If anyone wants to wonder why we continue to have huge deficits, this article is it. Anytime a President, well, its always a Republican President, suggests we lower spending, out comes the multiple stories of all the "victims" who will suffer the cruelty of not being able to have the govt take care of them.
Democrats and their media cohorts did it to Republicans during the Obama administration, when Obama exploded spending. The media crucified them. Trump learned from that, and wasnt going to give them an ave to attack him. But in the meantime, the ridiculous spending continues, with bursting deficits.
And no, allowing people to keep more of what they make isnt what is contributing to higher taxes.
Its the spending.
3
@Capitalism4Ever
It's the spending, alright.
The defense spending.
5
Safety net programs that are abused by people who don’t need them, people who should be working but don’t want to.
1
@Olivia
So 80 year olds should still be working after a lifetime of work where some of their OWN money went into Social Security?
That is not giving away money , it is OUR money. Or do you want to give yours to Donald Trump. Guess what? He doesn’t need it.
12
Let’s not forget the people who work two jobs and still rely on these services. The falsely the only people that need these services are lazy jobless people is getting old and does not evolve the discussion.
5
Yes, there is some fraud going on there, and it should be rooted out. Just like there is plenty of fraud going on with our tax system. No mention there by the Great ConMan!
5
Dems need to relentlessly advertise such budgets as our national disgrace of a president annually puts out, for the unreality and hypocrisy noted in this article. Yet they must also run on a policy program that's not based in unreality and hypocrisy. While my party may be in no danger of matching "the Great Divider" in these terms, it has to offer something better than the left wing does now. Too much change is as unrealistic on the left as it is on the right.
America has already lost the race where defense spending is concerned. Transferring a few billion from social welfare programs, where this money is making a huge difference to the poor and using it to boost defense spending will go only so far.
Even though America spends far more than China on defense, their Yuan buys far more goods and services than our dollar. They spend 100 Yuan on a toilet seat and we spend $900.00. Our medical expenses and salaries are much more expensive.
Even in infrastructure and educational etc. expenses they are far ahead. The rest of the world too is racing ahead. We are falling behind. We need a whole new strategy to come back ahead on to the top.
Our education system has to take into account the fact that emotional health (EH) is the foundation of health and yet we have no testing or manual for EH.
It is all because our experts lump the brain and mind as just the single entity of the mind. Thus we have cutting edge mind education while brain education that improves EH is not only missing, the brain is miseducated into projecting a trophy self-image. The miseducated brain leads to all these social ills. Crime alone costs a trillion dollars.
Just imagine with well educated brains how much money we will save not only for the government and also for the majority of Americans.
Our government must allot money for EH hospitals, schools and departments in Universities. We need to bring our brain education on par with our mind education.
2
There's an old Hindu saying: "When a pickpocket meets a saint, he sees only his pockets."
When Trump and Republicans of his ilk see immigrants at the border, they see rapists and murderers.
Others of us see families with children, desperate people with nothing in this world but each other, fleeing rapists and murderers.
When Trump and Republicans of his ilk hear "food stamps," they see a lazy person sprawled on a couch watching TV and swigging cheap beer.
Others of us see a single mother with two low-paying jobs trying to provide for her kids. We see destitute Americans whose homes have been destroyed in natural disasters. We see hungry children in towns where the jobs have dried up and their parents feel humiliated at having to swallow their pride to accept government assistance to keep their children alive.
America will be great again when we have compassionate people in power again, not mean-spirited, self-righteous cynics.
8
“We’re going to have a very good budget with a very powerful military budget, because we have no choice,” [Trump] said, adding that he was aiming to reduce spending by rooting out “waste and fraud.”
First, yes, we have alternatives to expenditures on the military -- including investing in diplomacy, foreign aid, international development, as many of our allies find when they make their budget allocations.
Second, now more ever, questions of what is "waste and fraud" have been politicized -- and the institutions to address them weakened.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), https://www.gao.gov/ was attacked for reporting that holding up aid to the Ukraine was illegal.
Whistleblowing is under attack. Federal employees such as the Vinland brothers suffer reprisals.
There are vacancies for Inspector General in multiple federal agencies. Too many IGs are acting -- as with many position-holders in Trump's government. In other cases, there are concerns about cronyism -- raising more questions about the independence of IGs.
How do we root out "waste and fraud" when we do not agree on what it is? And what institutions and individuals are we expecting to be rooting around for waste, fraud, and abuse -- and reporting to us?
1
This is a problem that belongs to all of us. The current president did not win the election, a percentage of the 538 electoral college members gave the presidency to trump and even if we eliminate them we will still have to deal with the republicans and their need to separate their constituents from the rest of us and make it almost impossible for for us to vote.
We seem to be headed to the 1920's and AVARDS can thank Cole Porter for our theme "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" and only part we're missing is "aint we got fun" .
1
The trickle down turns into a flood. One would never know that much of President Trump's budget is recycled and , luckily, dead in the water. However, the drift toward increased cruelty is clear.
Meanwhile, looking at the photograph accompanying this article about the budget, I had to stop and wonder, what would President Lincoln, our greatest president, think. He seems to be pondering things in the portrait about Trump's head. "Did we fight a wrenching Civil War to come to this terrible impasse", maybe...
1
Where are all the Tea Party members of Congress who were elected to save us from that spendthrift Barrack Obama ?
4
Do the words Dead on Arrival mean anything to the Trump White House?
Now we see the 'real' Trump priority: cut the programs that actually benefit the average person. Why don't his base see that they are the ones who are being hurt the most by Trump. If you look at who has benefited from Trump agenda: the rich, big corporations, Putin and other autocrats. The losers: the poor, our environment, civil rights and human rights. America could not have voted for a worse person to be president in 2016. Hopefully Voters have seen that Trump was a fraud and continues his con everyday.
Guess they figure they'll need a larger army to protect them from the starving masses.
It's the budget you might expect from a billionaire who fancies himself King.
1
Trump is a pathologically dishonest narcissist who not only cannot tell the truth but makes up his own versions of reality. His ego fuels his incoherent approach to every topic, so this doomed budget is just another example. Feckless congressional Republicans fear Trump but fear voter wrath even more if they pass his demented budget.
Trump exhibits literally every negative trait of human nature all by himself. He's ignorant, angry and vindictive. He must not be allowed to undermine our country for four more years. Yes, the economy is doing great, for now. However, it's not his but a gift from Obama.
Eclectic Pragmatism — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
Just what the nation needs:
More tanks and bombs and military bases, tax cuts, and tax-payer supported trips to Mara Lago. While just outside the gates stands a citizenry without access to healthcare, a quality education, affordable housing, and a clean environment.
Or as they like to celebrate in Trump's world, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Trump calls his budget "America's Future" because nothing says American greatness more than a poor, unhealthy, and under educated population. Ain't we got fun.
966
AVRDS, and his base cheers wildly as he sticks it to them.
93
He's simply employing the Conservative playbook now. Be careful for what you wish for Trump voters.
51
The problem, the lethal threat to our country is not Trump, nor the Republicans, but rather the American voter.
Corporations rule. Bloomberg will save us.
18
The irony is that by cutting health care expenditures to increase military spending, it will make America a more dangerous place to live.
1
"Mr. Trump said that his budget proposal would bolster the US military & bring the deficit close to zero in “not that long a period of time.”
Well America , its NOT like this guy ever went bankrupt 6 times & used cheap interest rates to pave his way to bankruptcy !
Is it time to dump the Trump-Kushner crime family & their abettors ……. or is it already to late to prevent the ruination of your grandchildren's generation ??
1
It is not "Trump's Budget." It is the Republican budget. They are forever and completely inseparable from one another. The Senate's impeachment vote last week solidified this macabre union of convenience.
1
What amazes me is that so many of the "Always Trump/Anti-Free Lunch" crowd don't even realize that they, their kids/relatives etc., are eating it too - Medicaid, Medicare, public education, etc..
1
And this is a surprise to anyone why?
1
Let's hope it doesn't get approved.
1
Looking at each item in the budget proposal, you link them to the Debt and Deficit. Both Debt and Deficit keep rising, and there is no mention here, how the problem will be addressed. There is greater emphasis on defense spending and border protection. How can they be more important and a priority over cuts to various public assistance programs? Gives the impression that the beneficiaries of these programs are well off in their lives today.
There is no mention about research and development. An important element to support medical and technical research. Addressing Climate Change issues continue to be ignored, while there is a growing concern among a majority of the people.
If the Affordable Care Act is to be replaced, there is no appropriate replacement in sight.
Overall, while spending is highlighted heavily, there is no explanation to support where the funds will come from. The last tax reform took away a sizable amount of revenue coming into the Treasury.
1
Deficits and character only matter when Republicans are out of office. If Trump truly wants to eliminate waste and fraud, he will resign immediately and take his gang of grifters with him.
1
Fat chance of ever getting any part of this past Pelosi. That will not happen.
1
How about an entire series on where our tax dollars actually go, NYTimes? And meaningful analysis of who actually benefits the most from tax subsidies? It's easy to blame the old, sick, poor because Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare are highly visible programs. But what about the less visible programs that funnel a lot of money to lesser known initiatives?
For example: infrastructure. We all pay for roads, bridges, etc., but which sector of American society benefits the most from sound infrastructure? From a healthy population? From oil subsidies? It would be enlightening to say the least.
3
The government can't be the solution for everything and everybody. Individual responsibility and taking care of your own circumstances is the best approach. Your day to day life (good or bad) is governed by "Your" own actions, not by Democrats or Republicans.
So easy to say when all you’ve known as a citizen is a life of freedom.
1
Trump’s budget is just another reason why he should not be President.
3
Once more: the so-called "cuts" are almost entirely curbs on growth, i.e., a slightly lower rate of increase over previous budgets, not any diminution from current spending. An honest headline would read, "Trump Budget Proposes Slightly Lower Deficit Increase."
1
Less than nine months to go till the elections.
This budget is nuts.
5
The disdain for people down on their luck fashions the mindset that abhors helping other people. First, the money given out is spent, not hoarded. Second with some help people people can overcome oppressive poverty and can re-enter the economic mainstream. Slavery may have been banned, but there are other ways to keep citizens down. This administration and too many legislators have let their greed blind them to what makes a secure and prosperous nation. Even worse is the added tidbits that seem to counteract the dragonian measures, but are a heinous smoke screen to cover up their tracks. Vote this crowd out from the President and the Congress. We don't have to wait to reverse their schemes.
3
In this article about boosting the military, transferring the money from the middle class to the ultra wealthy is a very important tangent — the Trump directive that federal building design should now originate from the government and not the architects.
From being Putinesque, Trump is going for the full Stalin.
Looking forward to a dozen 200 foot statue of Supreme Leader Donald to be erected all over Washington.
4
Eisenhower, the president who actually was in the military, upon leaving office warned the country about the ‘military industrial complex.’
Today, look at who funds the GOP and where priorities are. Defense, big tobacco, big Pharma, fossil fuel industry. They just pay them off. It is pretty cheap and they get a bonus, they pay almost no taxes. They leave that bit up to the American people who’s votes effectively do not count because don’t use the popular vote. Great system.
4
Trump voters increasingly remind me of a young woman I know, who is staying with her boyfriend despite a long history of psychological abuse, neglect, drug abuse, threats and control. Every month I hear more horrifying stories about this man and his abhorrent behavior. Still, she hangs on to him, unable or unwilling to see the reality no matter how many people try to tell her. Trump voters are just like that. No matter how badly Trump abuses them and their rights, no matter how he brazenly attempts to strip away every shred of social safety net that they so desperately need, they still stick with him.
I am in despair about this young woman, as I don't seem to be able to do anything to help her. I think the same frustration applies whenever we try to talk to Trump voters and show them that they are being abused, cheated and betrayed by the man they so idolize. It's a psychological dependency, like a drug. They will never see the truth, until it's too late.
11
We need to hammer this home and get them out of office. Military got us into wars we never finish and now you want to cut Medicaid.
My 30 year old daughter who has cerebral palsy is scamming the government out of millions.
We don't do anything for climate but we want a 15 billion dollar space force really.
Come on Democrats this is not hard.
I have to balance my family's budget get with the program Republicans
2
And this from a man who refuses to release his tax returns.
What is Trump hiding?
Stay tuned, the SDNY is on it.
9
This corrupt regime’s proposed budget is a manifesto aiming to punish Americans. It’s designed to please the top 1% and punish the remaining ninety-nine percent. It’s that simple.
6
"Tuition-free" colleges. An interesting idea...
1
Semantics matters! The story mentions increased military spending. The headline speaks of boosting "defense." Plesae stop repeating the age-old lie that all military spending goes for "defense." Nobody ooposes spending on defense. Many people strongly oppose drastically bloated military spending (never mind increasing it.) Much of it goes for aggression against conveniently selected enemies, not defense. If you swallow and repeat the lie that all this money goes for "defense," you are putting your thumb on the scale.
This is analogous to the expression "pro-life." Everyone is "pro-life." But people who use that absurd expression to describe themselves are merely anti-abortion (and misogynists.) They aren't "pro" anything.
5
But the master of taxation can’t reveal his own tax forms. So are Trump’s tax return still being audited? His accounting firm must be really bad to do such a poor job. Please let us know who is responsible for that mess.
3
Thank goodness the House is controlled by Democrats. Think Nancy Pelosi is going to do Trump and Republicans any favors? That went out with the sham impeachment trial.
3
Donald Trump seems to think that increasing the Defense Budget will make people forget his insults to actual current and former American soldiers. What insults you ask? How about giving Presidential Pardons to convicted War Criminals. Then there is his public announcement that there were zero American casualties in Iran's attack on our Air Base. This is Leadership??
4
And recipients of Medicaid, and those that would definitely be affected by defunding schools are proud to wear their red MAGA hats and vote for their Master.
Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will make hospitals and nursing homes go absolutely broke.
Making elderly and the disabled scared their only source of income, Social Security, will vanish, is cruel.
5
The number of US troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) after the Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq in January has risen to 109, according to US officials. President Donald Trump initially said no Americans were injured in the raid.
Do we really want to give this pathological liar and his sycophants a $4.8 TRILLION budget?
2
Another Reagan-Type Budget. I have been enduring these almost all of my adult life. More for defense and less for everything else.
Back in the day, they were considered DOA, just as this one is.
In the end very few constituencies are willing to absorb the types of cuts proposed in these budgets.
