vs butter.
Multiplier effect, Phillips Curve? Oh please that's for plebiscite.
We now shoot from the hip.
Bankruptcy 101 - How to bankrupt a country in 100 days!
After all, who better to teach this course than someone who has done so on a micro/quasi-macro scale, no less than 6 times.
Ignore the possibility frontier, and discard all concepts of; guns vs butter.
Multiplier effect, Phillips Curve? Oh please that's for plebiscite.
We now shoot from the hip.
1
And the Republican Party moves closer to political suicide in 2018! Trump's draconian plans for the Republicans is the best thing to happen to the Democratic Party since 2008!
1
I'd like to see an analysis and graphic that shows jobs that would be affected by these cuts outside DC. So much of the GOP rhetoric talks about "bringing jobs back" in industries like coal, but clean energy has jobs, the arts have jobs, scientific research has jobs, etc. Can someone please make it clear that these cuts will result in the loss of jobs and the economic activity these programs generate in the private sector too?
Only jobs created by demand in the free market can actually be considered legitimate. Many of those you mentioned are simply make work to appease the liberal base.
Mr. Mulvaney's comments, like the "tweets" issued by "president" Trump, are intended for one audience and one audience alone: the rubes, yokels and assorted outcasts that voted for the short-fingered vulgarian.
Fortunately Congress controls the purse strings; Mr. Mulvaney is as impotent in that regard as is the "president."
As for cuts to programs that will affect the "president's" base: that latter aggregation of voters is not terribly well-educated so they will probably not even notice, especially as long as the "president" continues his imbecilic tweets about imaginary "wiretapping" and his "accomplishments."
Fortunately Congress controls the purse strings; Mr. Mulvaney is as impotent in that regard as is the "president."
As for cuts to programs that will affect the "president's" base: that latter aggregation of voters is not terribly well-educated so they will probably not even notice, especially as long as the "president" continues his imbecilic tweets about imaginary "wiretapping" and his "accomplishments."
1
where's the return on our investments? example, the return on the investment to the Human Genome Project was was as follows: $3.8 billion spent, $1 trillion return to econmy! just think what the return would be if we spent a fraction of the defense budget. how are we going to get see jobs from military spending? VA ok take care of our veterans, but this is short sighted proposal to say least, need to be leaders again in technology, science, medicine and manufacturing here in US. We need a budget that is innovative and allow the US people to be creative and create new technolgies and companies, think Shark Tank on a grand scale, but focus on science, engineering and technology, this budget is not it.
1
ALL instruments of U.S power need to be strong and used to keep us safe, secure and vibrant! Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic (DIME), law enforcement and intelligence. If we gut the D, I, and E, we have set the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy where we MUST depend on the military. We set the stage for more world unrest and failed states and conflict and WWIII. If our only tool is the military "hammer," then every world problem will look like a military "nail" problem. Using the wrong tool will make the problem worse and create new problems. The budget has a short-sighted view of the world and of the U.S. role in it. Critical thinking and bipatisanship needed now more than ever! Tell your Representatives and Senators to stand firm and do the right thing for the country. Country before party. Encourage the moderates in Congress to work together! #FixNotFight
1
I'm betting Hillary and Bill Clinton are laughing at Trump voters upon the rollout of this budget. Thinking they are getting everything they deserve for being so willingly misinformed. And I'm laughing with them.
1
Correction: Social Security is NOT an entitlement as indicated in the first paragraph of the article. We've all paid in for as long as we've been in the workforce, so as far as I can tell, I earned it. Take a little more care, please.
2
Bone spurs were Trump's excuse for escaping from his military duty, his sacrifice to build beauty pageants and golf courses. Gambling and money laundering and now secret meetings with Russia. This is what republicans like. This is what Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell bow their heads and pray for to give up hope for world peace. Why is the nation so afraid of everything that it behaves cowardly to build the industrial military complex Eisenhower warned us of?
Trump has bred hate his whole life. He cannot laugh, he smiles with a chagrin with no joy. We've gone from a Nobel Peace Prize president to a hateful war monger locking up mothers and fathers in private jails as slaves and chattel who worked hard for the nation and in return are tortured.
Trump has bred hate his whole life. He cannot laugh, he smiles with a chagrin with no joy. We've gone from a Nobel Peace Prize president to a hateful war monger locking up mothers and fathers in private jails as slaves and chattel who worked hard for the nation and in return are tortured.
4
The intro paragraph on the front page calls social security an entitlement program. It "IS NOT" an entitlement program. Social Security is an insurance program paid for by the american people and the beneficiaries are the american people.
3
Some of the proposed cuts go towards small businesses and education which were helping people get ahead- ie get better jobs. Not sure how that fits in with trying to create more jobs. I guess the aid was for minorities so its ok to Trump to cut those programs.
2
The message cannot be clearer. We don't want any refugees from war torn areas of the world. And America is more than willing to sit by and watch these refugees and the people in places on earth ravaged by drought starve to death. And watch as seniors in places like Louisiana eat nothing because meals on wheels is no longer. Well I say...The press should begin a daily reporting on the suffering that will result. Let's see how much stomach the American public has for watching it every night on the news. Yes more fake starvation. And the next story should be to show Americans the news is sponsored by a man who puts ketchup on his $50. steak. America: the #1 heartless nation on earth.
2
I live in Ohio, grew up adjacent to Lake Erie and remember as a child when you didn't want to even wade in it. Senator Portman stated before the confirmation of EPA head Scott Pruitt that he had reservations about Pruitt's commitment to protecting the Great Lakes.
However he towed the GOP line and voted to confirm him. What did he expect from a man who sued the EPA multiple times and put politics above the Oklahoma environment while Attorney General of that state.
It is disingenuous of Senator Portman to now express concern that the Great Lakes will no longer be protected under the Trump presidency. Is he still expecting some concerned and compassionate pivot from Trump?
He is as complicit as the rest of his GOP colleagues as they continue to support this administration's dismantling of all that makes America great including our prized natural resources.
However he towed the GOP line and voted to confirm him. What did he expect from a man who sued the EPA multiple times and put politics above the Oklahoma environment while Attorney General of that state.
It is disingenuous of Senator Portman to now express concern that the Great Lakes will no longer be protected under the Trump presidency. Is he still expecting some concerned and compassionate pivot from Trump?
He is as complicit as the rest of his GOP colleagues as they continue to support this administration's dismantling of all that makes America great including our prized natural resources.
3
Charles Smithson
'Disingenuous'?
It's another Rob "Portman for Sportsman" lie. It's Portman covering his rear end in the classic Republican fashion: hide in the crowd of people casting stupid votes, get credit for that win, rise up in righteous indignation so the home folks know you have their backs, express outrage when your outrage fails to work, blame the Democrats when Colorado and Arizona hold a private auction for all the water in Lake Erie and get it at a huge discount because it has become, again, a cesspool of epic proportions.
You go, Rob.
'Disingenuous'?
It's another Rob "Portman for Sportsman" lie. It's Portman covering his rear end in the classic Republican fashion: hide in the crowd of people casting stupid votes, get credit for that win, rise up in righteous indignation so the home folks know you have their backs, express outrage when your outrage fails to work, blame the Democrats when Colorado and Arizona hold a private auction for all the water in Lake Erie and get it at a huge discount because it has become, again, a cesspool of epic proportions.
You go, Rob.
"A fool and his money are soon elected." -Will Rogers
4
i have often said that Republicans spend money like drunken Democrats. It actually takes someone who is not invested in government programs to make these kinds of cuts. look at the program that you are trying to save, has it really helped the sitatuaion?
If there is a problem in the are that you live in start a grass root program to help the situation that does not require gobs,of money from the government. The problem with government funding is that it is anomous and no one feels a connection to it, it appears to be free money. If you work together in the place where you live then people willl fell a sense of togetherness and it will spur people on to be more responsible.
If there is a problem in the are that you live in start a grass root program to help the situation that does not require gobs,of money from the government. The problem with government funding is that it is anomous and no one feels a connection to it, it appears to be free money. If you work together in the place where you live then people willl fell a sense of togetherness and it will spur people on to be more responsible.
"For Mr. Trump, the complaints from nearly all quarters may serve to amplify his image as an outsider who is not beholden to the special interests in Washington." This is a lie. Mr. Trump is beholden to many special interests: the military/industrial complex, Wall Street, the wealthy, polluting corporations.
The arts, social programs, the environment, the United Nations are not the only special interests out there. There are plenty of radical right wing special interests, now orchestrated by Bannon and Miller, and those interests will be the recipients of this administrative state's largesse.
And one last thing: Better than half of voting America opposed this president and the reminting of the "administrative state." Mr. McIntosh, your hearing is bad. You and Trump's "administrative state" have made one egregious miscalculation: contrary to popular belief, liberals are not wimps. What you hear is the noise of a boiling broad-based revolution to stop America's slide into fascism.
The arts, social programs, the environment, the United Nations are not the only special interests out there. There are plenty of radical right wing special interests, now orchestrated by Bannon and Miller, and those interests will be the recipients of this administrative state's largesse.
And one last thing: Better than half of voting America opposed this president and the reminting of the "administrative state." Mr. McIntosh, your hearing is bad. You and Trump's "administrative state" have made one egregious miscalculation: contrary to popular belief, liberals are not wimps. What you hear is the noise of a boiling broad-based revolution to stop America's slide into fascism.
2
Nobody knew that getting impeached could be so complicated...
2
No wonder Wallmart's latest publicity campaign looks like a dream-like Trump 2020 reelection add... Losers like to lose... But they'll always state that they won...