3
We are going to arrest deficit spending with dietary restrictions for the disabled and/or poor, AND by reigning in Grandmother's lavish ways at the Medicaid assisted living/nursing home facility. Let me see if I can awaken her. She left standing instructions to be notified promptly when being rolled by the CONSERVATIVE ELITE.
8
Congressmen & women join together and make this budget request fail! Do not give him the money. We are headed to disaster with the huge deficit and the wall must not be funded. It is a waste of our money.
5
I know, lets cut taxes for businesses, build a great, big wall and have my security team follow me at Trump Resorts at full rate for a third of the time! But hey let's make America great by raising tariffs, paid by US citizens and cutting superfluous programs for health, environment, education, food stamps... they love me those poor uneducated souls....
11
I haven't been this angry at and saddened by the federal government since the days of the Vietnam war and Richard Nixon. The only winners in mheaù odious tax schemes are himself and the 1%, along with the captains of industry who lead the defense industries.
The last round of tax cuts may have put a few extra dollars into the pockets of ordinary workers, but the vast majority helped the very wealthy and corporations, some of which pay absolutely nothing in taxes despite being large and profitable.
Trump wants to give more money to the Department of Defense, which hasn't even requested an increase. And they are the very source of waste and fraud which goes investigated. Imagine how much help could go to deserving low-income people if the defense budget was halved!
Trump is dangerously ignorant of knowledge of history and economics and it shows when he comes up with ideas like his budget proposal. It will be interesting to see what Congress does about it. The border wall is a ridiculous plan and should not be funded, not one red cent.
6
Trillions more in debt? NO problem......
The US can pay back ANY amount of debt. The only problem is what the buying power of that dollar is when you're repaying that debt.
A loaf of bread is going to cost few million $US when we're paying off those trillions. Look at Zimbabwe.
The problem is all the US dollars held overseas. When foreigners realize that the value of the dollar is tanking they're going to buy up anything they can in the US - for ANY price. Better to buy overpriced farmland, NYC office buildings or US companies at 50x their old price than get stuck holding worthless paper dollars. Of course that means that US citizens aren't going to be able to afford to live in their own country. BTW - China's already started converting paper to assets. Look at who owns Smithfield Farms and a bunch of other companies.
7
The usual imaginary economic growth that would nullify the growing deficit. The usual overspending on military hardware and the usual cuts in education and health. This man who understands nothing does not understand that the fight for survival, or predominance as he wishes, will not take place on battlefields but on accommodation to circumstances that have nothing to do with blasting missiles out of the air. And that response will come from education, research and development. How Republicans can keep on creating deficit while promising cutting it, is one of the most persistent political mystery or should we say falsifications. Like Trump's lies that persist in the face of truth.
7
So Trump proposes massive cuts to budgets that support American foreign aid and foreign policy and massive increases to military spending.
Sends ominous signals to the world about America's international intentions under Trump and undermines a lot of good and essential work that has been done, work that contributes to global security and wellbeing.
9
That a developed country still has food stamps, says about as much as you need to know! While the rich get richer than ever before, those in need now even get less money for food. Unbelievably sad.
21
Can you guess what Lincoln might be thinking as he gazes out and over the current officeholder? Whatever it may be, his composure suggests he's considering the long game. I'm usually too overwrought to hold that equilibrium.
6
When in Rome do as the Romans do...just spend money on every luxury hoping that nobody notices the looming accounting gap. The really rich deserve to be pampered?
When the serving legions return home from wars they may be surprised to find most people surviving on instant credit. How much longer can the central government borrow at zero interest rates? The art of the deal by Donald Trump....a high-wire juggling act? No safety net.
7
The headline here is: Cuts to Social Programs!
Medicaid comes first, followed by Medicare and Social Security.
I think everyone knows the slippery slope that is that if the Republicans ever got away with cutting one part of the safety net, it would be snip, snip, slash, slash until the whole thing was in tatters.
But, as a Dem, I have to thank Trump for bringing it up in an election year. One thing that might get older voters attention more than Trump’s tweets is talking about cutting into one or two of the links that make up the fabric of the safety net.
Remember.... Medicaid, then Medicare, then Social Security. Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security.
14
In most other Western democracies, Conservative parties are fiscally conservative but have accepted socially liberal policy. The Trump administration is fiscally liberal and socially conservative. The Republican party might survive a potentially awful Democrat Presidential candidate in 2020, but long term, the Republican party effort to cater to only wealthy citizens and destroy social safety nets of the working class and poor will not survive.
14
So the basic idea is to spend more to protect less of what needs protecting, the people who live here who need healthcare, affordable educations, etc. If we could only get homelessness and illness categorized as terrorism, both of which terrify a lot of people, it would be no expense spared.
One thing, we should change the name from Department of Defense back to War Department, as it was for so much of our history.
15
Social Security has the easiest fix. Don’t cap SS deductions on a salary of $137,700.
16
We have seen this movie before.
The Republicans, still perennial favorites with the voters, seek to spend massive amounts on the military, prisons, and a militarized, walled southern border, while slashing all other government investments and programs. At the same time, they offer massive tax giveaways that are not targeted at business investment and principally benefit the ultra-wealthy. They offer no funding to address global climate change or our dilapidated infrastructure. They are using funding to undermine Affordable Health Care (Obamacare).
By spending and taxing in this manner, they have again plunged the nation into hopeless, irreparable debt for the sake of their military and tax giveaways, after having refused to provide Obama with necessary stimulus spending on our infrastructure at a time when temporary deficit spending was needed to lift the nation out of a historic recession. Their pretended concern for balancing the budget was a sham and utter hypocrisy, and their deficit spending will not build anything or fund any program that will really help the nation.
At the same time, the Democrats are hapless at explaining to the country why the Republicans are ruinous, mean-spirited spendthrifts. For example, they have declined to propose their own budget, which could show the country how they would do things differently.
As I say, we have seen this depressing, appalling movie before.
16
Remember the GOP one the popular once in the 40 years.
If we lived in an actual democracy where one’s vote actually counted things would a lot different.
We do not.
why got all library and museum funding? IMLS and LSTA give us vibrant community centers in even that smallest towns.
1
This cruel and irresponsible budget proposal is what every Democratic candidate for President should be shouting from the rooftops about! It clearly shows that Trump has no regard for the middle class, and perhaps more significantly, the people who support him.
20
The new budget is blatantly anti-public safety. Trump and Xi have much in common, low regard for the disadvantaged in their societies. This is America not China. It will be interesting to see what Congress does with this latest trickle down economic foray of Trump.
14
Just another great example of how Trump and his Republicans aim to crush even further the 99% in favor of the 1%.
Pass a $1.x Trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthy donor and corporate class, while cutting benefits for ordinary Americans.
It is unfathomable that the 40% or more than support this president and his party can't see the obvious truth, which is that they have zero interest in helping the American people and 100% interest in enriching even further the corporations and those that own them.
18
So much for by the people, for the people, and we the people. Our tax dollars should benefit the people directly. Yes, I've heard all of the arguments like "for your protection." The actual evidence is by the corporations, for the corporations, and us the corporations.
Don't you love how the attack on the American people continues; if you are poor the wealthy believe you are worthless or vermin, therefore your children must starve, die, or become desolate. This is the Argument of the Republican party and its prognosticates.
16
Well, that sounds all kind of fun. I am on Medicaid (thanks, my Americans!) so where do we go from here?
Trump has never had a single problem in his life. Privileged baby.
I am still waiting for our big, beautiful health care plan that Trump said would be on his desk, Day One.
15
If you live in or near NYC long enough, you'll eventually meet someone who trump has either directly or indirectly cheated -- bankers, lawyers, contractors, casino workers, realtors, hotel & restaurant staff, city officials, tenants... you name it. Is it any wonder that with the help of the GOP, trump is now gleefully cheating the American people?
19
In Africa they catch monkeys by putting a banana in a big bottle and hiding out of sight. The monkey reaches into the bottle and grabs the banana, and then the trapper bursts out of hiding. All the monkey needs to do to escape is to let go of the banana -- but he won't ... and that's how he's trapped.
Trump and his cultists are angry because they're unhappy. They're unhappy because they're selfish. All they have to do to escape their unhappiness is to let go of their selfishness -- but they won't ... and that's how they're trapped.
24
@GFE Great comment. Very accurate!
2
Imagine if you said this about Obama.
4
@Amy
It doesn't apply to him. As for the racist innuendos, I'll leave them to you and Limbaugh.
1
Nothing new here.
He's incapable of an original thought.
Rerun redux.
7
This is the fundamental reason we must vote Trump out!! Guns and butter.. no butter( infrastructure problems, Social security,,healthcare) just guns guns guns.. ( defense spending) and all on borrowed money?? - well, let them eat cake!
8
Excellent, and the increase in the defense budget can be used to manufacture or buy and deploy landmines! It is beyond belief that a civilized (?) country is making a U-turn on the deployment of landmines.
Is it really only about unwinding everything Obama did, or is the current occupant of the White House really such a bad person? Let's hope that the voters will get that call right come November.
3
@UB Trump is largely motivated by cruelty, spite and greed. Not much else. He always has been and always will be an evil and corrupt man. And now he has the spineless Republicans in his pocket.
13
No more socialism. End handouts to MAGA welfare farmers and ranchers and demand repayment of subsidies for the last 100 years.
13
@T. Rivers So in other words, farmers are benefitting from Trump's socialism -- the very same socialism they incorrectly assume should be attributed to any and all Democrats.
6
Red Song
I always vote Republican
It makes me feel so good
On my stout and sturdy legs
I’ve proudly always stood
Don’t have any health care
Never went to school
Couldn’t pay for either
No worries, it’s cool!
Don’t want to be a Socialist
A fate that’s worse than death
I’d rather be a capitalist
Unschooled and in ill health!
18
So education is considered a "discretionary" program? That explains a lot ...
18
Just when you think the reality of the current administration couldn't get any more apocalyptic, it does.
Indeed, we need more money for er... 'defense'...you know...with so many other countries wanting to invade us, colonize us, rape and pillage, etc.
6
@Lisa we have repubs for that.
[[President Trump released a $4.8 trillion budget proposal on Monday that includes a familiar list of deep cuts to student loan assistance, affordable housing efforts, food stamps and Medicaid, reflecting Mr. Trump’s election-year effort to continue shrinking the federal safety net.]]
Good. More verbal ammunition for the dems.
6
No body in my family wants this administration. People are turning their backs on the GOP.
13
What happened to infrastructure?
13
The near future - America, third world country, but with the biggest military might in the world. Oh, I forgot, the richest 1% in the world, everyone else can live in cardboard boxes.
15
@Andromeda5 Thanks to trump and the Republican party, we are well on our way to becoming a banana republic.
8
@Roberta It looks very much like a banana republic already, I'm desperately unhappy to see it, not only for America, but where they lead other western countries follow. Already you see the same tactics Trump uses being used in the UK and Australia. The most saddest thing of all is so much of the country is behind Trump which means it is unlikely to be fixed or improved. If a country can't look after its poor and unfortunate, it's going to be a terrible place to live, full of poverty, misery, drugs, crime and death. Some of those poor will be middle-class people who have an accident or momentary glitch which will unnecessarily take them down forever. Who would want to live alongside such suffering, even if you're not one of the unfortunate ones?
3
Pelosi might need some garden shears for this but it is sure as the Pope being Catholic that she will rip the budget proposal to shreds.
And Trump, being the ultimate snowflake, will send out some misspelled 3 AM tweet from the toilet.
23
Once upon a time there was a French Revolution with similar seeds to it. L'etat c'est moi; apres moi, le deluge and meanwhile let them eat cake.
6
So I see many conservatives or supporters of this plan praising it for cutting waste and fraud and giving it to the military (who apparently is 100% efficient).
Hang on, didn't someone in the White House say that they need to reduce our military commitments worldwide and focus on American infrastructure, helping the disadvantaged, etc.....gee, where did that all go? So tell me, why is there a need to increase our military budget if the plan was to reduce its deployments?
And I'm amazed at how people can frame helping the poor and vulnerable as a bad thing. What happened to Matthew 25:35-40?
And hold on, didn't Trump give a massive aid package to our farmers who were impacted by his tariff plan......so it's ok to help these people thanks to a problem caused by Trump, but the poor and disadvantaged can go pull themselves up by their own bootstraps when they have no boots?
25
@Jon K Trump and Republicans expect poor people to be honest and not lie in order to get food stamps or health care, but Trump can try to extort a foreign government for his own personal gain and the GOP views it as "beneficial to the public interest". Such self-righteous hypocrisy.
11
Remember when Trump promised in his campaign to eliminate student loan debt? That’s the lie that I remember best.
18
@CB you're good. with so many lies, how did you remember one.
A shrinking, powerless middle class; high concentrations of wealth in a wealthy elite oligarchy that does not answer to the majority of people;no safety net, leading to limitless poverty for many millions, perhaps even leading to shantytowns for those with nowhere else to go; and a bloated, insatiable military. How is Trump's vision not Third World?
29
If Democrats can capitalize on these draconian measures by keeping their message simple — by keep hammering away on how it will drastically hit those who currently support the White House occupant. Keep the message simple. At every opportunity, repeat the message on
laser focused on how it devastate the very constituents that he allegedly defends and supports. Of course, it will disproportionately hurt the most vulnerable, but that message doesn’t win the swing voters needed to win the six swing states essential to an electoral college victory.
11
Here are the six swing states, the Medicaid population in each and the margin by which trump won. We need to get the Medicaid vote out. Just getting 2-5 percent of that population voting blue will do the trick.
Florida 3.4 million on Medicaid; margin of victory 114,000 votes
Pennsylvania 2.7 million; margin 68000
Michigan 2.2 million on Medicaid; margin 13000
Minnesota 1 million; margin 44000
Wisconsin 1 million; margin 27300 votes
New Hampshire 162,000; margin 2700 votes
11
When are we going to register all the people on food stamps and Medicaid (70 million on Medicaid alone) and get them to vote?
17
I have used those programs in the past.
I alw vote.
5
Great! Now we need ALL using these programs to vote!
6
@Shyamela
Who says some are not already registered, politically engaged somehow and voting?
Thank you.
Please do not stereotype people. It has a feel of Trump"ing" people.