He will be reelected. Military vets and families will support the man who increased military spending. To them, slashing the EPA's budget is insignificant in comparison.
Is this Government for the "Common Good"?
Oh sorry, my relatives are from Europe, they learned to take care of each other and have a government that supported them...
Thank you Republicans.....
Oh sorry, my relatives are from Europe, they learned to take care of each other and have a government that supported them...
Thank you Republicans.....
Trump is too stupid to get that if he wants to be popular, there needs to be plenty of butter along with the guns, and way more bread along with the circuses. Usually this is how establishment Republicans kept voters' support: deep tax cuts for the rich, military build up, small money for the middle class (prescription drug benefits, mortgage deductions) and a huge deficit ballooning the debt. With ideological - illogical - Ryan, they care more about getting money to the rich than even maintaining their popularity.
1
Trump's budget cuts are not based on any sort of ideology in regard to those things he is cutting. His cuts are based on a crazy obsession of his to have billions of new dollars to spend on military hardware, lots of new battleships for example, that serve no military purpose other than that other nations should count then and see that the US has way more than they do.
This is what he meant when he said during the campaign that "we will be so strong that no nation will even think of starting with us". Of course the parties that are thinking about starting with the US are not those whom how many ships the US Navy has would make any difference.
Only people that are completely ignorant about what sort of threats the US currently faces, and will face in the near future, would think that spending heavily on expensive military hardware items is necessary, or will make any difference in regard to, our national security. And that is what Trump's base is, they are ignorant.
And so in fact last night on TV there were the Trump supporters from West Virginia saying that they approve of his cuts because out national security comes first. And the fact is that in these times national security is of a highest priority. However only ignorant fools such as Trump and his supporter think that our current national security needs are at all served by spending tens of billions on the military.
This is what he meant when he said during the campaign that "we will be so strong that no nation will even think of starting with us". Of course the parties that are thinking about starting with the US are not those whom how many ships the US Navy has would make any difference.
Only people that are completely ignorant about what sort of threats the US currently faces, and will face in the near future, would think that spending heavily on expensive military hardware items is necessary, or will make any difference in regard to, our national security. And that is what Trump's base is, they are ignorant.
And so in fact last night on TV there were the Trump supporters from West Virginia saying that they approve of his cuts because out national security comes first. And the fact is that in these times national security is of a highest priority. However only ignorant fools such as Trump and his supporter think that our current national security needs are at all served by spending tens of billions on the military.
2
Budget cuts? Let's start with the money spent on keeping Melania Trump in New York and the trips to Mar-A-Lago. The former is projected to cost more than the budget for the NEA. Then let's look at the budget for the military. And, finally, cut the budget for Congress's bloated salaries, health care plan, and other costly perks. After that, there won't be any problem delivering food to the home-bound.
22
Yeah, but he's giving back all of his $400,000 salary. And that should cover the next trip or two his boys take to shore up their next foreign deal.
Such a magnanimous megalomaniac! A real billionaire, global populist.
Such a magnanimous megalomaniac! A real billionaire, global populist.
1
This man is gambling with far more than a budget or healthcare.
The revelation that there is no evidence to the insane claims that Obama wiretapped him are grounds for impeachment. My alarm grows daily at an electorate and Congress that cannot spot a national crisis when it is this evident.
Time to stop being coy and playful about this. When has it been permissible for a sitting president to slander another president? And let's be clear; it is not a coincidence that the same prejudiced cretin who promulgated the Birther nonsense is now slandering Obama again in dangerous ways.
WHEN will we hold this POTUS accountable? When will there be serious --or any-- consequences for lying, cheating, stealing, and libeling, actions that imperil national stability? When does this Congress intend to get off the "business as usual" couch and do something about the greatest threat facing this nation in modern history? And that peril is not bad policy, per se, but the man himself.
What are we waiting for? The poor and sick to die in our streets? The nukes to actually start dropping? Dangerously inept, inane, and insane, he is not capable of leading. Impeach him. Now.
---
I'm puzzled that so many fellow citizens seem to be struggling with this, but I imagine historians will not lack clarity about the nature of this crisis. Those who do not stop this man are going to be guilty of collusion in our ruin. That is, *if* we survive him, and that is not remotely a given.
The revelation that there is no evidence to the insane claims that Obama wiretapped him are grounds for impeachment. My alarm grows daily at an electorate and Congress that cannot spot a national crisis when it is this evident.
Time to stop being coy and playful about this. When has it been permissible for a sitting president to slander another president? And let's be clear; it is not a coincidence that the same prejudiced cretin who promulgated the Birther nonsense is now slandering Obama again in dangerous ways.
WHEN will we hold this POTUS accountable? When will there be serious --or any-- consequences for lying, cheating, stealing, and libeling, actions that imperil national stability? When does this Congress intend to get off the "business as usual" couch and do something about the greatest threat facing this nation in modern history? And that peril is not bad policy, per se, but the man himself.
What are we waiting for? The poor and sick to die in our streets? The nukes to actually start dropping? Dangerously inept, inane, and insane, he is not capable of leading. Impeach him. Now.
---
I'm puzzled that so many fellow citizens seem to be struggling with this, but I imagine historians will not lack clarity about the nature of this crisis. Those who do not stop this man are going to be guilty of collusion in our ruin. That is, *if* we survive him, and that is not remotely a given.
141
It doesn't seem like enough will ever be enough. The wanna be dictator could be filmed running naked across the White House lawn and (Wayland) Spicer would spin it as a liberal conspiracy.
AhBrightWings, I like your nom de plume, and feel the way you do about Trump & Co., so do many, many others We have a process, which may feel faulty in this crisis, for impeachment and the 25th amendment. A case has been filed against Trump based on the emoluments clause in the constitution. The people are not silent but, unfortunately feel helpless, frightened, worried and alarmed. Our numbers are growing and able journalists, judges, lawyers, teachers, doctors, nurses, artists, athletes ... you name it, will put an end to this 'carnage'. How long will it take? Each of us can look for organizations that will challenge this administration. Actions also connect us to others that care about the welfare of the people.
As I see it, the biggest problem is that too many of us consider #notmypresident as a joke, a clown, a buffoon. We all of us in opposition have to start looking at him as the danger he truly is. My biggest concern is that when you get rid of one snake there is another one lurking in the leaves (VP Pence). Get them in front of a commission that requires swearing in, catch them in lies and IMPEACH.
Harsh, yes, but I'd rather have a balanced budget and strong military than waste it in dark corners of the budget.
We all will be paying our fair share going forward.
We all will be paying our fair share going forward.
1
We have a strong military and this does nothing to balance the budget. The negative impact on our economy because of this disaster will be felt for decades.
1
DR
It already is being felt as tourists and students refuse to cross our doorstep, businesses refuse to relocate, and the value of the dollar begins to tank except against the pound from that other home of conservative foolishness.
It already is being felt as tourists and students refuse to cross our doorstep, businesses refuse to relocate, and the value of the dollar begins to tank except against the pound from that other home of conservative foolishness.
1
Totally sick and disgusted over this lunatic . Absolutely disgraceful that this was the best we could do in electing a new leader.
Just about all of the GOP are spineless jellyfish. They were quite vocal during the debates in describing the antics of this dangerous beast, and gave numerous reasons as to why he would be a poor choice as President. Once he convinced enough naive people and won the election, they thought only of themselves and jumped aboard the bandwagon to make certain they received their piece of the pie. Absolutely no morality among this group.
GOD save the USA from this pack of jackels.
Just about all of the GOP are spineless jellyfish. They were quite vocal during the debates in describing the antics of this dangerous beast, and gave numerous reasons as to why he would be a poor choice as President. Once he convinced enough naive people and won the election, they thought only of themselves and jumped aboard the bandwagon to make certain they received their piece of the pie. Absolutely no morality among this group.
GOD save the USA from this pack of jackels.
8
Straight questions, no snark.
Over what period of time is the proposed trillion dollars in infrastructure money supposed to be spent, from where is the money supposed to come, and how will the projects be chosen?
Did any of Obama's "shovel ready" projects get funded? If so, which ones? If not, why not?
Over what period of time is the proposed trillion dollars in infrastructure money supposed to be spent, from where is the money supposed to come, and how will the projects be chosen?
Did any of Obama's "shovel ready" projects get funded? If so, which ones? If not, why not?
4
Good questions. Google or Bing or Duck Duck Go etc can help you in 5 to 15 minutes of targeted research.
1
Right, cut science, the Neanderthal non-thinking Trump is known for. Doesn't he know science was instrumental in the development of the hair plugs he use. What an idiot
12
"Takes a gamble"?. It' isn't a gamble. He never planned to do anything to help his "base": that would be those angry, white, economically deprived, men. (And this draconian budget will not even open their eyes. He only planned to use them to meet his real goal. He always meant to do something to help his real base: that would mainly be himself and the other 1 percent.
14
The Republican mantra, tax breaks for the rich under the guise of trickle down economics is a total failure. The Trump's Presidency will be no different from past failures of his predecessors. The rich will continue to amass wealth while income remains stagnant for the middle class and the poor will be further impoverished especially those in Red States who overwhelmingly voted for Trump.
10
By cutting health care our President Trump reduces life expectancy.
So he does not need to cut Social Security benefits; they will
decline!!
So he does not need to cut Social Security benefits; they will
decline!!
3
This is the equivalent of Trump going out and shooting someone in the middle of 5th Avenue. Will his uninformed base care, even as they are the ones being "shot"? Not likely.
7
"Gamble" is exactly how Trump can be defined. I still have a book dating back to 1987 and titled Trump, The Art of the Deal. I remember The New York Times had if in its Best Sellers List at that time. I wondered how such a bankruptcy-prone guy could be defined as a success-man. I thought he was a con-man back then. He has just refined his way of being a con-man. Unfortunately for the American People I so much admire, he's a very convincing con-man
7
Trump epitomizes the worship of force and the practice of cruel intolerance, an ugly spirit now emerging and taking hold in the US. It is the antithesis of securing a national minimum of civilised life ... open to all alike, of both sexes and all classes, by which we mean sufficient nourishment and training when young, a living wage when able-bodied, treatment when sick, and modest but secure livelihood when disabled or aged.
2
Making America a military dictatorship (again???)
4
Nothing left for the walls and military to protect if even a small part of this budget is passed.
5
Sad as it is to say maybe the voters are going to get what they deserve. Trump sold himself as champion of the Average Joe and the guy who was going to fight for ordinary people. Few of his base really looked at the real Trump because they were enthralled by the reality show Trump. People in his base love parts of the ACA but want to completely repeal Obamacare? Trump’s cabinet has more billionaires than any other previous cabinet and people find that troubling. The cabinet Trump has built are his peers and for anyone to think Trump can identify and the poor and under-served they are kidding themselves. The thought that people depend on Meals on Wheels, PBS and subsidized school lunch programs is foreign to Trump. People who thought Trump could come down from his Trump Tower and become a modern-day FDR are being shown otherwise. Did anyone really think anyone who made billions in the New York real estate market could truly be a man of the people? Trump is showing he is a man of certain people only thing is his people is not like the people who voted for Trump.
9
Over half of all eligible voters (some 100 million) didn’t even bother to vote. And this is the consequence. Voter apathy is tragic and dangerous
12
This is greatest mystery of American history, at least over the last 50 to 60 years: how does the GOP convince those voters who are mostly likely to suffer from the GOP's economic policies to vote for Republican candidates over and over again?
From what we know about the Republican party's actions over the last century is that they are no friend of the working class, the poor, the elderly and the middle class and yet these same people from red states vote over and over again.
You're upset over losing your insurance because the ACA/Obamacare will be demolished and yet you voted for the same candidate who vowed in his campaign to do just that?
Maybe they didn't understand that the ACA and Obamacare are the same?
You're a conservative voter upset that you voted for someone who vowed to take on Wall Street, especially those elites at Goldman Sachs and the candidate you voted for president has loaded up his cabinet and staff with many former Goldman employees?
The current president apparently meant something different when he said he'd "take on" Wall Street as he certainly has taken on Wall Street to help run his administration.
And you voted for a candidate who vowed to attack coastal elites and yet your candidate is the creme de la creme of coastal elites?
You get what you voted for.
From what we know about the Republican party's actions over the last century is that they are no friend of the working class, the poor, the elderly and the middle class and yet these same people from red states vote over and over again.
You're upset over losing your insurance because the ACA/Obamacare will be demolished and yet you voted for the same candidate who vowed in his campaign to do just that?
Maybe they didn't understand that the ACA and Obamacare are the same?
You're a conservative voter upset that you voted for someone who vowed to take on Wall Street, especially those elites at Goldman Sachs and the candidate you voted for president has loaded up his cabinet and staff with many former Goldman employees?
The current president apparently meant something different when he said he'd "take on" Wall Street as he certainly has taken on Wall Street to help run his administration.
And you voted for a candidate who vowed to attack coastal elites and yet your candidate is the creme de la creme of coastal elites?
You get what you voted for.
9
I would like to see Mulvaney's facts check on his assumption these were programs that did not work. I bet those Trump state citizens felt help for healthcare, education, and childcare would disagree. The people who voted for Trump should see him for the huckster he is.
10
My guess is that, if no supporting studies are available or are merely anecdotal, no funding was made available for adequate data driven longitudinal studies
Budget #45's costs to us taxpayers! Three residences under constant guard because his family doesn't care to live in the traditional executive way? Weekly trips to his favorite resort? coverage of adult extended family members' that are more private business than public service?
This entire administration appears daily to be an elaborate con to extract someone else's money
This entire administration appears daily to be an elaborate con to extract someone else's money
14
As an engineer who has worked for major defense contractors and is currently working for one again, I certainly appreciate the largess, but I can assure you that all the stories of inefficiency and waste are absolutely true.
5
Considering that Trump has never shown any gratitude or compassion for anyone that helped him get his way in life (except maybe his father), it was to be expected that he'd do the same with people who voted him in power.
3
Apparently Brannon has watched the Man in High Castle
Getting rid of them"useless eaters".
Is the compassionate conservatism?
Getting rid of them"useless eaters".
Is the compassionate conservatism?
3
Social security is neither a budget item nor an entitlement. It is more like the United Postal Service. The Social Security Administration collects monies separate in our paychecks and the money goes into A trust fund. It cannot used as general revanue. isn't it time the Times got it straight
7
sorry two mistakes -"From our paychecks" and "Revenue"
I think it's time to stop the euphemisms and the false unearned decorum, and start calling it like it is: Donald Trump is evil, and a liar. Donald Trump's supporters are stupid. Simple and to the point.
27
I am a Trump supporter and do not consider myself stupid.
The arts. By removing subsidies from these programs, those that are worthy will continue and those lacking public interest will not. I think it is clear that many public broadcasts are motivated by liberal politics.
Education. The cost of college has increased dramatically, and yet companies feel the need to hire foreign workers. It would seem logical that we address the issues with where those education dollars are spent and what incentives companies have for hiring foreigners. Perhaps we can take some of that cash that companies are using to build data centers and factories in India and Mexico and encourage them instead to invest in advanced training and mentoring programs that give American kids a shot at these good jobs.
We need to draw a distinction between "education" and "indoctrination". It's fine if people want to study this stuff, but I don't think it needs to publicly funded. And this is coming from an university professor.
Finally, liberals can contribute ideas to America's direction. Not by protesting, obstructing, violence or calling us evil and stupid, but by supplying ideas as to how we can improve things.
The arts. By removing subsidies from these programs, those that are worthy will continue and those lacking public interest will not. I think it is clear that many public broadcasts are motivated by liberal politics.
Education. The cost of college has increased dramatically, and yet companies feel the need to hire foreign workers. It would seem logical that we address the issues with where those education dollars are spent and what incentives companies have for hiring foreigners. Perhaps we can take some of that cash that companies are using to build data centers and factories in India and Mexico and encourage them instead to invest in advanced training and mentoring programs that give American kids a shot at these good jobs.
We need to draw a distinction between "education" and "indoctrination". It's fine if people want to study this stuff, but I don't think it needs to publicly funded. And this is coming from an university professor.
Finally, liberals can contribute ideas to America's direction. Not by protesting, obstructing, violence or calling us evil and stupid, but by supplying ideas as to how we can improve things.
James
I'll give you 'not too stupid'. Here's why:
The arts - you want practical, money driven, benefits-the-taxpayers? The arts are a multi-billion dollar endeavor. Science (if you're into that) demonstrates that even among non-musicians/artists exposure to visual art and music improves mathematic and conceptual abilities by a factor of a lot. The arts take cities from 'oh God I wish I could move" to" I want to work for X Corp because it's in Denver".
Education - No fair, dude. You don't get to gut education, hobble it with insane measures of performance and ideological purity, turn it into a political slush pile and then complain about costs or performance. All you Righties went through a classical education and except for your whack-job politics you came out OK. Rather, you became the most brilliant governing minds in all of history. If we pretend you mean it when you blather on about uniting the country and stepping as one into the bright sunset, public education is your only chance. Those foreign workers you're complaining about come from schools with labs, and equipment, and well-paid teachers who are free to teach reality. By the way, Trump is President (aaaagghhh!!!), you're here, and the Republicans run everything. So where's the indoctrination except in your fevered imagination?
Finally, that education thing? It worked OK with me. So don't even try the 'obstruction' con. Only someone evil and stupid would pretend the last eight years didn't happen.
I'll give you 'not too stupid'. Here's why:
The arts - you want practical, money driven, benefits-the-taxpayers? The arts are a multi-billion dollar endeavor. Science (if you're into that) demonstrates that even among non-musicians/artists exposure to visual art and music improves mathematic and conceptual abilities by a factor of a lot. The arts take cities from 'oh God I wish I could move" to" I want to work for X Corp because it's in Denver".
Education - No fair, dude. You don't get to gut education, hobble it with insane measures of performance and ideological purity, turn it into a political slush pile and then complain about costs or performance. All you Righties went through a classical education and except for your whack-job politics you came out OK. Rather, you became the most brilliant governing minds in all of history. If we pretend you mean it when you blather on about uniting the country and stepping as one into the bright sunset, public education is your only chance. Those foreign workers you're complaining about come from schools with labs, and equipment, and well-paid teachers who are free to teach reality. By the way, Trump is President (aaaagghhh!!!), you're here, and the Republicans run everything. So where's the indoctrination except in your fevered imagination?
Finally, that education thing? It worked OK with me. So don't even try the 'obstruction' con. Only someone evil and stupid would pretend the last eight years didn't happen.
2
Cutting the program Meals on Wheels, which delivers food and fellowship to elderly people who are mostly confined to their living space.
Cutting money that goes to Habitat for Humanity and other charities that build and refurbish houses for poor people.
Medicaid for the poor will be cut by $880 billion, taking away health insurance for millions of Americans.
Trump's budget director says these programs aren't worth the money.
“We can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good and great,” said the budget director, using the kind of words Trump would use.
"These cuts are sensible and rational," Trump added.