7
Trump wants a lot of money for NASA. How much of that is earmarked for contracts to his big donors? We have been to the moon, didnt see anything or learn anything. This budget is a slap in the face of middle class Americans and the military families who are now having to pay for their prescriptions. Those Trump voters yelling crazy stuff dont even know what a federal budget is. Let'm sit in the ER for 6 hours because they have no health insurance. They deserve it.
10
Do his supporters really have any clue what he has done and what he wants to do? They need to snap out of it.
18
This budget proposal's draconian cuts to domestic spending will most assuredly not be adopted this year as the Democrats control the House.
But it is the blue print for the following year's budget when the likely Trump landslide re-election takes place thus holding onto the Senate and putting the House back under Republican control.
The Democrats are fast self-immolating their electoral chances by moving rapidly towards nominating a no-hoper candidate who has no appeal whatsoever to the vast middle-of-the-road voting population.
There is an electoral debacle in the making such that this horrid budget proposal will become a reality in 2021.
The "activists" in control of the Democratic primary process are headed to the reaping of a whirlwind of disaster.
1
Two words: Amy Klobuchar
3
Perhaps he could cut back on visits to his properties and his progeny flying around the world on our money while doing personal business.
28
If the Dems can’t win against this Pres and this plan, we’re doomed
22
Here is a bit of reality:
DJT himself doesn't even know what is in His own budget.
Just as long as it includes money for his Mexican Wall and cuts down anything that is Obama. The "Jack-a-Lantern" is fine with it. Just being real.
24
Let’s see how firmly Trump’s barnacles cling to him after he gives them this kick in the teeth.
10
By overspending on the Pentagon, they will always have money to spare when you raid their accounts under the guise of a "National Emergency" for your pet projects that Congress won't allocate money for -- like your border wall.
12
Trump creates a huge deficit, and we pay for it; along with costs for his personal rallies, golf trips every week, super bowl parties, etc. There are a lot of us who raised children alone on one income, through serious illness, and often with extra jobs, and barely got by. We paid into the system with every paycheck, and stretched the rest of it as well as we could. I never expected I would retire comfortably, and still would have to pinch every penny to exist. I knew there would be copays with Medicare, and like many others, prayed that I could make it work. Because I worked so much, I knew I would have more each month than many others, and I was grateful for that. I have 4 wonderful daughters that are contributing members of society, and very good humans. 5 adorable grandkids, and 3 great son in laws. They do ok financially, but aren't wealthy. It was never my plan to be be a burden, and I will not be in that position. Ever. If that orange grifter gasbag cuts Social Security and Medicare, I'll be on the street, along with a million others! If he cuts Medicaid, children will suffer the most! I want this to be the country of my childhood again. The one where the Golden rule was the main rule. When the President didn't have a gang of thieves, and children didn't do active shooter drills at school, or go hungry! Is that so much to ask???
23
It is not. All you have to do is convince the MAGA crowd of the reasons America *was* actually great back then -- and point out how Trump is doing nothing at all to foster those kinds of greatness. Easier said than done, I realize!
3
@Barb Well stated. Thank you!
3
The Trump budget was obviously crafted as if the only enemies that are a real threat to the American people are those that can be vanquished by military force.
4
Trump’s budget is pie in the sky. It has no tie to reality. Every year he asks for the wall and eliminates the EPA. The reporter who writes about it is told to smoke weed and is encouraged to give the most significance to the least sensible of Trump’s proposals.
2
It seems clear that trump is ingratiating himself with the military in order to use them, when the time comes, to take complete and total control of this country. In the meantime, he cuts programs that provide aid to the most vulnerable of our citizens, because they’re just in his way as he claws his way to a perverted “greatness.”
5
At the risk of sounding like a bad American, my hope is that the Trump voters are first in line to feel the pain should their Medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers are discontinued. But the question is, will they understand that this is Trump’s (and the GOP Senators) doing, not Hillary or Obama? Not holding my breath.
17
I have no hope for that set of voters realizing anything. People on government programs here don’t realize the aid is from the government. But perhaps the ads from Bloomberg will educate them.
7
@EveBreeze : Nope. The dumpsters will lose everything and still won't be able to add 1+1. I am around some dumpsters and they do stand to lose quite a bit - particularly the bit that President Obama made happen in their lives much to their wellbeing and advantage. Dump will rip it out from under their feet, they'll be left sick, broke, hungry and homeless - but I guarantee you, in their limited minds, it will be President Obama or Candidate Clinton who caused it. And none of us will be able to reason with dumpsters - one cannot now and never will. All I can say is - as long as I get to watch them be pushed over the cliff first before the rest of us are - at least some satisfaction in a country as lost and hopeless as the US is.
8
He thinks that giving more money for military spending negates cutting money for social and safety net programs?
What happened to the Republcans being the party of fiscal responsibility and low deficits?
With all of corporate tax breaks and billions in subsidies to make up for his misguided and jacked up no brain policies, it is no wonder our deficit is growing every minute.
Note to Trump and minions:
These cuts hurt some of the very people who voted for you.. I ain't one of them.
I recall reading an article about health care soon after the ACA was passed. People in geographical areas that had not voted for Obama were asked how their health had improved since the ACA passage.
Overwhelmingly, they responded that their mental well being had improved simply because now they could visit a doctor.
Trump is on shakey ground on this and other policies. The Dems have to capitalize on that.
6
some of the cuts are justified as those previously long term unemployed have more opportunity finding productive paying work today.
The headline of this piece suggests the more folks needing aid is a good thing.
1
Obama helped the wrong ones, like financial institutions, auto industry... About 8.7 million people lost their jobs,. Also because of the subprime Mortgages about 10 million people lost their home. This is absolutely crazy. Instead of helping American citizens,to keep their homes, demanding the Banks to except a far deal , Obama helped the greeds , and they became more greed after that. Our government bailout the criminals. Reps /Democrats are very similar in this situation. They want to please Wall Street and wealthy investors. The Market only matters to the top 2%, that has plenty money to play in the cassino call Wall Street. The rest is rest. The next recession is very close. Bernie and Warren are the only ones to confront those hoarders from Wall Street. The feds obviously continue to work for the 2% of the people in this country making them very happy , with the gift of very low interests. If China decides to sell US treasure bonds , it would be a disaster. All interests would rise, and the world economy would have a serious crise.
1
This is going to hit lower income red staters harder than others. Problem is the "economic expansion" is confined mostly to metro areas, and there aren't jobs in rural areas. I still don't see how building a border wall or installing "conservative" judges will put food on tables of out-of-work coal miners.
11
I do not understand the desire to spend ever more tax dollars on the military when we are not in any major war.
14
@Mr. Adams Its all in the name of keeping foreign markets stable so corporations can continue to do business in those countries. It has nothing to do with protecting our borders.
4
Wait.
1
@Mr. Adams Because politicians like Trump, especially Republicans, make a lot of money off of it.
2
This is monstrous. It is impossible to find adquate words to describe the horrors we are facing each and every day as evil takes over our government, blaming victims, ignoring the truth, promoting hate, and hurting the planet.
Making America small and mean, in the service of greedy exploiters who don't even care about the future.
What good is all this "wealth" going to do a trashed environment with poisoned water, air, and earth, and knowledge and intelligence punished for speaking out?
26
Trump keeps railing against Socialism, while other countries fund healthcare, education, infrastructure and more. How do they do things we're told we can't do?
Hint: some of it has to do with limiting military spending and eliminating tax cuts to the rich and corporations.
Then again, we're led by a President whose supposed business acumen has allowed Trump businesse to file for bankruptcy 6 times.
21
While everyone watches this mad man exact vengeance, the Trump administration and GOP are destroying the programs and policies that protect and preserve every day Americans.
Do we really want another 4 years of rich oligarchs, religious fanatics, bigots, racists, industry lobbyists, and Fox news zealots running our country? William Barr, Mike Pompeo, Stephen Miller, Jared Kushner, Betsy DeVos, Andrew Wheeler, Rudy Guiliani, Mick Mulvaney, Sean Hannity ... these grifters and "yes men" who Trump has surrounded himself with are as good of a reason as any to vote him out of office. Same goes for his Republican lackeys in Congress, who've chosen to protect and enable trump at all costs to the country.
21
@Roberta
Very well said!
2
Trump's budget planet vague on Affordable Care Act" says another bc article...
There is nothing vague about this corrupt Republican administration.
Wake up people if you haven't already! A vote for a Republican is a vote against the people if this country plain & simple.
10
The model exists, and it is called...Mexico.
Yes, Mexico.
If you are in the elite, you live well. Endless servants. Large homes. Everything an upper middle class person has and more.
The other 94% of the population is very poor, and won't get into the upper class.
Before you think this is a great idea, be sure to budget for security, because kidnapping is a problem for the wealthy. You'll need razor wires on your walls. That school run will require an up-armored SUV and a large man who may or may not be carrying a (illegal) weapon. You will be limited to where you can go, and where you can send your kids.
I hope that inside your walls will be comfortable, because you won't be able to go outside very much..
13
@Casey I have been to countries like what you describe. Such a scenario can easily happen here. If Trump and his greedy Republican lackeys in Congress manage to hold onto power for another 4 years, we'll be well on our way to becoming the very banana republic you describe. And given Trump's evangelical following, it'll be every bit as regressive and dictatorial as Iran.
5
I see his studies continue under Putin on how to "be best" by keeping one's subjects in-line. This is accomplished by depriving subjects of education ("be stupid"), housing ("be homeless"), food ("be hungry"), and medical care ("be sick").
16
Sorry but this is the Dems’ race to lose and Trump is making it too easy
2
Don't worry this Supreme Court will be bringing back involuntary servitude.
5
Keep voting Republican.
End Up With Nothing.
16
Love your tag lines. Next Bloomberg ad should feature these.
4
If the last 3 years events were reversed and it was the Republicans that controlled the house they would simply turn off the money tap for everything possible, till al least all of their subpoenas were enforced. We would see the presidents tax returns or there would be zero funding.
5
This is what the Democrats should be running on! Not decriminalizing entry at the border or allowing convicts to vote.
12
But then they would be deprived of the pleasure of shooting themselves in the foot, which is part of their identity as Democrats.
3
There is nothing stopping any state from increasing its benefit levels (for any program) to whatever they want it to be ... Except that federal money is free and state money must be supported by taxes.
3
@RandyJ Wait, I'm confused... aren't federal programs also supported by taxes among other things...
7
Social Security is not state tax funded.
6
Right. Federal money flows freely from the blue coastal states to red America to bail them out.
15
I had a laugh in one NYT’s article it showed GOP setting up a meeting place for a rural area. There was a sign there stating there ideology . Low taxes and limited government. Since the post office is big government and would really affect the rural communities i am for Trump and friends shutting down their daily home deliveries. They all need to buy computers and learn the basics at least how to get mail. We lived in Nicholson ,Pa for years and those supporters of the GOP would have to travel miles to get the mail with Trumps cuts and less government. If we have to deal with all the safety net cuts the rural supporters don’t need there home mail delivered . That is a luxury we can’t afford any more.
4
What they need to cut is that run away tax break they gave to the Billionaires!!
10
This is a budget that's designed to put fear in the people of America, where in reality Trump would siphon off from defense money for his private projects.
This man is a con artist, of the highest order.
9
Despite that most Trump supporters chant singing this is the greatest economy ever forever ... something is not right with the economy. Back in the 2008 recession the FED's monetary policy "quantitative easing" (massive money supply through diferent channels ... everything counts) was aimed to encourage lending and investment so the economy can recover.
If we have a very healthy economy there is not need for "quantitative easing."
3
The moment Trump's budget was released, Democrats and their PACs should have rolled out ads in every Red State sounding the alarm:
Millions of disabled children will have their Social Security Disability and SSI benefits cut. Parents, Grandparents will have their benefits cut. Medicaid/Medicare will be cut. Disability recertification will be annually rather than every 3 years. This may not mean much, but with cuts to Medicaid, many will not be able to find doctors. Social Security offices are also on the chopping bloc- with the intent to make it more difficult to get appointments and re-certify.
Democrats need to be clear to Americans:
You, your children, grandchildren and grandparents are now paying for the tax cut for the rich- Amazon and Google.
I won't hold my breath- unless Michael Bloomberg decides to roll out more ads.
23
@Candlewick
Have we heard any Democrat talking strongly about the escalating deficit we have? Do we hear “moderate” Democrats talking about the obscene amounts we spend on foreign wars that do not benefit us one bit? I haven’t heard them. This is why I will only vote for Bernie Sanders who I believe cannot be bought. Tulsi Gabbard would make a great VP.
1
@e.s. Yes, all the Democratic candidates have addressed these issues. Have you been paying attention?
12
So, Trump supporters - kiss your safety and health good-bye. Watch the wealthy benefit at your expense. Give Trump al the credit you want for a huge deficit so he can support "his generals" (the who know less about the military than Trump - according to Trump.) This is madness has to stop.
14
Bloated military budgeting, slashing the social safety net and tax cuts for the richest. The GOP’s greatest hits, over and over again.
How is anyone surprised?
19
Trump admits it will take another 4 years of DJT & 8 years of a Jervanka regime before the deficit is wiped out via a proclamation that the House of Trump has balanced the budget through the elimination of Social Security & Medicare, brought peace to Palestine via the elimination of Palestinians, and secured Barron’s trust fund through 20 years of graft.
17
As with most dictators, the first and most important aspect of a government takeover is to own the military. Then gut all aspects of human comforts and security while tightening the control over the Justice department. At this rate, Trump will own this country before the 2020 election and it appears no one can or will stop him. He may win the election in 2020 but, like 2016, he will have cheated his way into control with the help of our foes.
16
Trump should learn/know that without a "deep state" State Dept that can and does deliver diplomatic solutions and that is much cheaper than a giant military. We still need a sound military. We have been committed, from the beginning, to keep international shipping lanes open.We need a navy.
I write this from Hoi An,Vietman. I wasn't in VN war so I now come spend some money,since 2003,in the hope that the US can overcome the damage we caused this peaceful nation.
Every time we are faced with possible military conflict, the US will rightfully claim that we have the largest group of combat experienced officers in the world. Problem is that to keep that standard we must be in constant battle mode. When presented with this conundrum any president will bend to the side of caution and make sure we have experienced combat officers. Therefore allow continuous conflict.
Nixon claimed to be a Quaker while he ordered increasing bombing of Vietnam.
This was not to win the war as his advisors told him that the VN war could not be won. He bombed these people to help win reelection. So something like 3 million Vietnamese died in the whole war.