{{Military spending will be increased, however, by $54 billion.}}
Cutting money that goes to Habitat for Humanity and other charities that build and refurbish houses for poor people.
Medicaid for the poor will be cut by $880 billion, taking away health insurance for millions of Americans.
Trump's budget director says these programs aren't worth the money.
“We can’t spend money on programs just because they sound good and great,” said the budget director, using the kind of words Trump would use.
"These cuts are sensible and rational," Trump added.
{{Military spending will be increased, however, by $54 billion.}}
7
They are not worth the money.
I've spent years delivering meals to the elderly, for free, using free meals donated by restaurants (great advertising for them). My siblings and I have also taken care of our own elderly parents for decades.
Occasionally, we encountered folks who were clearly abusing the program and they were cut. I can guarantee that this vetting is not done with publicly funded programs.
We are not entitled babies.
I've spent years delivering meals to the elderly, for free, using free meals donated by restaurants (great advertising for them). My siblings and I have also taken care of our own elderly parents for decades.
Occasionally, we encountered folks who were clearly abusing the program and they were cut. I can guarantee that this vetting is not done with publicly funded programs.
We are not entitled babies.
Trump is becoming a great tool to the progressive movement. As his own worst enemy he isn't smart enough to enact his reverse Robin Hood agenda without burning bridges and revealing his true nature. For that alone he isn't a politician since a real politician would do it so well we would be thanking them as if they helped us. But the fact that Trump isn't a politician doesn't make him any less dangerous, it may be just the opposite. Let me be clear and this is something I hope the free media will soon adapt as their modus operandi, the time to hold back is over, Trump needs to be publicly confronted as inept, criminal in intent, a habitual liar and a servant of Bannon's fascist vision for a new America. Trump is not just a puppet of the rich and powerful HE IS the rich and powerful. His agenda to defund essential programs while supporting his Nationalist and Military program and giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy is a recipe for disaster. To go after senior food programs, public access education television programs, to remove woman's programs by defunding Planned Parenthood(for no other reason than to appease to the conservative right's insistence that religion belief play a part in our civil society), to removing the protections to environment, removing regulation to keep corporations honest and accountable and defunding science when it threatens oil and coal industry profits. The list goes on and the circus never ends under the Bannon/Trump regime.
1
Just a few hours ago, the Pakistan army and Inter-Services Intelligence, without an official announcement, placed the Pakistani press under total censorship.
3
One item I rarely (if ever) see mentioned is the fealty most republicans have pledged to Grover Norquist. The author of the "raise no taxes" pledge. When there are circumstances where this "Pledge" conflicts with the republican legislators oath to uphold the constitution of the U.S. the American people are certain to be the losers.
1
Trump's deluded working-class, unemployed and impoverished supporters will rot in the hell they've created. I couldn't care less what happens to these wilfully ignorant fools; for their own appalling stupidity they richly deserve their oncoming fate. But the worst thing they've done by electing this monstrous government is to drag the rest of us down with them into oblivion. Even if by some miracle this government falls in four years (God willing!), it will take a generation or more to undo the damage it will have wrought-- if we have that much time. Some of the worst damage will never be undone; we are already at the point of no return; in four years the damage to the Globe environment, epitomized by climate change, will be irreversible. Think about that for a moment. In voting in a gang of profit-worshipping sociopathic lunatics they blindly thought would come to their aid, fifty million knuckledragging morons may have helped to bring about the end of the world.
9
Mr. Trump may have a base, but he is without allegiance to anyone other than himself, the one and only person he has ever served. He loves the attention he gets from these people, but he thinks they are fools, and they are. They would vote against themselves on any issue, if in any way it seemed like the poor were getting more. Stand on a grocery store check out line just for a moment and listen to the comments that some people make when the person being checked out is using food stamps. It is a sad commentary when a bulk of our citizenry are stuck in an almost child syndrome in which the fear is that someone else is getting more than they. They have no clue about what it means to be poor. It is one thing though to be poor, but it is another thing to be "poor in spirit," and this budget, I think, reflects that malady and is quite in line with the prevailing sentiments of the base. This is a budget from the 50's, and we can only see John Kenneth Galbraith rolling in his grave as it moves through Congress. Once again we have forgotten the lessons of the past, only to fall victim to our own greed. Guns vs. Butter it is not. It is Guns and Butter that grow the economy, and with the loss of unions, there is no stopping the "Corporate State" from over taking our economy in total and only increasing the already existing inequality. All of this under the illusion of a "free market." We do not want the government controlling us, but we are OK with a few corporations doing so?
2
For decades, red state voters have voted directly against their best interests. Racism and racism alone is the only possible and very ugly reason.
5
That's possible. I am certain that many conservative voters turned out because they tired of liberals constantly bringing up race.
Here's a challenge. Keep a count of how many times a Democrat vs a Republican brings up race. I think we both know what we will find.
The majority of liberals are not racists, but racialists. Most conservatives are post-racial.
Racism means that people discriminate on the basis of race. By definition, any action that ignores race can not be racist.
Here's a challenge. Keep a count of how many times a Democrat vs a Republican brings up race. I think we both know what we will find.
The majority of liberals are not racists, but racialists. Most conservatives are post-racial.
Racism means that people discriminate on the basis of race. By definition, any action that ignores race can not be racist.
This is now a country that considers its children completely irrelevant- once they are born, that is. This is one sick, twisted and evil administration.
4
It's becoming as if we can't expect Trump to do anything rational/reasonable/constructive.....as if we can assume that anything Trump proposes is a no-brainer loser.
1
Trump is as cold, callous and cruel as the people who voted for him.
6
I know! Anyone who disagrees with my politics is barely human too.
I understand Mulvaney's budget has little chance in Congress, but just reading it feels like watching an attack on the remnant of programs that still give me some shred of pride and hope in my country: development funds, Institute of Peace, Woodrow Wilson Center, Corp for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, programs to help the marginalized. I think of the script for the film "Judgment at Nuremberg" when the judge at the end notes the evil done in the name of survival and he asks, "survival as what? A nation isn't a rock...it's what it stands for."
3
This budget has been brewing in second rate Republican minds for over a generation. It took a low information voter and a lying spoiled little rich kid to bring it to the fore. This may be the awakening slap in the face that true Americans needed after eight years of effective but rather boring Obama leadership.
3
Donald J. Trump & Paul D. Ryan have teamed up to provide Americans with KevorkianCare.
3
When will the Trump Chumps realize that the Orange Man in the Castle has enrolled them in Trump University.
$3,000,000.00 per round of golf in place meals on wheels and Elmo.
Security for the NY mansion instead of pre- and post-school programs.
Mulvaney claiming school lunchs are not a proper expenditure (last I looked authorized by statute and regulation.)
clean water and air are too expensive.
Food safety to inconsequential.
This the gutting of "government" that the minority voted for.
$3,000,000.00 per round of golf in place meals on wheels and Elmo.
Security for the NY mansion instead of pre- and post-school programs.
Mulvaney claiming school lunchs are not a proper expenditure (last I looked authorized by statute and regulation.)
clean water and air are too expensive.
Food safety to inconsequential.
This the gutting of "government" that the minority voted for.
2
Countries are made up of people.
What is the goal of most modern, civilized countries? I think it has something to do with maintaining and improving the lives of the people who inhabit it.
People who choose a government - local or national - that elevates greed over the well-being and resultant successes of themselves and future citizens, are doomed.
What is the goal of most modern, civilized countries? I think it has something to do with maintaining and improving the lives of the people who inhabit it.
People who choose a government - local or national - that elevates greed over the well-being and resultant successes of themselves and future citizens, are doomed.
Libraries?!? Who cuts funding of libraries - an ancient, peaceful institution that promotes knowledge and art?
Oh, right. The President who gets his information from Fox News and brags that he doesn't read.
Oh, right. The President who gets his information from Fox News and brags that he doesn't read.
8
Gotta love how so many of the programs Trump supporters use and need are amongst the biggest chopping block targets. Did these Trump folks NOT listen to Trump when he said he would SLASH programs? Sorry, they get no sympathy from me. They wanted him now they can reap the results!
3
As we pump more and more money into defense and border security and less and less into programs that make life better for all of us and protect the poorest and weakest among us, one has to wonder what are Americans so afraid of.
1
Since well before Donald Trump won the Republican nomination, we have been saying that his base of older, generally rural, white Americans of modest means and modest education would wake up and realize that they were being used dishonestly.
We’re still saying that, and the manipulation now is being directed from the White House.
Democrats ran a tone-deaf, lazy campaign in 2016. Somehow, we have to up our game simply to convince people of the obvious.
We’re still saying that, and the manipulation now is being directed from the White House.
Democrats ran a tone-deaf, lazy campaign in 2016. Somehow, we have to up our game simply to convince people of the obvious.
1
Donald Trump loves the 'poorly educated' explains the budget cuts to the department of education. Its lowest in 17 years!
4
Grants to local communities "don't do any good."
Ironic. It is precisely those grants, like Meals on Wheels, that have a direct impact on a community.
Ironic. It is precisely those grants, like Meals on Wheels, that have a direct impact on a community.
3
Your problem, jules, is that you're listening to a very, very bad man trying to talk about "good".
It's clear he has not the wit, the experience, or the desire to understand such a foreign concept.
It's clear he has not the wit, the experience, or the desire to understand such a foreign concept.
Reality check 72 million people on government assitance an job market continues to shrink 400000 people retire every month replaced with tempory jobs pay minium wage . Nothing last forever sooner or latter government cant sustain paying out an not getting any revenue from wages of minium wage earners
1
Trump (possibly with aid), is preparing a way to exit the office he occupies with head held "high". He will make his government and policies so impossible and so dangerous to too many Americans of all economic status, that his own party may feel compelled to abandon him. In this way, an infuriated DT will scream via Twitter tweet or some other mode of communication, that he is resigning, now, in "good odor", because his enemies have chosen to conspire against him. That no one but himself and family(?) have the gumption to act on his programs to "Make America Great, Again".
In 1945, Adolf Hitler accused all fellow Germans of cowardice and of having lost their historical chance at greatness . As a result, as he prepared to commit suicide with Eva Braun, he ordered the complete destruction and the scuttling of immense amounts of still useful German and "Reich" property.
Hitler killed himself.
Trump will just leave the White House,
claim he was "forced" to resign as he was the target of an assassination conspiracy(this is already being spread as a story on the 'Net".)
Pence
in charge, whatever happens; Trump will be able to claim innocence from disaster, or to be the real author of American military or other success: a resignation may leave him an opening to demand to be President, again. The GOP will still have a an Ultraconservative President , both houses and the Supreme Court-(which Obama was nice enough to simply pass to him as a good will gift).
In 1945, Adolf Hitler accused all fellow Germans of cowardice and of having lost their historical chance at greatness . As a result, as he prepared to commit suicide with Eva Braun, he ordered the complete destruction and the scuttling of immense amounts of still useful German and "Reich" property.
Hitler killed himself.
Trump will just leave the White House,
claim he was "forced" to resign as he was the target of an assassination conspiracy(this is already being spread as a story on the 'Net".)
Pence
in charge, whatever happens; Trump will be able to claim innocence from disaster, or to be the real author of American military or other success: a resignation may leave him an opening to demand to be President, again. The GOP will still have a an Ultraconservative President , both houses and the Supreme Court-(which Obama was nice enough to simply pass to him as a good will gift).
Isn't it amazing that the president cuts the dod budget by 30 some percent and okays a monster amount to increase to weapons and artillery? Can it be that Tillerson is going to sell it to another country or maybe use for himself? Maybe his shooting club. I've been someone who respects elected officials but now I doubt them all. That some of our congressmen held town meetings in their districts promising the very people who voted them into office not to vote with Trump, only to go back and vote with Trump. We are getting bamboozled every day. Lying to constituents. Cowards everyone of them. I hope their constituents check to see how they voted and let them have it. We either listen to lies or obfuscation or dismissed. Mike Pense rubs his hands together just marking time. Most think he is fabulous, but who wouldn't after Trump. Pense is an ideologue who's first priority is to reverse Roe v Wade as quickly. But he stands there looking like an alter boy. I'm disgusted with the entire package.
1
What kind of world do these people want? A world without fine arts?
A world where the economically distressed cannot get health insurance?
A world where seniors who are alone and disabled cannot get Meals on Wheels? A world where science researchers cannot fund their search for cures? The list goes on...is this the country our citizens truly want?
A world where the economically distressed cannot get health insurance?
A world where seniors who are alone and disabled cannot get Meals on Wheels? A world where science researchers cannot fund their search for cures? The list goes on...is this the country our citizens truly want?
2
It's just gearing up. This is madness and only going to get worse. Trump has frontal lobe impairment and needs hospitalization immediately and yet silence. Silence will kill everything.......
1
Anybody who is surprised by any of this has had their head in the sand for the past year. Trump is doing exactly what anyone who was paying attention knew he would do. Everything with him is a con, a lie, a brag, a myth. They only thing he ultimately cares about is puffing himself up. Have you seen any photos of him with his young son? No. Because he doesn't care about ANYBODY but himself.
3
Well, if you want to make America a paranoid, antiquated, backward, toxic waste dump full of sick people with no money, this would be how. It's primitive, regressive, and likely to be catastrophic simply because it's based a collection of buzzwords from the conservative mausoleum of thought.
The whole unquestioning, mindlessly recited GOP vocabulary for the last 20 years is there - "Bureaucracy", "tax cuts", "big government", "overspending", and now they're going to Disneyland.
These guys obviously don't even know what governments are supposed to do, let alone what a competent government could do. Even the most uninformed, smug, insular economic pedant would see this approach can't and won't work. The mindset of the Rust Belt is going national. You only have to look at the red states to see what's coming. This is a recipe for total national failure, with a 13-digit price tag.
The whole unquestioning, mindlessly recited GOP vocabulary for the last 20 years is there - "Bureaucracy", "tax cuts", "big government", "overspending", and now they're going to Disneyland.
These guys obviously don't even know what governments are supposed to do, let alone what a competent government could do. Even the most uninformed, smug, insular economic pedant would see this approach can't and won't work. The mindset of the Rust Belt is going national. You only have to look at the red states to see what's coming. This is a recipe for total national failure, with a 13-digit price tag.
5
"—He said that after-school programs had failed to help children in schools, that housing programs were “not well run,” that government health research had suffered “mission creep” and that grants to local communities “don’t do any good.”—"
Let me just fix that for you:
He said that THE ABRAMS TANK AND F-35 had failed to help ANYONE, that OCCUPATION programs IN IRAQ were “not well run,” that THE IRAQ WAR had suffered “mission creep” and that INVASIONS OF COUNTRIES LIKE IRAQ “don’t do any good.”
There. Now we're talking reality.
Let me just fix that for you:
He said that THE ABRAMS TANK AND F-35 had failed to help ANYONE, that OCCUPATION programs IN IRAQ were “not well run,” that THE IRAQ WAR had suffered “mission creep” and that INVASIONS OF COUNTRIES LIKE IRAQ “don’t do any good.”
There. Now we're talking reality.
7
The losers are plain to see, the bottom half of the country to include much of Trump's base, and then much of the world that will become a more unstable environment with the retraction of America' soft power and the emergence of the overt bully culture.
The winners are less visible to see until tax reform rolls into town, but this first round definitely feeds the swamp : this includes the beltway bandits composed of courtisans the layered cake of defense / homeland security with DOD, DIA, CIA, NSA and the rest of the alphabet soup at the top, a plethora of experts of issues and problems often of their own creation spending more effort smoozing, bidding, seeking ways to bleed ever more cash out of contracts before jumping on to the next gravy train.
The winners are less visible to see until tax reform rolls into town, but this first round definitely feeds the swamp : this includes the beltway bandits composed of courtisans the layered cake of defense / homeland security with DOD, DIA, CIA, NSA and the rest of the alphabet soup at the top, a plethora of experts of issues and problems often of their own creation spending more effort smoozing, bidding, seeking ways to bleed ever more cash out of contracts before jumping on to the next gravy train.
1
Donald trumps announced to the budgets of a board part of growth of the government's power. many administrative states plans $1.1 trillion spending where social society untouched, it increase the power of the american militarily and border security.
Before elections Mr. trump promised to audience work for federal forcThat could help the White House pressure Republican lawmakers to embrace his vision for a spending plan.
Before elections Mr. trump promised to audience work for federal forcThat could help the White House pressure Republican lawmakers to embrace his vision for a spending plan.
Cut programs that help the poor, elderly and children and spend it on defense. And this protects us from what? Terrorism? The poor, elderly and children don't vote so Trump and his ilk don't care. What happened to making things better and efficient for all Americans? Why does there have to be losers? And the winners are always the one who are not help accountable. Trump's supporters will get what's coming - and they will deserve it.
The Pentagon, by its own measurement, wastes more in a day than the entire Meals on Wheels program.
2
Please stop referring to Social Security as an entitlement. It is not. We paid in, and now we get a pension.
3
Where's the money allocated for infrastructure that Trump promised in his campaign? Don't tell me it's the wall to separate us from Mexico? Where are the public works jobs for Trump's base to rebuild the crumbling roads and bridges and inner cities?
Other countries like China are fighting climate change with new investments; the only green thing Trump has in mind are the putting greens on his golf course.
This budget shows how much Trump and his gang have contempt not just for the poor and the environment but for future generations of our country. How does this budget make America great again? We are now the laughing stock of the world.
Other countries like China are fighting climate change with new investments; the only green thing Trump has in mind are the putting greens on his golf course.
This budget shows how much Trump and his gang have contempt not just for the poor and the environment but for future generations of our country. How does this budget make America great again? We are now the laughing stock of the world.
This insanity is not only incompetent, it is cruel and severe psychological abuse of America's historical greatness. The collective anger of the American people will soon reach a point of absolute fury never before witnessed in this land. This madman and his henchmen will never be able to backpeddle away from this insane and outrageous butchery, posing as a budget proposal. "Insane" is the kindest insult of a word. Trump is pure insult that continues to insult.
Trump loses the popular vote and declares a mandate to abuse! It's "Gargantuan arrogance" from the ultimate pinhead of a fake president & con-man, enabled by his multiple henchmen of no principle or character. All, Unprecedented and Unacceptable. Childish and disgraceful behavior for any adolescent.
Quite simply, this will not end well for anyone. It's been obvious all along.
We cannot be that dumb.
Trump loses the popular vote and declares a mandate to abuse! It's "Gargantuan arrogance" from the ultimate pinhead of a fake president & con-man, enabled by his multiple henchmen of no principle or character. All, Unprecedented and Unacceptable. Childish and disgraceful behavior for any adolescent.
Quite simply, this will not end well for anyone. It's been obvious all along.
We cannot be that dumb.
1
Get out of the echo chamber. You're a self reinforcing leftist and it makes you look mentally ill.
Trump should do some negotiating to reduce the cost of defense procurement. Why does the U.S. need to spend more money than the combined military budgets of China Russia North Korea Iran Yemen Syria Somalia Pakistan? A businessman should run the country more efficiently.