We were born in war. We will continue with war. The Us is belligerent country and well armed at the civilian and military levels. Vietnam has for the most part given up guns and taken up plowshares. Even the police, few seen, generally do not carry weapons,except batons.I feel completely safe here as being shot by accident by police 0
2
Thank goodness for a Democratic House, let’s hope we can keep it that way after November, as I don’t have any expectations of Trump losing unfortunately
5
@AR Democrats are the only ones doing their jobs of trying to keep a check on an out-of-control executive branch. They're the only ones fighting to minimize and limit Trump's damage to the Constitution and rule of law. The Democratic party may not be perfect, but a straight blue ticket is the more preferable direction for the country to head in... far more preferable than the path our country will go down if trump and Republicans hold onto power.
10
I’m not sure what you read from my comment, but I’m saying I hope we have a Democratic House after November because I think we will lose the presidency. Hope it’s clearer now.
@AR Sorry, my comment was more or less agreeing with your comment. I'm a bit more hopeful about voting trump out but I could be wrong.
The more trump acts like a vindictive thug, and the more his more followers gloat and crow about it, the better it is for Democrats. The thing that will most likely bring down Trump is Trump himself. So let's hope trump keeps overreaching so that he slashes and burns his way to a miserable defeat in November. He'll deserve it.
5
We need to be aware Medicare and Social Security are on the Republican's list to at least reduce if not eliminate. They just don't dare put them on the list this year, because it is an election year.
13
@duncan The GOP has wanted to undo the New Deal since before it was implemented. The Kochs, et al will do whatever they can, however they can, to bring us back to 1925. It looks like they are doing a good job.
5
@Casey Yes, I know. Bush tried. It is why there is no such thing as a good Republican congressional representative or senator.
And this is why the GOP, not just the Donald, need to be stopped in their tracks. And for those status quo centrist Democrat-lite types, this is why America needs to make a hard left a la Bernie or Liz. We can't afford Republican-lites like Biden anymore.
14
My nightmare began when I decided to go to college after drifting for the year after I turned 17 and was still on my dad's social security teet. I didn't have to do anything after graduating high school because it was promised to continue getting the parent's social security until you are 18 unless you are still in school. So after that year of parties, I decided to go to college. Then came Ronald Reagan. No more finances for veteran's kids who worked for a living after the wars. I tried working and school but I totally know what folks who are trying to do both are going through, especially if they have children. It's rough. Repubs have been evil for years!
8
@PhillyMomma
incoherent. I hope we don't have to forgive your student loans.
1
just the worst President of my lifetime, and I'm 56 ....this Trump + the GOP of 2020 = the high degradation of ALL in the USA
13
This is just the President's budget REQUEST.
Congress is responsible for generating the actual budget, which the President may approve or veto.
President Trump hasn't come close to doubling the budget deficit, or the national debt. This is one of the myths liberals are spreading about the guy they hate.
The national debt stood at about $10.6 trillion when President Obama took office, and about $19.6 trillion when he left, for an increase of about 86%. (Remember the bailouts of the hedge funds and car companies, not to mention cash for clunkers.)
The debt is now at about $23.2 trillion, an increase of about 18.4% in three years.
Under Obama, $9 trillion was added to the debt in 8 years, for an average annual budget deficit of $1.125 trillion.
$3.6 trillion has been added since Trump came to office, including interest, for an average annual deficit of $1.2 trillion.
Considering inflation, these numbers are almost identical.
The American people bailed out GM to the tune of $49.5 billion and how did they repay us?...By moving their factories out of the U.S., with the loss of how many jobs?
The Obama administration wasn't clever enough to extract from GM a guarantee to the American people, for a return on their investment.
Then there was the funding of Goldman Sachs, so they could perpetuate their Ponzi scheme.
6
Very nice, you only omitted the tiny detail that Obama inherited an economy near collapse, and Trump inherited a strong and recovering economy.
14
You also forgot the auto industry PAID us off plus interest! Will the farmers do that? No.
6
@Dawn
Farmers pay you back every time you go to the market. Do you see any empty shelves when you go shopping?
That takes a huge investment, every year, and the prices farmers receive for their commodities are very low.
I raised about 30,000 bushels of durum this year (for pasta), which was a very good crop.
The weather this year (rain) for harvest, however, was atrocious (as often happens, and has for centuries...there is no such thing as "normal" weather).
This reduced the quality of what I harvested to the point that I only received $2.90/bushel, for a gross income of $87,000.
Some of my major expenses:
Fuel: $4000
Fertilizer: $42,000
Spray: $18,000
Oil, lubricants, and parts: $5000
Crop insurance: $3500
Property taxes: $4000
Seed: $12,000
Total: $88,500
Government payments: $10,000 (MFP)...that's it.
So, you see, you are wrong about farmers being moochers. The only way I survive is by being very frugal. I still have 14,000 bushels of beautiful wheat I kept from a previous year, for a rainy day (today!).
2
And the great divide gets even bigger! Realize, however, that shifting those who depend upon food stamps, Medicaid, and student loan assistance out of their affordable housing and into the military is a cruel shell game. The US taxpayers are footing the bill in either case.
10
Today, the debt in this country is $23.27 trillion, and the interest on that debt this year will surpass $500 billion. In 10 years, that will be $5 trillion. 30% of our spending each year needs to be borrowed including the interest on all of the debt. So, $1.44 trillion will need to be borrowed on the budget DT just released of $4.8 trillion for the fiscal year 2021. The idea thrown out there that the deficit won't be reversed until 2035, means it will never be reversed. To all those in Congress that are still alive, even if they are retired, you failed to tax for all the legislation you passed that needed funding, for the last 60 years. You promised over $30 trillion in underfunded entitlement spending over the next 30 years, but it won't be there, as Medicaid that serves 75 million is set to run out of enough money to pay all the bills in about 2 years. What do you have to say for yourselves? The whole financial future of this country is at stake. Neither side can continue down the path of funding wars with more debt, funding entitlements with more debt, and funding tax cuts with more debt. DT, Congress, and most Presidents, except Clinton, should be ashamed of themselves for all of the tax cuts that weren't paid for by taxing. The elected politicians past, and current, are still feeding at the public trough, they have no shame, and not enough of a conscience to face the truth, and tell the public the truth!
10
@MaryKayKlassen
The whole system is based on a growing population too. If we fail to meet their projections they open the borders.
1
Funny that 45* always complains about trade deficits, yet, generates budget deficits that are unsustainable.
12
Based on history Trump only knows how to tear things down. Can’t think of anything he’s built that didn’t come crashing down.
16
We need to VOTE.....
12
Trump will take and take until his mesmerized fans look one day and see that there is nothing in their pockets. But, many of them will still vote for him. We got a bunch of people who are pretty ignorant of the fact that they are pretty much ignorant.
16
Who would have guessed. Trump's surprise agenda the end of the new Deal. Will the Press actually cover it?
8
This has been happening my whole life. Give enormous tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations until it causes a debt crisis and then use that as a rationale to cut assistance programs. We have for a long time lived in a plutocracy, but now it’s completely unbridled. No wonder Trump worships Russia so much. It’s the model the Republicans are currently aiming for.
30
We continue on the path that Eisenhower warned us about. The giant military industrial complex. It continues to grow and control more and more of the US. Remember Eisenhower was a Republican. Boy would he be mad.
So why do we, the government, continue to do this.
1.MONEY
2.POWER WHICH COMES FROM THE MONEY.
3.FOLLOW THE MONEY
16
Do voters wonder how to measure failure of leadership? Here's President Trump could fix. Wi he?
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-trump-ally-who-is-allowing-the-amazon-to-burn
Speaking from fifteen years experience as a volunteer at our community's food pantry. Nothing improves for the poor under Trump. More Pentagon Capitalism, tax breaks for the rich, and an economy that expands the working poor while the elite get rich in the stock markets. More contempt for the working poor - that's what this budget is.
21
The Trump administration is increasing military spending while defunding education and effectively banning environmental science. Does this make sense? Of course not. Even the military knows that. Surely even some Republicans must know.
There is important Democratic and bi partisan House legislation being blocked by Mitch McConnell. It is his job to bring it up for debate in the Senate, whether or not Trump signs on in advance. Surely there must be more to the GOP playbook than fealty to Trump and political gamesmanship.
13
No. The GOP is completely under Trump thumb—scared to death of his tweets, worried he will tell lies against them that will be hard to counter, and, who knows, concerned about the possibility that Trump will unleash the armed White supremacists against them or their families.
The last might be a legitimate worry, to be sure. I
6
@pi McConnell, ever the obstructionist, refuses to move on even the most bipartisan legislation that's been passed by the House. At least one legislative body is doing its job and it's not the Senate Republicans. The only thing that politicians like Trump and McConnell care about is playing their dirty partisan tricks and games at the expense of governing for the good of the country.
1
No investment in America or workers. Just big contracts and no taxes for the wealthiest.
14
All you maghats that rely on these programs, welcome to your new life.
17
Why would Trump want another 4 years when the budget has been stripped by his administration in the great tax giveaway? I'm guessing that he was not anticipating in being in office after one term. All that changed last week when the Republican Senate gave him a huge boost. So, he would need $$ in order to rule properly. Raise taxes or cut programs. Guess which?
8
MAGA = Modern American Gilded Age.
- The late 19th century, with the Robber Barons.
Michael Bloomberg is a modern-day robber baron.
But ironically, he just might be the right candidate to defeat Donald Trump, and to salvage what is left of the American Experiment and our republic.
Vote blue, no matter who.
13
@MidtownATL
Mike Bloomberg is not my first choice as the Democratic nominee for president. But he is right on the most important issues.
- He is right on climate change.
- He is right on gun control.
- He is fine on healthcare.
- He is okay on income inequality (he proposes tax increases, including for himself).
- He is right on women's healthcare.
- And he is a patriot, and genuinely cares about the future of the United States.
I lived in Manhattan when Bloomberg was mayor. I was not a fan of him then. But I will say that New York did generally improve under his watch. And, with 20-20 hindsight, I think that the United States would be a better place under his presidency.
I am open to Bloomberg being the Democratic nominee. (And I have been a supporter of both Buttigieg and Sanders.)
13
And he’s not a robber baron.
5
self-indulgent and inept:
We do not have a president. We have Donald Trump.
10
Defense spending is out of control. You want to contain the deficit contain the defense budget and leave the minuscule items alone. The big 3 are Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid and Defense. IF YOU FIXED HEALTHCARE then Medicare/Medicaid would be in a better position. But cutting rates (like you say in the budget for Medicare) paid to doctors tells doctors to stop delivering services.
How do you level the field of oligopolies in healthcare (pharma, doctors associations, hospitals, equipment manufacturers, etc)? You need a single payer to negotiate prices like in a REAL capitalist society.
By allowing all these oligopolies America has forced itself into a corner where it has to have single payer. I'm sorry if it's Socialistic but through all these mergers and channel power an individual has no say in prices and gets ripped off more with each passing year.
Trump wants the rest of Obamacare after the election. That piece contains lots of non healthcare related items.
Don't listen to the orange orangutan look at what he does!
11
Small government & gutting the CDC and FDA and denial of science is going to seem pretty stupid to Trump voters when they are choking on a ventilator in the ICU in a few months with Coronavirus.
12
Defense spending is Republican corporate socialism. Mr Trump has robbed the Defense Dept to pay unknown contractors billions to build small sections of border wall that blow over in wind or get cut with ordinary saws. Where is the outrage? Then he explodes defense spending to assure there is plenty of slush to go around.
21
Trickle-down economics.
Funneling money from the poor to the rich.
Fraud.
Don't eat the yellow snow.
Have we learned nothing over the last forty years, much less the last 150 years, since the Gilded Age and the Robber Barons?
MAGA = Modern American Gllded Age.
Wake up, people.
Vote accordingly.
16
In his dreams, Trump is living in his guilded cage and ruling over a devastated wasteland filled with abject poverty, guns, tanks and weapons to keep the unwashed masses under control. it boggles my mind to hear "Christians" abandon every religious principal and support him. They focus on banning abortion while real, living children starve. They say Trump is a flawed king sent from heaven. I think he is flawed and heaven is definitely not where he is from.
15
Backwards talking Don tells facts that in fact lack facts.
5
The Republicans want to take away your healthcare.
- And your protections for pre-existing conditions.
The Republicans want to take away your Medicaid.
The Republicans want to take away your Social Security.
The Republicans want to take away your Medicare.
The Republicans want to take away your Education.
The Republicans want to take away you Infrastructure.
The Republicans want to take away your Future.
D to go forward. R to go backwards.
Vote accordingly.
26
Excellent, but spending needs to be reduced.
1
@Cjmesq0
Start with all the wars we initiate
7
Why more for the military? Aren’t we ending the wars? Enough, already. He just wants to steal more for his Wall!
10
Trump and budget go together like casino and busted.
10
Although I was a registered Republican until 2016, I've typically voted for candidates on both sides of the aisle in local and national elections.
But this year I'll be a "single issue voter". That issue will be to get trump out of office. Same goes for his Republican lackeys in Congress, who protect and enable trump at all costs to the country. I don't feel great about it, but the damage that trump and the GOP will do with another 4 years of control has left me no choice.
The Republican party under trump is no longer the party I once knew. We can debate what's wrong with the Democratic party, but Democrats aren't the existential threat that Trump and the GOP have become. Not even close.
Whether you support him or not, Joe Biden is right -- this year's elections will be for the "soul" of our country.
21
The Democrats should highlight this budget proposal and how it gives the lie to what Trump promised ( "I won't cut Medicare or Social Security") in all their campaign advertising.
They should make the American people understand that the tax cuts overwhelmingly benefit the rich and that the resulting deficits now leading to the "need" for entitlement cuts for everyone else are exactly the opposite of what Trump has promised.
12
@Barbarossa Why is only Joe Biden?
2
Reporter: "President Trump, are you going to cut Social Security and Medicare in order to pay for your tax cuts?"
Trump: "We'll see what happens."
Vote accordingly.
16
The bitter irony of all this is that the American people are getting exactly what they voted for. On the immortal words of Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
12
We spend all this money on this huge military to defend our nation, and Putin takes it over with a few well placed bribes and a little extortion. Who are we defending our nation against anymore? What exactly are we defending anymore? A democracy? The rule of law? A decent standard of living? A certain quality of life?
12
I agree. If we want to spend on defense, it should be on technology experts who can combat the cyber warfare. Otherwise, I think we are ok with what we are already spending on the military.