Also, how about sending around 10,000 ATF agents to Chicago?
Also, how about sending around 10,000 ATF agents to Chicago?
Why stop there? I see no reason for the US to pay more for social services than china, russia, north korea, iran yemen Syria somilia and Pakistan. BTW, Yemen and Somalia?
The budget seems like madness. But what he really wants is an attack, he wants a war. There is almost no way for 45 to gain popularity, his approval rating will never reach higher than it is right this minute. There is one way, and only one way. 45 has learned from his friend Vlad that when you start wars you gain popularity and increase authoritarianism. The goal is dictatorship. bannon is a sociopathic, anarchist, warmonger who sees war with Islam as inevitable and beneficial. By tearing down the means of diplomacy and internal security, and replacing it with aggression and constant belligerence against other countries, these people greatly increase the chance of an attack leading to war. Russia has 2.2 times the population of France, 74% of GDP. How is putin popular then? He keeps his population under constant fear, and is always trying to start wars. He rules his country with an iron fist, his population is poor and miserable. And putin is really, really rich. 45 sees this, popularity, wealth and dictatorship. Everything he wants.
90
Four million people work for the federal government. Those funds being eliminated from the budget? Your job is going along with them.
Lots of comments already so a couple of questions:
I understand that logic in Trump world is an anachronism but I can't help myself, how does it make any sense to greatly increase the military budget if Trump wants to cut back on the U.S. military presence around the world and he has said that the costs of some weapons programs are too high? What will all that money be spent on here? Do we need a greater military within the U.S.? Shouldn't that bring fear to the back woods militias that rooted Trump! Trump! Trump! ?
Also how does it make sense to strip the flesh from the mice and deer in order to tack it on to the elephant in the room?
Isn't the IRS, them revenuers, the most hated agency among Trump's ardent supporters? Yet I am curious why the IRS budget is cut a comparatively paltry (when trillions are in play) $239M or 2% while agencies that help us have drinkable water and air we can breath and food we eat and protect us from over powerful corporations are slashed at a rate of double figures percentage-wise?
And then, after saying that we need to rebuild our transportation infrastructure the result is to slash that still further?
I know, I know. Logic and Trump are disassociated.
I understand that logic in Trump world is an anachronism but I can't help myself, how does it make any sense to greatly increase the military budget if Trump wants to cut back on the U.S. military presence around the world and he has said that the costs of some weapons programs are too high? What will all that money be spent on here? Do we need a greater military within the U.S.? Shouldn't that bring fear to the back woods militias that rooted Trump! Trump! Trump! ?
Also how does it make sense to strip the flesh from the mice and deer in order to tack it on to the elephant in the room?
Isn't the IRS, them revenuers, the most hated agency among Trump's ardent supporters? Yet I am curious why the IRS budget is cut a comparatively paltry (when trillions are in play) $239M or 2% while agencies that help us have drinkable water and air we can breath and food we eat and protect us from over powerful corporations are slashed at a rate of double figures percentage-wise?
And then, after saying that we need to rebuild our transportation infrastructure the result is to slash that still further?
I know, I know. Logic and Trump are disassociated.
2
Again, start asking: where are the jobs.
2
Trump is unfit to be president. So why are we the least bit surprised to see everything sinking like rocks? Trump does not have the education, the experience, or the temperament. I'm being kind in terms of not pointing out that Trump does appear to be emotionally and mentally unhealthy. His leaving is best for the country. It is just a matter of time, but this time, sooner is better than later. We don't need more Yemen. This country needs a "qualified" and fully "vetted" leader. It is never going to be Trump.
2
These proposed cuts are very troubling but not shocking. The shock will come when advisers like Mulvaney and Mnuchin convince Trump to backpedal on his promise to not cut social security and Medicare. As for the Ryan/Trump (take your pick) plan, it sounds quite appealing to healthy people in their 20s and 30s to not participate in coverage, but who pays their medical bills when they become catastrophically ill or are injured in accidents? Would anyone like to trade places with Shawn Spicer? He must wake every morning in a cold sweat and wonder how he will have to gloss over and deflect the inane statements and actions of his boss. When he spent ten minutes yesterday reading the "fake news" of the Times to defend where Trump got his information on wiretapping he had to be thinking that a job at a fast food restaurant would be preferable to fronting for Trump.
1
In my lifetime voting for a President, I have never seen a budget that is so lopsided. This budget reflects throughout history what Syria, North Korea, China, Russia, Germany, etc. Please look at what is happening to these countries. Germany and China has learned in order to survive in the 21st century you have to diversify assets. The USA is increasing a defense budget, to the extreme, that forces more proverty. Sadly, I see a future that forces working class young people and the poor to go into the military, so they can work. This budget is a screw you America and not foward thinking .
2
Unlike some of the executive orders, the Trump budget is the first step in a negotiation process. That process isn't new with this president; it always works this way.
What's strange about this particular budget is the draconian nature of the proposals. It's an ideological statement in that it says the role of the federal government is basically defense.
Social Security may be untouched, but a lot of conservatives think that they paid into it, so it's different from these other discretionary programs. They don't understand and don't want to understand that it has always depended on the current workforce to fund benefits for those who are retiring. They also don't want to understand that there are a lot of ways to make adjustments that wouldn't be catastrophic.
If the Trump administration does anything good, it may be that people will begin to understand the impact of eviscerating the federal government. I'm not yet confident that will occur, but I'm beginning to think there's a possibility.
What's strange about this particular budget is the draconian nature of the proposals. It's an ideological statement in that it says the role of the federal government is basically defense.
Social Security may be untouched, but a lot of conservatives think that they paid into it, so it's different from these other discretionary programs. They don't understand and don't want to understand that it has always depended on the current workforce to fund benefits for those who are retiring. They also don't want to understand that there are a lot of ways to make adjustments that wouldn't be catastrophic.
If the Trump administration does anything good, it may be that people will begin to understand the impact of eviscerating the federal government. I'm not yet confident that will occur, but I'm beginning to think there's a possibility.
1
I don't understand why we are accepting the narrative that this budget proposal serves to advance fiscal restraint. It doesn't. It reduces spending overall by a paltry $30B out a $4T government annual spend. That's less than 0.7%!
If the administration follows through on reducing taxes you can assume that revenues would fall greater than this and the deficit would grow.
This should be described only in terms of changing the mix of spend and not of a move for fiscal constraint. To reiterate this message is to fall for a rhetorical fallacy.
The dialogue should only be about answering whether the trade for increased military spending for decreased funding for these services make sense for the interests of the country.
If the administration follows through on reducing taxes you can assume that revenues would fall greater than this and the deficit would grow.
This should be described only in terms of changing the mix of spend and not of a move for fiscal constraint. To reiterate this message is to fall for a rhetorical fallacy.
The dialogue should only be about answering whether the trade for increased military spending for decreased funding for these services make sense for the interests of the country.
1
Historically, politicians seek out war in order to consolidate a base riven by economic problems.
The war becomes an honorable reason for immediate privations, and gets everyone's mind off budget squabbles.
The war becomes an honorable reason for immediate privations, and gets everyone's mind off budget squabbles.
4
To quote a song "When will they ever learn?"
1
A start, but not deep enough! And, before you all start on me just know that I don't have a job. (repressed 'flyover' state) Guess what, I DON'T CARE. My wife works and makes enough for us to make it. I/we survive just fine without government handouts thank you! Everyone else needs to learn to live within their means! CUT, CUT, CUT!!!!!!!
2
Wow.
So glad you don't take any handouts. But, the air you breathe,the water you drink and the food you eat are safe(up until now) because of the EPA's standards. That doesn't matter?
Guess you don't think about that.
Why don't you just leave the country since this isn't a community city you want to participate in.
Patriot,huh?
So glad you don't take any handouts. But, the air you breathe,the water you drink and the food you eat are safe(up until now) because of the EPA's standards. That doesn't matter?
Guess you don't think about that.
Why don't you just leave the country since this isn't a community city you want to participate in.
Patriot,huh?
1
How inconsiderate. And your it-doesn't-affect-me-so-who-cares attitude is nasty and selfish. You can't predict the future pal. One day you too may be ill and penniless, dependent on things like Meals on Wheels for your only sustenance and human company. Your bluster covers your true character, and I pity you. And, your wife works and you don't. Even worse!
I think your wife should be saying that.
Let's cut Trump's Meal On Wheels at Mar-A -Lago every weekend at a cost to us of $3,000,000. Our budget would then have something left for the elderly poor and his stomach might benefit from the lack of them.
11
Trump supporters would walk naked and together down the long, dark corridor to which he had guided them, to the showers he says will help him make America great again, look down at the bar of stone soap he had given them and think, "Oh, look! It must be pumice! He wants us to exfoliate!".
Once someone accepts the major premise of a demagogue, there is little chance of turning back.
Once someone accepts the major premise of a demagogue, there is little chance of turning back.
3
his followers are people who believe the myth that they are "self-made," that they, as white americans, built this country themselves. that's why they are so offended when people like michelle obama state facts such as "slaves built the white house." it makes perfect sense in their distorted logic that they are incapable of seeing that they rely on the very government their republican "leaders" seek to destroy. considering how ingrained their ignorance and bigotry is, they're not likely to change, no matter how much their fake president screws them; they'll just find another boogey man--the reliable ones--to blame.
1
I didn't realize that "Meals on Wheels" was Trump's idea of draining the swamp.
America is fast becoming a dehumanizing, failed state and the GOP leadership doesn't give a damn.
Next, I'm waiting for Trump to ban books in the manner of Fahrenheit 451.
Ah, so this what “Making America Great Again” is about. Who would of thought?
America is fast becoming a dehumanizing, failed state and the GOP leadership doesn't give a damn.
Next, I'm waiting for Trump to ban books in the manner of Fahrenheit 451.
Ah, so this what “Making America Great Again” is about. Who would of thought?
5
And Trump plays his fiddle while the fire that burns America begins.
3
Trump supporters believe he is a business genius, a self-made billionaire and plain-spoken man of the wealthy class who has the people's interests at heart. They believe he is being attacked by their enemy, the fake-news media. They will not believe media reports about his disastrous policies or lack of ethics. They admire him as the anti-politician willing to fight wicked politicians of both parties to bring truth and fairness back to America, making America great again. If they get hurt by his agenda, it will be felt as a wound inflicted by the evil politicians, suffered in his good fight on their behalf. They will not abandon him.
There is a reason the all powerful Wizard allows evil to exist in Oz. It is so that we may choose to follow the yellow brick path of truth and facts running through the bogs of lies and swamps alternate-facts, where munchkins are buying up what the wicked wretch of real estate is selling.
There is a reason the all powerful Wizard allows evil to exist in Oz. It is so that we may choose to follow the yellow brick path of truth and facts running through the bogs of lies and swamps alternate-facts, where munchkins are buying up what the wicked wretch of real estate is selling.
3
Yesterday you published an op-ed by J.D. Vance about his need to go home to Columbus (from San Francisco) to work in his hometown to improve their lives. His book, Hillbilly Elegy< makes one thing clear. Trump's base will not see these cuts as having any effect on them. They think that PBS, the CPB, the NEA, etc. are all just for the coastal elites. They think Meals on Wheels and school lunch programs only benefit the brown people in the cities. They have neither understanding nor appreciation that rural white people are the overwhelming beneficiaries of the programs Trump and the GOP plan to cut. And when those programs are gone they will never ever believe that they are gone for everyone, they will still believe that the liberals, the Democrats and now retired Obama are making sure that the minorities and the immigrants are still getting benefits even as they get nothing. And Fox, Rush, Alex Jones, and Trump himself will reinforce that belief.
1
A little more critical reporting is in order, NYT!
Last year's federal budget had $442Bn for "discretionary" funds...which is what we run the entire government from. And $520Bn, roughly for military.
Is the $1.1T proposal the INCREASE of the $442Bn discretionary? OK, you can take the $54Bn for the military out of the 1.1... but still, almost TRIPLING of the federal operating budget? And he's slashing programs?
The reporting makes no sense.
Last year's federal budget had $442Bn for "discretionary" funds...which is what we run the entire government from. And $520Bn, roughly for military.
Is the $1.1T proposal the INCREASE of the $442Bn discretionary? OK, you can take the $54Bn for the military out of the 1.1... but still, almost TRIPLING of the federal operating budget? And he's slashing programs?
The reporting makes no sense.
Just hope that the progressives are clever enough and dedicated to demonstrate to each affected constituency which specific program will be cut and what specifically will be lost.
I honestly wonder if Trump had anything to do with this budget. I can't picture him having the mental capacity or adult focus to actually read anything in depth. I have a feeling Bannon just came up with this and Trump, in his role as presidential sock puppet, just blindly endorses it. I can't shake the feeling that as reporters grill Trump over the aspects of this budget that it is the first time he is learning the details of it. I really pray we don't have a major crisis in the next few years because this administration will just not be able to handle it.
2
Lincoln’s maxim that you can’t fool all the people, all the time doesn’t apply anymore in our mass media, social media, internet age – another hard lesson of last year. Trump is counting on this. He thinks he can do anything he wants, hurt the poor and working class and comfort the wealthy and then convince his supporters that black is white and up is down and the he is for them. He probably can.
1
Most of these programs are useless failures and everybody except the liberals knows it. Government is the single worst waster of money and most of these programs have been constructed to attempt to buy votes. NPR? Why do my tax dollars have to pay for liberal propaganda? NEA? Art is fine, but no place in the constitution is government involvement in"the arts" authorized. It is about time get the nonsense shut down and disbanded!!!!
Perhaps he does not see it as a risk because he has such contempt for the poor suckers who bought his snake oil, and he figures he can actually do undeniable harm to them, and they will applaud his cruelty, even as it splashes over on them, as long as they are convinced he hates the same people they do. Without hatred and willful ignorance, Trump would be yesterday's news long ago. They are his friends, just as surely as the truth is his enemy. And that blank look of horror he gets in his eyes now and then is is a flash-foward, the realization that he can't run that game forever, and the end will be very humiliating, as he becomes a tiresome joke to Americans, as he already is to the rest of the world. What makes it most frightening for him is that he probably does to know which of his most horrifying past behaviors and criminal connections will finally catch up with him and where it will come from The Press? The FBI? Someone who leaks to prevent evil? A old video from The Apprentice or from a Moscow Hotel?
1
The answer by the Dir. Of Trump's OMB which justtified cutting meals on wheels from two a day to one a day because the program hasn't produced results smacks of the Reagan era budget hawks who assured us children wouldn't suffer when they cut back on school lunches because " ketchup is a vegetable". Women, infants and children (WIC) may also take comfort knowing their sacrifice (some $250,000,000) will go a long way toward balancing tax breaks for the wealthy who have suffered far too long.
2
This Mulvaney fellow saw no virtue in the Meals On Wheels program. Enough said?
6
I may be just a naive Canadian who's been on the outside looking in for the last 40 years, but what ever happened to... "By the people, for the people"?
Just curios.
Just curios.
1
HammerTime
I am not sophisticated in ways of Canadian spelling.
But your use of the word 'curios' is strangely appropriate down here.
Thanks for the post.
I am not sophisticated in ways of Canadian spelling.
But your use of the word 'curios' is strangely appropriate down here.
Thanks for the post.
Time for a revolution. The Fascist Trump would make Ebenezer Scrooge blush with his mean-spirited, very dangerous budget. Sadly with a Tea-Taliban Congress, the nightmare of this budget will become a reality. If ever there was a time to revolt against our government, it is now. The consequences of a Trump administration's policies are destructive to the country and the planet; we must act, en masse, to stop the wheels of Fascism.
1
Trump is not fooling anyone. All of his efforts at diversion don't amount to a hill of beans. Even people who voted for him can't stand him now that he has proven to be such a liar. Russia is going to bring him down, mark my words.
1
We are about to see social Darwinism play out in front of our very eyes. Or is it our own real life version of the Hunger Games? All I know is the poor will get poorer, the rich will get richer and the Trump supporters, the ones who votes made the difference in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are not living in the Capitol. More like District 12. Hope they find their Katniss.
3
By now, most people, those who voted for him, and those who didn't should know he does not have a clue about what he is doing. He is "scrap booking" a budget together with harsh input from alt right Steve Bannon who coined the term " administrative state", Stephen Miller who keeps pushing his alt right agenda , Tom Price and Paul Ryan who must literally hate sick old people, to try and take away so much from them, and give it all to the military so we can bomb someone or something back to the stone age.
People must know by now, that a President who cannot string 10-15 words together in a coherent sentence is incapable of prioritizing programs no matter what his ideology. ( Does Trump even have an ideology?)
Congress will get the budget and have to spend months restoring some semblance of a fair and balanced approach to allocating the dollars it is appropriated.
Trump voters? You wanted this guy and you got him. Tweety Bird. What an international embarassment.....
People must know by now, that a President who cannot string 10-15 words together in a coherent sentence is incapable of prioritizing programs no matter what his ideology. ( Does Trump even have an ideology?)
Congress will get the budget and have to spend months restoring some semblance of a fair and balanced approach to allocating the dollars it is appropriated.
Trump voters? You wanted this guy and you got him. Tweety Bird. What an international embarassment.....
3
Further suggestion for slashing "entitlement" programs: How about starting with the 3 million bucks the government must shell out every time Trump runs off to Mar-a-Lago?
3
He's not gambling; he does not know any better!
2
Where are the jobs in his budget? Sounds like he will be eliminating thousands of good-paying government jobs, federal, state and local, in all those agency budgets he's slashing. Hope they can find other jobs in the military-industrial complex where the money is going.
3
One of The only purposes for govt is the military the post office and schools. Cut everything else.
2
Signed,
The loneliest man in Portland
The loneliest man in Portland
that's 3. better increase spending on schools in your area.
2
This relentless onslaught of inhumane behavior will either cause people to give up and actually hope for a more efficient machine for killing themselves and fellow Americans, or it will provoke us to revolution.
4
Trump is supposed to be a businessman. Most successful business persons set priorities, leave what is successful in place and look for efficiencies. This budget does not even live up to that minimal standard. In fact it's quite the opposite.
3
Read the article, but other than the headline, there was no mention of programs Trump supporters rely on tht are being cut. Just a litney of the cuts. No analysis of who benefited from programs. Clickbait.
2
It is astounding how few services will be funded by this administration. I hope that everyone is ready to take care of each other, cuz no meals on wheels will be devastating.And that is just the tip of the iceberg. He has somehow found a way to hurt every American, supporter or no. Therein lies his unity.
4
This so-called budget by this so-called president is the veritable gestalt of the republican so-called mind. This is how they operate. I am not talking about moderates like Susan Collins, but hardliners, McConnell and such, you know who you are.
Because of Trump's bombast and wealth, the fault lines in the republican party's thinking are even more grotesquely clear: no more Meals on Wheels, we can't afford it, the government is broke. But it's ok (amid grumbling) to guard Trump's wife in her gilded tower in the heart of Manhattan at the tune of $500,000 a day.