4
More taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Disgusting. Of course there are no cuts to the bloated corrupt war machine, upon which the greedy dine, fat on the blood of the innocents.
Trump is an obscenity.
19
This president is a despicable person.He’s naturally angry, he only wants to hurt as many people as he can, no matter the consequences. Obviously the cowards from this party, are just as loathsome as he is. Unfortunately we have almost 10 months to Vote him out and all sycophants . Please don’t waste your Vote. We have to Vote Blue no matter what. Things are very bad, and most people don’t realize that he will do more damage because he can. An extreme Narcissist like him when in power is extremely Dangerous and he did a lot of bad things already. A perfect calamity the situation.
18
@Linz Agreed. We have no choice. This trump administration has to go.
Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.
Apparently, the Trump Republicans are against civilization.
- "Deconstruction of the administrative state."
- Anarchists.
Vote accordingly.
14
True, but the funding of civilization shouldn’t be in the form of a blank check. Infrastructure is essential but we needn’t pay construction workers $130/hr to build them or highway crews $50,000/year to fill their potholes. A strong, globally positioned military is vital but we could trim billions if we brought back the draft and paid conscripts a small stipend for essentials like soap and detergent. Education is valuable to those who need it aged WiFi’s be much more affordable if we stopped providing more than the actual workforce needs. Every barista with a college degree and each retail employee with an education beyond the sixth grade represents a tremendous waste of tax dollars.
@From Where I Sit
Your reply and rant has nothing to do with my original comment.
10
My aren't you progressive. Proposing an army whose rank and file would be slaves. But hey, they would get a stipend, soap and detergent. You left out that they,the conscripts, would also get a weapon and trained to kill.
But it's an idea to save money. I
That it could lead to insurrection is a minor point.
4
Trump is abiding by what the Koch Brothers want [see below]
The Kochs spent a billion dollars putting the Republicans into office.
Here are just a few excerpts of the Libertarian Party platform that David Koch ran on in 1980:
“Abolish Medicare and Medicaid”
“Abolish the Social Security system”
“Abolish welfare, relief projects, aid to children and ‘aid to the poor”
“Abolish compulsory insurance/tax-supported health and abortion services”
“Abolish government regulated schools and compulsory education”
“Abolish the regulation of the medical insurance industry”
“Abolish the Environmental Protection Agency”
“Abolish all taxation”
“Abolish minimum wage laws”
“Abolish the Postal Service”
“Abolish the Federal Aviation Administration”
“Abolish the Consumer Product Safety Commission”
“Abolish the Federal Election Commission”
“Abolish the Food and Drug Administration”
“Abolish the Department of Energy”
“Abolish the Department of Transportation”
“Abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Act”
“Abolish all public roads and national highways”
“Abolish requiring safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets”
“Privatization inland waterways and control of all water”
“Abolish all lending laws”
“Abolish all branches of the service except the Army”
YouTube: State Legislatures and ALEC: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIMgfBZrrZ8
Trump is focusing on the electoral college "again" to win the election, he doesn't care what the people need.
19
@Pray for Help The Koch brothers also directed their dark money to fund a widespread propaganda campaign in 2016 targeting African American voters with the goal of suppressing their vote. And it looks like Trump is relying on that same strategy again. Stay vigilant, folks!
The conservatives class war against the working class, middle class and poor is now on steroids.
And the conservatives and Trump's brainwashed non-plutocrat supporters will embrace their false deity's attack on themselves with all of the fervor that any cult members have.
12
He simply despised the non-wealthy.
In his mind, they’re pitiful and weak.
2
Dear Democrats,
The Republicans want to:
- take away our Social Security
- take away our Medicare
- take away our healthcare
- take away our education (or privatize it)
- private our infrastructure (and defund it)
Meanwhile, they want to borrow from our children and grandchildren to give even further deficit-funded tax cuts to the most fortunate among us.
What is wrong with these people?
Why would anyone vote for them?
They are radical nutjobs. We should drown them in Grover Norquist's bathtub.
Wake up, people!
Vote blue, no matter who.
21
Everyone. If he wins next election. It’s Because we let him—then we will deserve what we get...
12
Choose a centrist like Biden or Buttegeig, and you'll get someone willing to compromise on vicious cuts like these, as Obama/Pelosi/Schumer did.
Choose wisely.
3
@Ed Watters Wrong. Any of the Democratic candidates would be above and beyond better than what's stinking up the oval office now. Though their egos may vary in size, they're all fundamentally decent people who know right from wrong. Unlike trump. Unlike Trump, their policy decisions won't be based solely on self-interest or spite for Obama. They all know and respect the Constitution. They'll all work with Congress, not against it. They respect our relationships with our allies. They don't pander to foreign dictators who've made it no secret that they wish to destroy the U.S. They won't appoint rich oligarchs, religious extremists or compromised industry lobbyists to their cabinet -- people who are bent on weakening and destroying the agencies they're supposed to lead. I could go on. Most importantly, they can all manage and articulate a coherent line of thought.
The Republicans constantly say that we can't fix a problem by throwing endless money at it. They cite issues such as education. (And they are not necessarily wrong on this point, philosophically.)
But the Republicans' answer to national security is to throw endless money at the Pentagon.
Does throwing endless money at the DoD really make us safer?
Hypocrites.
9
Of course one real ironic proposal here is tightening forgiveness on student loans for those who have been defrauded by dodgy colleges...aka Trump University.
8
To be quite blunt, these kinds of budget proposals appeal to only two particular kinds of people of which there is no short supply: the hateful and the ignorant.
12
Trump has always "gotten ahead" on borrowed money, except when his daddy gave it to him (or he stole it). Daddy's dead, and there is no way forward aside from lies and efforts aimed at those who have no defenses while he continues to curry the favor of the rich who ARE successful. I guess he thinks intelligence rubs off, as corruption does contaminate and spread. Thank all the gods anyone worships (except Mammon, Trump's personal deity), the House of Representatives will not pass it.
3
On the bright side, rich people will be getting a tax cut.
7
I read elsewhere that Trump wants 2B for 82 miles of wall, but isn’t that about 12 million per mile?
We are, in many ways near the end of the road. The economics are clear that we would be in a recession right now if it were not for the trillion dollar deficit spending this year - late in the cycle we should be seeing a small deficit. Ominously the Fed is an accomplice in this bubble building. The media and Wall Street egg it on too. Many Democrats oddly cede this point to Trump. We need a balanced budget amendment or else this will be another large trap for our children. Think. We need public financing of campaigns in order to defuse Citizens United which has put the military industrial complex in hyper-drive, prompting the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists last month to declare our current state to be at the closest proximity to nuclear holocaust ever. Calling it necessary, Trump has trounced arms treaties and insists that we need mini nukes on our ships and subs, exponentially increasing the chances of a mistake or accident. Madness has taken over the Pentagon. Think.Trump cares nothing about democracy or our responsibility as the true leader of the free world. So much has changed over the past three years. We are slipping into a tragic finale. Young people really need to wake the blank up.
4
We have crossed over from an indifferent society to a malignantly barbaric society all within three years. We’ve seen a steady erosion of law, particularly for the rich and powerful. The rich will get the society they so stridently sought. When the rage in this nation finally explodes who will protect the rich? Laws? Militias? Stacks of hundred dollar bills? Well directed and choreographed propaganda?
6
Totally as one would expect. It's the new America. We're armed to the teeth and don't tolerate weakness. Trump is completely predictable.
2
Instead of critiquing the cruel cuts on their merits, why does Pelosi say they contradict Trump's insane SOTU speech?
No mention of climate change? Insane, give science and risks of atrophic impacts, which include collapse of human civilization.
Dems need to ramp things up!
No point in complaining about it. The Senate has given King Trump the go ahead to do whatever the heck he wants from here on out.
In Nov, vote Blue, no matter who.
8
Military spending is the single biggest waste!
5
Trump said he would save money by eliminating waste and abuse. If he really wants to eliminate waste and abuse he could start by resigning.
10
It is all fear mongering. The same thing (only worse) occured after 9/11. Unlimited "security" spending. It was all actually "Fear Based Spending". We already have enough munitions to blow every planet in this solar system up, and Trump wants to cut food stamps, healthcare spending, basic necessities, etc., all so he can have the most and the biggest bombs, fastest airplanes, largest ships, etc. It's insanity. Imagine how many people could be fed, housed and clothed with only 1 of those trillion dollars? That would be 50 million people at $20,000/year each. Another 700 billion would cover all their healthcare needs; easily. We would still have a monstrous (3 trillion dollar) military budget. Except there would be no people going hungry, no one living on the streets, no one without basic healthcare or clothes. And that is only in America. Add a trillion more and see how many people across the planet could be fed: 200 million, easily. That would buy a lot of rice.
5
Trickle-down economics.
Will we never learn? Don't eat the yellow snow.
6
If the GOP wants to stick it to the poor while they are in power the Dems need to let them. Most welfare goes to red states. Give the people what they want and the Dems need to stop protecting Republican voters from Republican policies!
5
Reality Check 72 million people on medicaid isnt working affordable health care only accomplished one thing .Made trillions in capital gains stock market.Thus our government would gone broke back in 2008
1
This is just the President's budget REQUEST.
Congress is responsible for generating the actual budget, which the President may approve or veto.
President Trump hasn't doubled the national debt, or even close. This is one of the myths liberals are spreading about the guy they hate.
The national debt stood at about $10.6 trillion when President Obama took office, and about $19.6 trillion when he left, for an increase of about 86%. (Remember the bailouts of the hedge funds and car companies, not to mention cash for clunkers.)
The debt is now at about $23.2 trillion, an increase of about 18.4% in three years.
1
He doubled the annual budget deficit (not the debt) and has added debt at a higher rate in a time of prosperity than Obama did during his economic rescue in the depths of the worst recession in a generation. It is absolutely mind boggling. The only thing that will cause ‘conservatives’ to care about the deficit is a Democratic President. Some things never change.
7
@Andy
You haven't analyzed the numbers very well.
$9 trillion was added to the debt in 8 years, for an average annual budget deficit of $1.125 trillion.
$3.6 trillion has been added since Trump came to office, including interest, for an average annual deficit of $1.2 trillion.
Considering inflation, these numbers are almost identical.
1
@Peter, considering the $1T deficits in 2009-2011 were to stabilize the economy Bush blew up where nearly a millions jobs were being lost monthly and finance vital infrastructure repairs, and the $1T deficits today are to finance stock buybacks and tax cuts for billionaires, it is a moral abomination.
6
It is disheartening to see the callous disregard this budget proposal has for those working in public service.
I am a social worker helping people with dementia and their caregivers at a small nonprofit. We help families at a devastating time of loss, grief, and stress. The work is not glamorous, but it is impactful. However, there is no chance that my salary will ever repay the debt of going to school. The knowledge that student debt forgiveness is possible makes this career path viable. Without it, I will effectively be sentenced to carry the student debt forever and work in service to the interest until I'm dead or too sick to continue.
Student debt is an issue that will mobilize young voters. They are surely paying attention to which candidates are thinking about their future - and it isn't Donald Trump.
7
Read up people, this is what you get if he gets 4 more years. Maybe show up at the polls this time and vote like an adult.
10
Tax cuts have NEVER paid for themselves. NEVER.
Will we ever learn? Trickle-down economics is a fraud. George H. W. Bush called it "voodoo economics" in 1980. He was right.
8
@MidtownATL
Don't eat the yellow snow.
2
The House, with its control of spending, needs to restrain this guy from flying wherever he wants at $10 million dollars a pop. Make his campaign pay for the SS and flight costs for electioneering. Want to outrage his base? Publish the cost to Taxpayers for his 3 day weekend junkets, all while he pays no taxes!
9
There should be NO student loans; all college aid should come though the DoD in return for service.
The government should not be in the housing business; that tanked the entire world economy.
Medicaid should be left to the states; NY has done a wonderful job with it.
Ditto food stamps. And “education”. Block grants should be eliminated. If states want to spend money, let their people pay the taxes to fund it.
And note the nonsensical, open bias: first, employing the phrase “continuing to shrink”, as if any federal spending has “shrunk” and, then, referring to handouts as a “safety net”.
Where, precisely, does spending on “environmental protection” actually go?
Tax cuts produced NO “lost revenue”; revenues are up. Anyone who believes that the economy would be doing the same without tax cuts is delusional.
Trump has many faults but probably first among them is his unwillingness to stand up to the Democrats on spending. He should simply channel Bill Clinton and advocate for spending at 16% of GDP. That would solve the problem immediatley.
@Michael
Sorry, the tax cuts for the wealthy + $1 trillion dollar deficit sort of negates the rest of your comment.
7
Reducing the deficit to zero is an economically contractionary fantasy (nightmare?) that no one accepts; in fact, it's so unrealistic that no one even fears it. Mr. Trump's plans to cut social spending are minimal, pretending that they're disabling and heavily destructive is leftist political fearmongering. While the economy is growing in a non-inflationary way through big technology-driven productivity gains, anything goes. Look out when that healthy growth levels off, but high-powered government spending does not--huge inflation. That presumably comes in Mr. Trump's successor's presidency.
Reducing the deficit to zero is one thing, and exploding it in a time of relative prosperity is quite another. Last I checked all the proponents of a so-called ‘balanced budget amendment’ were in Trump’s party. The national debt needs to grow at a slower rate than the overall economy for it to work. Some people just won’t be happy until every last dollar goes into the military industrial complex. Who needs schools and hospitals when we have enough bombs to kill everyone on Earth 100 times over in the most horrific ways imaginable? What a proud nation we are.
7
A budget projected to add 3.5 trillion to the national debt over the next fours years, which will then shrink due to the power of GOP magical thinking.
This isn't a proposal that aims to expand Trump's base. It's like they want to lose (or see how far the base can be pushed).
3
Judging by the readers pick list, many NYT readers do not understand Civics 101
The President can propose whatever, but the budget is set by Congress .
The President of the US has ZERO power of the budget
The budget , 100% of it is controlled by Congress, and Congress alone.
Readers should see it as what it is : A message to Trump voters in an election year.
5
@LArs
"100% of it is controlled by Congress, and Congress alone."
doesn't the President have to sign the bill? (Civics 101)
4
this "budget plan" sounds like a recipe for another gov't shut down as the house has already declared it DOA. even my 8 year old knows you can't rob the poor to save the rich or spend more than you take in without disasterous consequences.