Another thing: the military. The Pentagon managed to squander 23% of its entire budget on overhead, like HR and property management. That amounts to $134 billion. I'd say, fire the scoundrels who dare to be so sloppy and try again to make do. And by the way, the U.S. is spending more than the entire rest of the world, including China, on the military, and yet, republicans are telling us our planes can't fly, our ships won't sail, and our soldiers don't kill, all because they are lacking funds. Never mind that defense appropriates 54% of our entire budget. (Compare that to 3% for social security and unemployment, 6% for Medicare and health, 6% for education, and 2% for transportation.)
This charade of an administration is a disgrace. How long is this going to go on? When are the adults going to take charge and get rid of this clown?
Because of Trump's bombast and wealth, the fault lines in the republican party's thinking are even more grotesquely clear: no more Meals on Wheels, we can't afford it, the government is broke. But it's ok (amid grumbling) to guard Trump's wife in her gilded tower in the heart of Manhattan at the tune of $500,000 a day.
Another thing: the military. The Pentagon managed to squander 23% of its entire budget on overhead, like HR and property management. That amounts to $134 billion. I'd say, fire the scoundrels who dare to be so sloppy and try again to make do. And by the way, the U.S. is spending more than the entire rest of the world, including China, on the military, and yet, republicans are telling us our planes can't fly, our ships won't sail, and our soldiers don't kill, all because they are lacking funds. Never mind that defense appropriates 54% of our entire budget. (Compare that to 3% for social security and unemployment, 6% for Medicare and health, 6% for education, and 2% for transportation.)
This charade of an administration is a disgrace. How long is this going to go on? When are the adults going to take charge and get rid of this clown?
4
I am not sure where you got your numbers, but in reality social security and Medicare make up about half of the national budget followed by defense/security at around 16%. Source: CBBP.org
"For Mr. Trump, the complaints from nearly all quarters may serve to amplify his image as an outsider who is not beholden to the special interests in Washington"
Oy! First, the image that it's amplifying is not that of an outsider but that of a buffoon with an extremely shallow understanding of just about everything. Cutting diplomacy while spending more on the military?!
Second, no, he's not "beholden" anyone in Washington. He's most likely beholden to people in Moscow.
For goodness sakes, sometimes the Times is so milquetoasty, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Oy! First, the image that it's amplifying is not that of an outsider but that of a buffoon with an extremely shallow understanding of just about everything. Cutting diplomacy while spending more on the military?!
Second, no, he's not "beholden" anyone in Washington. He's most likely beholden to people in Moscow.
For goodness sakes, sometimes the Times is so milquetoasty, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
1
i doubt that his voters will ever know about these cuts affecting them.
4
It appears that Trump and his billionaire cronies are trying to burn the house down so that they can profitably rebuild it. Is anyone really surprised?
10
It's easy to see why establishment Republicans are so against Trump. Eventually, maybe not so much eventually as it will be sooner rather than later, Trump (and remember, he put an "R" after his name) is going to touch so many nerve endings in a hugely negative way that it will be years before the GOP can recover from his self-made fiasco. If the GOP stalwarts were afraid in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 that they were going to get primaries by the tea-partiers, just wait until they see just how quickly they are going to get blasted by the anti-Trump types in both parties. I've never seen this many Republicans not wanting to "stand by their man" since I've been following politics, and that dates back to my college years 48 years ago.
Trump has 35-40% of the voting public, and to them he can do no wrong. But his election, in the Electoral College, in 2016, was an aberration, something he won't repeat in 2020 given roughly 60% or so of the voting population still won't vote for him next time, unless he navigates a lot of "walls" of his own making. I feel confident more than a few of his 2016 supporters will soon regret their vote, too.
The establishment GOP will have their revenge on Trump, even if they have to give up 2020. This Trumpist movement within the GOP is just not sustainable... how long will it take for the public in general to tire of the tweets, the lies, the bullying, and the lavish Presidency Trump has established? Not long, in my view.
Trump has 35-40% of the voting public, and to them he can do no wrong. But his election, in the Electoral College, in 2016, was an aberration, something he won't repeat in 2020 given roughly 60% or so of the voting population still won't vote for him next time, unless he navigates a lot of "walls" of his own making. I feel confident more than a few of his 2016 supporters will soon regret their vote, too.
The establishment GOP will have their revenge on Trump, even if they have to give up 2020. This Trumpist movement within the GOP is just not sustainable... how long will it take for the public in general to tire of the tweets, the lies, the bullying, and the lavish Presidency Trump has established? Not long, in my view.
2
Very astute assessment.
If you are going to eliminate the Corporation for public Broadcasting then why not also focus on the other conservative dream of eliminating funding to NPR? I suppose this is bait for future budgets under the Trump presidency.
2
This pageant a limit its funding to NPR also.
The complaint came mostly from special interest groups who profit handsomely using the public as the front during the past 60 years. DT ran against the avaricious lobbyists and entrenched political machine and poverty pimps during his campaign with proposed budgets cut on the ever increasing size of federal government: he won the election and the election has consequences. His election proved that people may not vote for their own best economic interest as presupposed by this article. Mr. Trump might not have been completely honest in his life, but he is right on the money in delivering his budget to "make America Great again"
Our billionaire President septuagenarian, knows not the woes of being a poor, or a middle income, senior citizen as they don't have money, so they are invisible, and to Trump and his ilk everyone of us is divisible.
10
Eliminating before-school and after-school programs as well as summer programs not only deprives children of learning opportunities (and a safe environment) but it also eliminates meals that are essential to many children in poor communities. Shame on this so-called president.
15
On election night, Trump said he had plans for a $1 Trillion infrastructure repair program. The roads, ports, airports, bridges...all built with taxpayer dollars and all in need of upgrades or repairs. Not even mentioned in this budget. Is that because the next BOMB he plans to drop on America is a plan for the great giveaway of our infrastructure to the billionaires and corporations of his choosing? Destroy our health care and pension safety nets; give our taxpayer funded infrastructure to wealthy friends; gut our institutions of education, diplomacy, scientific research....is this what Bannon meant when he said he was going to deconstruct the state?
And WHY are we allowing a team of people who plan to deconstruct our country to occupy the White House?
And WHY are we allowing a team of people who plan to deconstruct our country to occupy the White House?
13
I have mentioned many times that Trump supporters should stock on ample supply of Vaseline because it will hurt when Trump reneges on his promises to them...hopefully they've listened, it is just about to happen!
4
Hope that mental health programs haven't been cut. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is in dire need of such programs.
Some, if not most, may have come to such conclusion by now.
Some, if not most, may have come to such conclusion by now.
9
I've come to the conclusion that his supporters are in more need of these programs!!
How can we as a nation support such a vicious open liar???
I fear for my beloved country, my sister, and I hope she reads this remark, makes fun of me because I fear what he will do!!!!!!
How can we as a nation support such a vicious open liar???
I fear for my beloved country, my sister, and I hope she reads this remark, makes fun of me because I fear what he will do!!!!!!
1
Social Security doesn't need to be untouched, it needs to be enriched and fully funded by increasing the revenue stream of incomes over today's limit and on income other than earned income. Kicking the can down the road is not improving it.
13
For his worshipful base, I don't think it's much of a gamble sadly... They are so confused the Republicans could blame Obama and they would believe it.
12
There were plenty of warnings not to Trust Trump. This budget is a low thinking, uncaring effort. It is as if they copied a conservative news blog column from twenty years ago. Beef up the military, cut taxes, destroy the middle class, all in one swift act.
11
Take my tax cut. Please.
9
Congress: give this exactly the attention it deserves. Reject it swiftly and without any deliberation. YOU have a country to run - nobody else is.
7
Will a 10 percent increase in our military budget make
a safer world?
Will it expiate the guilt of a draft dodger?
a safer world?
Will it expiate the guilt of a draft dodger?
9
As one of draft age during that idiotic war, who did not serve, I feel no guilt whatsoever. It was an interference into the domestic affairs of a nation that had been divided by foreign powers. Vietnam now enjoys most favored nation trade status. What was the point of prolonging a conflict that killed and maimed millions, while losing almost 40,000 of our own?
I bear no ill will against those who served. And you should bear no ill will against those who did not serve.
I bear no ill will against those who served. And you should bear no ill will against those who did not serve.
3
Don't be silly, he doesn't know the meaning of the word guilt.
In my opinion, Mr. Trump (and his advisors) want two things. 1. They want a war (probably Iran or North Korea) to promote his imagine as taking care of American security; and (2) they want a police state with the citizens living in a state of fear.
Now, I wish someone would tell me the end-game.
Now, I wish someone would tell me the end-game.
12
Would be clever, in war noone asks any more about all bis failed wiretaps, health insurance, wall, muslim bann. Not the first time a leader set focus to outside to hide innner fails.
Reducing the ever growing level of national debt is eany.
All the Government has to do is to cut spending on programs that we don't like while maintaining spending on programs that we consider worthwhile.
All the Government has to do is to cut spending on programs that we don't like while maintaining spending on programs that we consider worthwhile.
1
Nothing new here. Trump is just scamming his shareholders as always. And they continue to fall for it. In business he scammed greedy people. In politics he scams desperate, powerless people, gets what he wants then forgets them. Has he done anything for coal miners since being elected? Funny how he couldn't squeeze that big infrastructure project that was going to help construction workers and steelmakers into his multi-trillion dollar budget. Yet he put in billions that make Americans pay for a wall he said Mexico would pay for. Just another of many scams
12
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