5
The summary of this article from news briefs via email says: "...Add funds to the military, national defense and border enforcement."
I am wondering what "national defense" refers to, apart from "the military" already mentioned.
Here is the full blurb: "As is usual, it’s more of a messaging document. The message: Keep shrinking the federal safety net, with deep cuts to student loan assistance, affordable housing, food stamps and Medicaid, and slash the E.P.A. Add funds to the military, national defense and border enforcement."
2
I'm convinced assembling a border wall, constructing new ICE detainment facilities, and enlarging the military is more about keeping us in than keeping others out.
The social disorder resultant from purging citizens the government considers of less value will give the current conservative administration the reason they need to round up the poor, the hungry, the ill for the 'benefit' of the rest of society.
Once the elimination of 'undesirables' is complete, the government will move on to intellectuals, academics, journalists, anyone deemed antithetical to government authority.
The military will be one of the few employers offering social status and financial stability.
We've seen this movie before. I personally don't care to sit through it again.
Wake up, people. We're next. Our repression is a Stephen Miller dream-come-true.
Fascism is fascism. It doesn't matter whether it's under the auspices of socialism or capitalism. It's all the same when they pin the yellow (or pink or rainbow or blue) star on you.
10
A near-perfect analysis of the plan/pattern the Trumpists are following! The comments are a clear and accurate warning of the looming authoritarian-totalitarian-fascist takeover!
2
My fellow Americans,
The Trump Republicans want to take away your Social Security and Medicare.
So they can give tax cuts to the most fortunate among us.
It's really that simple, folks. They are not even trying to hide it anymore.
Vote accordingly.
12
Suppose, just suppose, that the White House became the home for a professional grifter; someone who is a succesful con artist, someone who borrows money but does not pay it back, someone who doesn't pay his bills, someone who has a legion of lawyers to slip through every loop-hole in the criminal code, someone who expects something in return for his every action, someone who is vulgar, a liar, a cheat, vainglorious and lacks empathy; someone who is a rascist, xenophobe, and mysogynist; someone who lies, cheats, and steals as his modus operandi; someone who appoints a former executive of a major military arms dealer, someone who trades campaign donations in exchange for important government positions, who appoints cabinet members with budgets designed for cronies, someone without a soul. What kind of budget and circle of sycophants would he design, and with what ulterior motives.
What kind of press would concentrate on the logic, flaws, grammar and details of such a budget, rather than the nature of the author.
4
Most farmers sacrificed when Trump put tariffs on China.
I guess he thinks people are willing to starve or die so he can have his Space Force.
9
There may become a point where we need to start building walls within the United States to wall off the have-nots from the haves.....
3
THIS is why we say vote Blue in November.
11
The US needs to cut the military budget in half - and then half again. The whole world would be better off and the US could afford to pay for education, healthcare, infrastructure, increases in Social Security etc.
9
Donald Trump campaigned in part on stopping the endless wars.
So why does he want to increase the already bloated defense budget?
8
"Mr. Trump said that his budget proposal would bolster the United States military and nuclear arsenal and bring the deficit close to zero in “not that long a period of time.” Say what?
Our gutless leader is living in la la land and doesn't know a fact from a lie, because he couldn't tell the truth to save his own live.
Trump wants to cut education, medicaid, student loans and give all that money to the "1%" in tax breaks. And the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Welcome to Trump's world where the big dog is King.
Please vote Democrat in 2020. Trump has to go.
11
Trump's skepticism about foreign interventionism was a major source of Trump's popularity in 2016 and presumably was one of the factors that tilted the election. I assume that most voters who were persuaded to favor Trump for this reason assumed that reduced defense spending would be a corollary of a more modest foreign policy. I have heard many Trump voters say that Trump is a bitter pill to swallow but that they will vote for him again largely because he has kept the nation out of war. Advocacy of increased spending is likely to jeopardize Trump's support among such voters.
6
Won’t these drastic cuts hit low income white people in Trump states?
How do the people in West Virginia feel about this? They have a high proportion of low income Trump voters and they wouldn’t benefit at all from the military spending.
9
These Trump supporters apparently do not grasp, or worry about, the economic hardships that eventually they will experience. They like the white supremacy and racist mantra that Trump et al. espouse.
So it’s probably hard to imagine they would ever abandon Trump: the appeal to their emotions and prejudices outweighs what they might otherwise understand will affect the educational or employment consequences for themselves or, even worse, their children and grandchildren.
Their choice; either their ghastly effect on their own families by supporting Trump, or trying to see through the lies and skewed messages to do the right thing and vote “blue” in November!
4
@Kathy As long as they can keep "owning the libs", it's all good if trump cons them out of their money and their votes. Trump campaigns on spite, lies and hate.
Of course he proposes to cut everything that those most in-need depend on. Of
course he does. God forbid Mnuchin and his wife, DeVos, Ol’ Wilbur, and the appalling lot of the trust find crowd might have to give up something they never earned to begin with, and wouldn’t miss it anyway. What a grotesque display.
9
Have we ever had a higher deficit? I doubt it. Its time to tighten the belt in the proper places. However, don't count on the current administration to do anything sensible. To all you naive trump supporters don't forget what trump or one of his spokesmen said regarding the budget a couple of weeks ago. They plan on cutting Social Security. How do you all feel about that?
10
@Sari
Cut it—ASAP!! I have no problem tightening my belt.
2
True patriots (snarky) welcome spending on the military because they love waving the flag and saying Thank you for your service. They like to see all of their friends and children in uniform. Blue collar employment agency. White collar employment agency. It s reverse Robin Hood but the poor don’t see it that way. Who pays this extraordinary expense? Everyone not associated with the MID. Me /us.
4
Thomas Paine said "I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace."
The modern philosophy seems to be: "I prefer the illusion of prosperity. But if an economic collapse must come, let it come in my children's time, so that I can live it up now."
15
Trump’s budget is hallucinatory, incoherent, twaddle and the sole reason he wants to further bloat the military is because he thinks he will use them to fend off citizen attacks when he refuses to leave the White House after losing in November.
9
What part of "promote the general welfare" don't the Republicans understand? Affordable, accessible health care for all will promote the general welfare. Affordable higher education, i.e., helping students borrow and repay loans, will promote the general welfare. Helping people find affordable housing promotes the general welfare. A living minimum wage promotes the general welfare. A well-funded, good public education system promotes the general welfare. A clean, sustainable environment promotes the general welfare.
If this country would do more of what the Democrats want to do to promote the general welfare, it's possible that the need for individual welfare, which Republicans so vehemently decry, would be greatly reduced.
11
I mean how many bombs do you need to flatten the world? I’m sure we’ve far exceeded that number and the rest is just gravy for the MIC. Top that off with his usual plethora of lies and it’s recipe for another 4 years of failures.
10
The self-proclaimed "king of debt" strikes again. Time to strip the place to the studs and get the heck outta dodge This IS the Trump business model (6 bankruptcies and all that debt written off). Remember some years back when the GOP was threatening Obama with defaulting on the national debt rather than raise the ceiling on what was already spent? Our country is being bankrupted by a man who made a career of it. Except the US taxpayers cant walk away from the tab, unless "full faith and credit" is dead. Will the last person out please turn off the lights.
9
Well there’s something upon which I finally agree with Trump. He certainly has been “doing” “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
7
A setback or an opportunity? I’ll vote for the sustainable, privatized, semi-regulated, and profit-capped manufacture and distribution of basic products and services needed to sustain life. “Generic brands” across the broad spectrum on a global scale for individuals and communities to survive, thrive and recreate themselves is where we’re reaching. We can; now let’s do.
"[Mr. Trump said] adding that he was aiming to reduce spending by rooting out “waste and fraud.”
...starting with funds the U.S. government pays the Trump Organization? The costs to guard his adult children on their foreign business trips? The Defense Dept. contract with a company controlled by his brother? New, stricter audits to ensure his campaign scrupulously reimburses the government for any political costs he incurs, such as using Air Force One to get to rallies?
Maybe some brave soul in the Govt. Accounting Office could calculate the true cost; theoretically EVERYTHING he does on government time or with government resources to campaign, starting the day in 2017 the stable genius declared his reelection effort.
12
Any chance Republicans in the House and Senate, would agree with a Democrat president, whose budget deficit projections were over $1,000 billion for years, when the economy continues to do reasonably well and unemployment is around 3.5%?
1
It’s easy to make your life look great when you live on a thousand billion dollar line of credit every year. But you can’t keep up the illusion forever.
10
Sure. Fascists have to appease to the military above all.
10
Trump's budget "extends for 10 years the expiring cuts contained in the tax overhaul Mr. Trump signed in 2017, at an estimated revenue loss of about $1.4 trillion."
Deficit-funded tax cuts.
Borrow from our children and grandchildren to live it up today. While the economy is strong.
So much for the so-called "Party of Fiscal Responsibility."
The G.O.P. is the Party of the national Credit Card.
- And we will all pay for this. Dearly.
13
@MidtownATL This is why I've recently left the Republican party. Under trump, it's no longer the party I once knew. This year I'll be a single issue voter. That issue will be to get trump out of office. Same with his Republican lackeys in Congress who protect and enable trump at all costs to the country.
1
Maybe big tax breaks for the 1% wasn’t such a good idea. Now you can make it up by choking senior citizens on social security. What I really want to say would get deleted....#eattherich
9
We should take the Republicans up on their offer to "drown the federal government in the bathtub" and return taxing supremacy to the state and local governments who can spend it to meet local priorities and mores. Right now, the balue states simply subsidize the red states backward looking priorities.
7
"I won't be around when the bills come due", Trump was quoted saying about blowing up the deficit so that the wealthy 1% could enjoy their tax cuts. As long as the immediate result benefits himself, trump couldn't care less about the harm he causes in the long-term. This self-serving reasoning applies to everything Trump does.
But what does trump care?
In the likely event that the ramifications of his decisions will be horrific, trump will have already targeted someone else to blame.
11
If I hear this lie one more time I’m going to scream: “These tax cuts will pay for themselves.” In all my years, they have NEVER paid for themselves. There’s always some bogus prediction of 4% (or more) growth, and it gets passed. The first thing a Democratic president should do is roll these back. With the sort of deficit we’re running, the last thing the wealthy need are tax cuts.
6
"[Mr. Trump said] adding that he was aiming to reduce spending by rooting out “waste and fraud.”
...starting with funds the U.S. government pays the Trump Organization? The costs to guard his adult children on their foreign business trips? The Defense Dept. contract with a company controlled by his brother? New, stricter audits to ensure his campaign scrupulously reimburses the government for any political costs he incurs, such as using Air Force One to get to rallies?
Maybe some brave soul in the Govt. Accounting Office could calculate the true cost; theoretically EVERYTHING he does on government time or with government resources to campaign, starting the day in 2017 the stable genius declared his reelection effort.
8
Shareholders do not all live in the USA. Shareholders live all over the world. When you give tax cuts to shareholders, they invest all over the world, not just in the USA. Mega-rich investors are shipping US capital all over the world.
When the government taxes the mega-rich and invests that money in citizens and infrastructure in the USA, it increases productivity and grows demand here.
Supply Side Economics has never worked, ever, because it is a lie. It is not designed grow the economy, but to create tax cuts for the rich and deficits that weaken the government. GDP growth was 50% higher before 1980 than the last 20 years.
The most important part of the economy is not shareholders. It is workers who actually do the work and create 60% of demand through consumer spending.
We need to stop arguing between capitalism and socialism, and just call it Workerism.
Markets aren't going anywhere. People like money and markets. Markets do a lot of things well. There a few things that markets so baby however, and that is where democracy is supposed step in. Markets need to be fair to function well, not free. Ask Adam Smith.
We are not a "capitalist country." We are a democratic Constitutional Republic with a market economy. We need to stop helping shareholders instead of workers because it is not efficient or democracies.. It is hiring the economy.
7
How is it not obvious that trump is NOT serious about governing? It's almost amusing that the party that has been alleging for decades that Democrats promise the equivalent of free lunches (I do not agree with this claim, but it has been a consistent argument) is now doing vastly more promising things that cannot possibly be delivered. This promise of endless and free prosperity, paid for by a magical growth rate that most certainly will not develop, at a time when low interest rates should be allowing the debt to be paid down, can only make sense to someone who will not be alive to see the necessary consequences. The party of financial responsibility? Little trump has never been held to account for anything he has wrecked and now we get to see the purportedly richest and allegedly best country on the planet unravel.
7
Trump, like the rest of the GOP likes to keep military contractors flush with money that they tear from the working poor in anticipation of having enough armaments to quell the riots that will come from their plutocratic malfeasance.
7
" $18 billion for the newly established Space Force" for fiction.
I would rather this money be forwarded to any and all descendants of slaves in the form of trusts which accrue interest over time. Trump is making reparations for the fans of science fiction, not reality.
And WHY does the US need MORE money in the military?
We cannot outdo a nation that out numbers us 12 to 1, or another malevolent country which has nuclear long range missiles.
4
This is from the accompanying article outlining the details:
"The budget also keeps Mr. Trump’s controversial “Harvest Box” proposal in place, continuing to suggest that poor Americans who receive SNAP benefits get a portion of their benefit in a “Harvest Box” full of food preselected for nutritional value and economic benefit to American farmers."
In addition to your box of peanuts, they'll even throw in a pair of pull-um-up-yourself bootstraps and a MAGA hat!
6
The crime is occurring right in front of us; in broad daylight trump is running both hands through our pockets. Before he is finished, we will all be in bankruptcy and America will be the world's laughingstock. So much for the red hat.
11
The Mayans believed that 2012 would be the end of human time. I don't think they meant it literally but they probably were right that 2012 would mark the beginning of the end. When President Obama got elected for the 2nd term (in 2012), it triggered some mean and ugliness in this country to come out. Fast forward to 2016 and meanness and ugliness got elected. What Mr. Trump is doing and will be doing cannot be reversed. Somethings you just can't take back. It's amazing that the people who voted for Trump (the non-rich, blue collar or middle class worker class) don't realize that this guy is not doing it for you.
6
For a platform running on America First, it certainly seems like he was referring to the planes and bombs that America builds and not the actual people.
3
Excellent. In these trying times we need a robust national defense.
Go Army!!!
1
@DAWGPOUND HAR This country cannot risk another 4 years of Trump's chaos and incompetence chipping away at our national security. It won't be safe for any of us.
I've been reading articles like this for years. Republicans are promising to cut waste and fraud. The waste and fraud is always in programs aimed to help the poor and the vulnerable, which they want to cut. The waste and fraud is never in military programs which are always in need of expanding. Democrats and others cry foul but we manage to have Republican presidents and congress people getting elected and doing what they said they'll do. Democrats, judging by their voting performance, have a bark worse than their bite.
155
@blgreenie But Republicans normally don't do what they say they do. Look at Trump's last budget.
They should let Trump get his way. Cut ALL the welfare programs. Give 100% of our taxes the miltary. And see what happens. Man, Americans need to wake up from their netflix and cellphones. Stop being a cog in the corporate machine.
56
@jerry lee
Hmmmm ... You got that distorted perspective from Fox or Rush, I assume.
57
@blgreenie So which Trump/Republican policies should Americans be thankful for? Policies that take away their health care? Policies that require them to work more than 1 job to make ends meet? Education policies that hurt our public schools and make college unaffordable? Policies that put more pollution into our air and drinking water? Policies that break up immigrant families?
Should poor, working and middle class Americans be happy that Trump favors billionaires instead? Are they happy to pay taxes they can't afford, so the very rich can pay less? Are they happy that their children will live in a dangerously polluted environment because trump doesn't believe in science?
Should Americans be happy that trump appoints rich oligarchs, religious extremists, and industry lobbyists to his cabinet -- people who are bent on politicizing, weakening or destroying the very agencies and departments they're supposed to head?
Or maybe Americans want to turn our democracy into a dictatorship ruled by a corrupt trump regime, knowing their children will have to live with the consequences.
34
Those who favor cutting the defense budget are overlooking the huge investment corporations have made in building plants, developing weapon systems and training their workforce. To cut back now would be throw away all of that investment, decrease profits, force layoffs and depress stock prices. To do that would be to go against the basic principles of our free market economy. Freedom!!!
WAKE UP. CALM DOWN.
NO TRUMP budget makes any difference at all while Dems control the House.
3
A 20th century budget in the 21st Century. Trump and Republicans are hopelessly out of touch and spending like old guys who know they won’t have to pay the bill.
4
More draconian measures from the sore winner.
8
Would that Trump hadn’t had a millionaire father to shield him from having had to work his way through college without health insurance and living on a steady diet or Ramen noodles. Living in a shared dorm room might have taught him how to compromise and interact fairly with others. Judging by how much he learned from his impeachment and subsequent trial, that probably wouldn’t have worked.
So:
If we begin with rooting-out fraud he and his administration will be gone and the savings start: far less travel and golf expenses. Our hypocrite-in-Chief has cost us hundreds of thousands in just those two categories. We could collect Trump's back-taxes with interest.
Trump has claimed bankruptcy several times, which probably means his propensity to lack impulse control includes an inability to avoid impulse buying, so we'll save on all that extra defense and nuclear weaponry.
11
It's the perfect budget for old rich white men.
Past generations of GOP would never have supported an increase to the debt like this and for the matter supported a thing like Trump.
The Republican Party is pass the point of no return but the country doesn't have to be. Vote!!! The Democratic candidate must win in the general election. I personally think Mr. Bloomberg could knick Trump between the legs in a debate - so to speak.
8
This budget has some good talking points for any Democratic presidential candidate - unless you're Bernie Sanders. Trump will take Sander's lack of precision about cost estimates for his proposed programs and say that Sanders will explode the budget many times over what Trump proposes. Trump will point to his (unrealistic) timeline for eliminating the deficits as proof of his fiscal responsibility. Why would Democrats choose a candidate who gives Trump that advantage?
1
President trump has been in campaign mode since he got elected. Does anyone know how many campaign events has he attended since 2016? Who is paying for his re election campaign rallies while he is president? The RNC or we taxpayers? Can someone tell us how many hours does president actually do his job as executive?
12
The less time Trump does the actual job of US President the better off we are. I'll kick in for an extra round of golf and a triple scoop of ice cream.
2
The US is indebted for trillions+ and Trump makes little effort to cut back or reduce this upcoming burden for our children ... but he has no problem eliminating student loan assistance. Anyone else think this doesn't make sense?
298
@KevinJ "I won't be around when the bills come due", Trump was quoted saying about blowing up the deficit so that the wealthy 1% could enjoy their tax cuts. As long as the immediate result benefits himself, trump couldn't care less about the harm he causes in the long-term. This self-serving reasoning applies to everything Trump does.
But what does trump care? In the likely event that the ramifications of his decisions will be horrific, trump will have already targeted someone else to blame.
38
@KevinJ
Trump is the one who put it there.
When Clinton got impeached he managed a surplus.
Obama dug us out of a near-Depression with zero help from the GOP.
Now Richie Rich gives himself a huge break. He needed it to pay off the fines for cheating 8 charities.
*Twilight Zone music*
55
@KevinJ
What does Trump care about anyone other than himself and his children? They don't even pay taxes. Trump leaves others in debt while he steals their money or refuses to pay his bills.
25
Why do we continue to spend so much of our treasure on defense? If the military budget was cut in half we would still be pending more than the next five countries put together. Perhaps we should be asking ourselves how we could make more friends and fewer enemies...Schools & hospitals are cheaper than bombs and missiles and do not contribute to collateral damage.
17
Yes, just what we need: more military spending, more weapons, more border security. You see, the Trump administration (and the Trump supporters) understand something that Democrats just don't seem to get: life on Earth always rebounds from mass extinction events. Of course, it may take 50-100 million years for that to happen, but there is little doubt that it will happen...eventually. So no worries, right?
6
@Leo Ah, the long view. And to think that Americans are accused of failing to understand the past. Not so sure this is an optimistic perspective, but it is probably correct.
@aoxomoxoa No, It isn't an optimistic perspective, but we have a government that caters to only two things: making sure the rich stay rich, and appeasing an ignorant, vindictive base. Kind of hard to be an optimist these days...
1
Why do the rich care about the environment, or poorer people than themselves. That is what you get when you can fund Government jobs by paying for adverts with billions of dollars of the power hungry. The nation isn't governed by the people anymore, but the power of the purse string.
Safety nets cut, just means sooner or later more people living in the parks, told to go away. Yet with no place to go.
6
For the Trump administration and the rest of the ruling class circles what little is still spent on Medicare and Medicaid is seen as unproductive while handing out massive subsidies to corporations and a near trillion dollar military budget for the Pentagon is viewed as essential ingredients for the domination of American Capitalism.
The increased funding for the military ensures the continuation of the endless imperialist wars while the cuts in Medicare and Social Security guarantees millions of deaths among the elderly, disabled, and the poor.
His ‘base’ will love this and won’t make the connection that it will hurt THEM also untill it’s too late.
Unfortunately, to some degree, the same has held true with Democrats for the last 30 years. Things that will improve life for the average American are promised, then dropped or watered down. Then they blame Republicans, but they also don’t fight very hard.
The working class has been fooled by both sides. The next election, as was the last, will be all about who they really believe.
7
@Chris: Lazy bothsideism. The Democrats have always defended the New Deal, while Republicans always wanted to get rid of it, by “Starving the Beast”, i. e., reduce taxes and increase the deficit to the point cuts would be inevitable.
3
@Anna
Don’t be so quick to blame only the Republicans, they couldn’t be doing this if Bill Clinton hadn’t paved the way for them.
1
@Chris: The Republicans didn't need Bill Clinton to pave the way for them. Bill and Hillary Clinton wanted universal health care, remember? The vlification of Hillary started when she headed the commitee that had to produce a proposal, heavily funded by the health insurance industry. They've been at it ever since, until even Democrats started believing the hype against her.
3
When you cut social programs the crime rate increases, substance abuse increases, the high school drop-out rate increases, suicides increase. Some of these things are happening now at unprecedented levels and will cost a huge amount of money to fix in the future. Like the old saying "you can pay me now or you can pay me later." Health care cost continue to increase and the number of people retiring without adequate savings is expected to greatly increase in the next ten years. How much longer can the US go before it implodes? The whole world is wondering too.
9
“We’re going to have a very good budget with a very powerful military budget, because we have no choice,” he said, adding that he was aiming to reduce spending by rooting out “waste and fraud.” Best way to root out 'waste and fraud' would be for trump to resign.
18
Republicans on Medicare For All: "How is the United States supposed to sustain that?"
$15.4 billion for Space Force: "Sounds like an excellent idea, Mr. President. Count us in."
19
@Ken Quinney You mean Trump`s Space FARSE needs $15.4 billion/yr and increasing as time goes on ?
Sounds like a Monty Python government funding the "Department of Silly Walks".
This budget seems to propose pretty much what Trump claimed he wasn't going to do. Anyone who wasn't expecting it hasn't been paying attention. This is another step in destroying what's left of social and economic protections for Americans. What money isn't going to corporations and wealthy interests through tax cuts and business subsidies, is being transferred to them though Defense contracts of one type or another. When the money starts running out here at home, I wonder if Trump will revive direct colonization -- you know, "take the oil".
6
This paragraph is the straw that can break Trump’s back in his re-election efforts. Although president Big Mack says we need to withdraw from our military commitments, he sacrifices public safety for more guns and bullets. That is a consistency that must be put out of business. Trump continues to feed the military complex while stealing public support from the voters.
8
“President Trump released a $4.8 trillion budget proposal on Monday that includes a familiar list of deep cuts to student loan assistance, affordable housing efforts, food stamps and Medicaid, reflecting Mr. Trump’s election-year effort to continue shrinking the federal safety net.”
If I hear one more Trump voter proclaim that their “Chosen One” is looking out for them my head will explode.
17
@Hugh CC
I’m listening...
1
How surprising.
The military industrial complex thanks you for your tax dollars.
14
As a relatively new, 4th year teacher, I am dismayed that the administration is looking to chop the student loan forgiveness program. I earned my degree in physics, and began immediately teaching in a high needs public high school with the plan that the loans would be forgiven at the end of the 5th year.
If this budget is adopted, despite spending all this time working with these amazing students, I will have *more* loans because interest has accrued these 4 years. Not only will I be financially incentivized to quit teaching - or at least move to a higher paying district or private school - but I am sure there are thousands of other folks with advanced degrees in math and science who will be persuaded to find a job in industry rather than go into education.
At a time when we're already in a deep teacher shortage, particularly in math and sciences, disincentivizing folks from pursuing this career is the opposite of what we should be doing.
I will be contacting my representatives to make sure they know that this is a priority for me, and the other teachers with whom I work.
26
@Conor What does s severe teacher shortage have to do with you paying back your student loans? You agreed to take the loans and I don't think anyone forced you to. The loans are yours and there should not be any early forgiveness. It's not fair to those like myself who paid their loans in full.
2
Why does Trump poll well with any demographic other than the one percent. To most voters wealth disparity and availability of health care are top issues. Trump is doing everything in his power to make these problems worse.
13
These are not ‘draconian’ and really nothing to get upset about. The job requirements for the able bodied are easily doable and may helpful to the individual in many ways.
I wouldn’t even really call these cuts.
3
@Driven Yes, but what you seem to ignore is that those able bodies get low minimum wages that barely covers their rent and food, never mind health care, thus they and their children are on Medicaid and even food stamps. The vast majority who will lose these benefits the working poor.
I am sure you have no problem going to a restaurant/fast food place or the guy washing your car who show up at work with the flu because they don't have access to a doctor or have falling rotten teeth. Yeah, let's see how you like a McDonalds employee whose number one job is to greet you with a smile, open their mouth and missing a few teeth.
12
@Decebal
Why are you having children on minimum wage?
Having your teeth cleaned is 125.00 every six months. Cannot one save 22.00/month? All about priorities. And I wash my own car and do not eat out.
@Driven
What would you really call them?
2
There's no limit to this man's viciousness.
22
The GOP doesn’t even run on cutting SS and Medicare. They just slip in the cuts, claim they are doing the opposite, and laugh at how clever they are. We pay all our working lives into these programs. It is our money. Do we need a constitutional amendment to protect our money? Meanwhile the fat cats keep raking in the cash.
17
@Sasha How is SS being cut? And slowing the growth in runaway medicaid and medicare spending is not a cut. If the states had more skin in the game on the Obama medicaid expansion perhaps they wouldn't spend so recklessly (up 7% in NY last year, well above inflation).
1
@tom
You are right Tom, these are not cuts.
1
Well, the budget document is too think to rip up literally, so ripping it up figuratively will have to do.
BTW, was it two days ago or three days ago that Trump was promising he wouldn't touch Medicare and Social Security? Hardly matters, because he'll make the promise again today or tomorrow, and his promises aren't worth dirt.
18
Yep and he’ll straight up lie and say the dems want to cut those entitlements and benefits in his Facebook targeted ads.
2
The US economy with it's ever increasing deficit is churning out more profits for the wealthiest & corporations - Trump & Co.
The government was bought & now they are collecting at everyone else's expense. The only thing left to complete the circle is to completely defund all social programs. If you don't see this you are blind.
13
@Will Goubert
I think you are being overly dramatic
@Driven Nope. The OP is on point. If Trump and Republicans stay in control for another 4 years, the entire poor, working and middle class will be decimated by cuts or elimination of the social safety net that Republicans have been after for decades - Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc....not to mention our environmental protections - NEPA, NHPA, ARPA, NAGPRA that protects our air and drinking water from pollution. For Trump's policies, cruelty foisted on those less fortunate, including his own supporters, is the point.
1
Defense spending before the current POTUS never exceeded the remaining part of the discretionary budget. The proposed budget makes defense about 60% of discretionary spending.
Defense spending does not take into account homeland security, DOE's nuclear programs, and the unknown spending on the POTUS, jetting to and from his various resorts. But this expense is miniscule, probably only a billion per annum.
The Great American federal experiment is devolving into a security state, with a few non-military projects, and a Secret Service for the Golfer in Chief.
9
Just try getting re-elected with these cuts!
3
He complains endlessly about homelessness and then cuts affordable housing assistance and food stamps.
It is a sin to despise one's neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy. Proverbs 14:21
I wonder if they covered that at the prayer breakfast.
15
@Elli
Did he cut money for the homeless? No
@Elli
They can't sing this one, too long, too multi-syllabic.
1
On the bright side when it's time to eat the rich, there will be plenty of fat cats to go around for the famished masses.
16
Oh no. IF Dems win, they’ll have to be the grownups again to clean up the mess. Meanwhile, Repubs will be yelling for fiscal prudence. Another scam. If Dems were playing hardball, they would pass a law that kept money within taxpaying states. I.e. less outflows from Blue to Red states.
9
"Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Budget Would Cut Safety Net Programs and Boost Defense" is the headline but not a word about Defense? What's up?
1
Why comment without reading the article?
Can we please stop calling it "Defense" spending? it is "Offense" spending, or better yet, offensive spending
11
Apparently when Trump said Mexico was paying for the wall, he actually lied and meant me and you. We all know he isn't footing the bill, Mr. Debt from Pays No Taxes land.
8
So we can finally crack an IPhone.
I do remember when Obama was Prescient, And especially when the GOP ran the House and Senate, they would shrug their shoulders, not even notice that the budgets included billions for better border security and illegal issue, and then go pass whatever they could negotiate. Mostly so to keep their voters happy.
Always complaining that THEY would balance the budget in a week or ten days when THEY had a President.
3
How much money has been allocated for Executive Branch extortion and racketeering activities?
14
I believe the reason Mr. Trump wants to have such a big defese budget is because then he can spend it as he sees fit.
This past year the courts upheld his spending defense budget funds on the wall.
If Mr. Trump has a high defense budget and wants to spend the money someplace else, I wonder whether the courts would uphold his spending. I believe that this is what he is counting on.
9
All trump is doing is putting more money into the Military budget so he can declare a border emergency (not one at this time) and steal it for his wall. The House needs to find away to be sure if money is allotted for military projects, then it goes there. Trump lost his own charity, because he considered himself to be the main source to get the charity.
7
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
Sad to say, I must admit that I seldom find myself in agreement with what the president has to say in his public speeches and declarations. However, I believe that in the above quote, President Trump has hit the nail squarely on its head.
The current administration is generally a chaotic mismanaged mess. But, as Mr. Trump points out, he has proven to be quite gifted in two areas. He’s good at wasting government resources on unneeded projects — The Wall and more weaponry, for example, and, of the forty-four men who have served as POTUS, he is the greatest fraud of the lot.
“Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
Mr. Trump, I think that today you may well have given voice to your legacy as Chief Executive.
17
@Tom W
Projecting is alive and well.
What would the equivalent spending on education look like compared to military spending? If our kids were smarter by 20x of the next 10 countries combined, but we still kept spending more on education? That's a jobs program we should all get behind.
5
The President’s proposed budget is all the more reason, and hopefully the initiative, for Democrats to focus on holding the House and gaining a majority in the Senate in 2020. Especially since defeating Trump is probably less than a 50-50 proposition.
4
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday.
. . . . .
I believe he is actually talking about his personal life and businesses, rather than his administration's goals, but with Donald, who really knows.
6
Wasn't one of Trump's major campaign promises to get us out of, to use his term, "The Forever Wars?" Spending huge new money on war equipment does this how? You can be if the military has a bunch of new toys, they will find an excuse to play with them.
4
This sham of a budget will eviscerate the programs that millions of his supporters desperately need to survive.
However this will barely cause a stir in their ranks.
And why should it? Didn't he give them the thing they prize the most, a big beautiful wall?
14
If Trump wants to cut his deficit he might consider raising taxes on the rich instead of cutting programs that help low income Americans. Just kidding.
5
The day Cadet Bone-spur became president I knew he would actively work toward the elimination of the safety net even though he (lied) promised he would not. So here we are folks. The time has arrived. Let me ask you all, the 10's of millions of us who have paid into Social Security: are we going to let this incompetent (and his supporters) take away what is rightfully ours? If you've been paying into the system your whole life, as most of us have, and if you have one iota of common sense, you will fire the Cadet in November. It's time people wised-up and got passionate about protecting their own self interests, because Republicans and Cbs couldn't care less.
14
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
not just 'waste'. not just 'fraud'. but the 'tremendous' varieties.
sweet!
4
This sham of a budget will eviscerate the programs that millions of his supporters desperately need to survive.
However this will barely cause a stir in their ranks.
And why should it? Didn't he give them the thing they prize the most, a big beautiful wall?
1
America First, indeed, for a limited population.
Remember when Republicans thought the deficit would ruin our childrens’ futures? How exactly do any of them look in the mirror anymore?
Honesty, integrity, responsibility - where’d they disappear to?
10
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
Yeah... we noticed.
14
Clearly the White House is not in tune with the American people, who don't want Obamacare to be eliminated, who don't want safety net programs reduced and who don't want a larger military or a border wall.
Fortunately House Democrats won't let this happen.
7
Trump is running the country very much like he ran all of his prior businesses - straight into the ground.
I shouldn't be surprised folks are still falling for this "smoke and mirrors" type of hype while believing the lies faster than they can get printed.
For Trump to actually state, much less believe that "his budget proposal would bring the deficit close to zero in “not that long a period of time” then I must have been mistaken all of these years - pigs really can fly.
10
Republicans and Trump are the patriotic ones- all for America...except when it comes to assisting Americans in need of help.
7
Every day I grow more disgusted go be from this country
9
Didn’t he say, a not very long time ago, that the military was now bigly funded because of him alone? Holy moly. Was he lying? You mean they still need more money??? I thought it was all fixed? He should put good ole Jared in charge of a military efficiency study.
3
Here's Trump lying about his campaign promises.
2
If this wasn't so horrifying it would be laughable. Tax cuts for corporations and the rich, while stripping safety nets for our most vulnerable citizens and continuing the assault on the middle class. Not to mention completely ignoring climate change and not investing in sound policies to protect the future for our children. I fear another four years of this and the country will be finished.
4
In December 2017, Trump pushed a tax cut through Congress and in 2018, budget deficits, that had been declining, reversed course and now have almost doubled.
Trump stated, “We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” and went on to say cutting the social safety net has to be done.
By now we know that the wealthy and businesses received the bulk of the December 2017 tax cut and now Trump is saying the federal government has to cut aid to those struggling financially.
There is another option. Correct the mistake of cutting taxes in 2017 rather than sticking it to those least able to deal with the situation.
4
Cuts in Medicaid will increase the closures of hospitals in rural America and place many more back in the E.R. because of the lack of healthcare insurance.
We do not need more money for our military. We already spend more on our national defense than China, Saudi Arabia. India, France, Russia, United Kingdom and Germany combined while our country’s infrastructure continues to deteriorate. Cutting the E.P.A by 26% will be disastrous for the country. Trump does not believe in climate change. But according to our own military leaders climate change will be an important factor in the future of our country.
Trump has already added billions of dollars to the deficit with his tax cuts for the rich. His new budget will be great for them, corporations and the military but will only cause the American working middle class more pain.
6
Just what exactly — or whom — is he defending us against? Seems a more robust public health infrastructure and enhanced diplomacy would be a better use of tax dollars.
7
How mean are these people? They will cut the safety nets of poor while increasing spending on a pointless border wall, useless military equipment and tax cuts for those who don't need it.
This budget doesn't mention cuts to Social Security and Medicare, but they are coming if Trump gets a second term. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) has been at the White House to discuss these cuts in a second term. This has been a desire of the Republicans and the Heritage Foundation for decades.
13
In analyzing this budget proposal, readers should read John Cassidy's article in the Feb 10 New Yorker. The numbers proposed by the Trump administration are actually far worse than they seem, because of the artificial foundations and assumptions for growth that continue to permeate the Republican party's economics.
We are actually threatened far more than the administration will admit, given the ripple effects of the coronavirus situation in China. Trump has attacked globalization at the same time as one of the key nexus economies is being significantly slowed. Supply chains matter, and we are yet to see the effects on the US economy as quarantines spread.
In healthcare spending alone, which is a huge sector in the GDP, we continue to waste money. Even if one does not want a single payer system, people should want exactly the efficiencies that were part of the goals for Obamacare. Instead, Trump's people want to trash the whole program, meaning that there will continue to be no opponents of waste.
A long time ago, one of the key people where I trained as a surgeon would yell out to the staff: "Don't give me what I asked for. Give me what I need." Maybe it is time for politicians to do just that for the American people.
8
There is no government program more wasteful and fraud-ridden than the Pentagon. Funny how Trump never wants to talk about that.
Gagging at gnats and swallowing camels.
14
@T blatant Robin Hoodism
1
The biggest safety net entitlement is our industrial defence complex spending. It's eating us alive, we can no longer support a war time budget when we are not fighting a war. Republicans understood this at one time, but they have changed into stupid republicans. Never mind the coronavirus they have contracted the Trump disease, you know, the one that turns them into imbeciles.
13
And how many military families are on WIC and foodstamps ?
15
Sorry but he doesn't get to give over a trillion dollar in tax breaks to corporations and the rich and then cut social programs. And Americans are not paying for that stupid wall! Vote the bum out in 2020!
20
Do we want guns or butter? Do we want a steady income stream for the military industrial complex, or do we want smart military spending. The US plus China spend as much on defense as the rest of the world combined, and the Chinese spend way less than we do. The Chinese have developed the DF-26 “carrier killer” hypersonic missile. It can hit Mach 18 (3.84 miles per second) and travel 2000 miles. One of these missiles, if successful, could sink a $13B aircraft carrier and its billions of dollars of high tech aircraft and thousands of crew.....poof....just like that. We have entered the asymmetric warfare era and we don’t need massive quantities of ships, tanks, personnel, etc etc. If Trump wants to trim the fat, start with our military first, and leave healthcare and other safety net programs till last.
8
Is President Trump TRYING to lose the election? This proposed budget is his cry for help!
8
It is ironic to call the Trump administration's budget aspirational. Its cuts in education and environmental protection are the framework for an unconscionable and unsustainable future.
Pres. Trump brags on how 'he loves the uneducated.' His audience cheers because it's a smear of 'elitists', but he isn't kidding. An educated populace is the foundation of democracy. Tyrants are elevated on an ignorant base.
The sweet little Black girl Trump spotlighted in his campaign rally at the Capitol? She attends a prestigious public magnet school. Her old private religious school wants government funding and, unbeknownst to the family, connived for that reality TV moment. Under Trump, tax money will be funneled to religious academies - where climate catastrophe is seen as a herald of the end times, as though that were a good thing.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is silencing climate scientists, disrupting and destroying long term studies, and scrubbing government websites of scientific data. Not having the information won't stop the change.
Save faith for the church, mosque, and temple. Shared empirical knowledge is essential to national security.
Apocalypse now? It shouldn't take a miracle for a united opposition to vote out Trump and his GOP enablers.
6
How does the Trump base rationalize this one trillion dollar debt and how will their grandchildren pay for it? He said it would be balance down the road, if you believe him I have a bridge in Brooklyn for you to buy, oh wait, he already sold it.
4
As the mother of a nurse with tens of thousands of student loans remaining I am sickened but not surprised to see that Trump wants to make the costs of education go even higher. He would prefer a citizenry even more ignorant and naive than the one we already have.
11
Cutting the social net has been part of the republican's M.O. since Bush. When Obama was elected the republicans were dead against any health care or anything that would help people with the stifling cost of living. Trump gets elected and pushes through the republican tax cuts which were a huge windfall for the 1% and the corporations but created a 2 trillion dollar fiscal shortfall for the government . Translation , the middle class and those barely hanging on get stiffed while the elite profit. Adding to the horrendously bloated military budget ? Who do they think is going to attack the US ? Don't make me laugh. And don't support this nonsense.
5
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
A pretty succinct and accurate assessment for once.
7
Small comfort, but if we reelect this liar and any of the sychophants in Congress who support his policies, the pain inflicted will be shared equally .
Although some may disagree, it looks like his Secretary of Miseducation may be doing the next generation a favor.
1
Gee, now we will spend what the next 20 countries combined spend on the military.
I guess it's always Military Infrastructure Week for the military industrial complex during the reign of Trump!
But we all know why Trump is really doing, this even though he vowed to keep up out of foreign wars - He's trying to win back the military after supporting a murderous War Criminal and almost getting a lot of our forward deployed in Northern Syria killed with his idiotic Green Light to Erdogan.
Again, it's using my money as leverage to win re-election.
5
Cuts, walls and military spending ... apparently America isn’t lean and mean enough yet... well... not lean anyway. I guess MAGA didn’t happen.
2
Thank God the Democrats reclaimed the House of Representatives in 2018. Trump's budget might get through the Senate (because they're all terrified of him), but it will be DOA in the House.
Tear this one up, too, Nancy!
11
Another cruel betrayal of every American who is one catastrophic event away from needing income, food, housing or medical assistance. We've gone from a thousand points of light voodoo economics weaponized against the working poor whose kids volunteer for our military.
5
Entitlements are too high. Humans have higher self esteem and well being when employed, we know this. Data supports it.
Incentives to move off entitlements and in to the workforce work.
Yes, cuts are coming. Yes, entitlement levels will still be far greater than 20 years ago. "slashing"? Yes, down to prior levels for the ballooning.
2
@Open Your Mind
and increase military spending?
1
@dude we gotta keep our country safe to keep our freedom safe. If we lose our nation,dude, we lose entitlements totally . FYI
2
@Open Your Mind ----And become Soviet Union v2.0.
1
The Democratic candidates for President should stop beating each other up and start talking about the absurdity of Trump's spending plan. Cutting Medicare for more military spending? That should get some voters' attention.
4
If more Americans travelled they may realize how badly your country compares with most other western democracies in so many ways. You have the wealth to easily provide a basic safety net for your citizens, but at least the Republicans refuse to contemplate policies (for example, how’s the great infrastructure project going?) that directly benefit working people. Access to affordable healthcare, good education and a clean environment is not socialism - it should be what any government of a rich country should provide it’s citizens.
It would be interesting to find out what percentage of the brainwashed ‘red hats’ have a passport, let alone whether they have ever travelled outside the US. Keep ‘winning’ with Trump and believe the spin that the Republicans spew, as your country slides further towards becoming a fascist state. Vlad must be feeling very pleased with himself - the US is becoming more like Russia every day.
15
@Rossco
Only 50% of Americans own, or have owned, a passport. That's the figure that's generally quoted.
No surprise here. Trump and the GOP have been saying all along that the wealthy are suffering from paying high taxes whilst the middle class and poor get their 'entitlements' like unemployment, medicaid, etc.
I wish I could see the faces of the Trumpsters but they are only going to blame the Democrats and everyone but the crooked leader they love so much. Lose their homes? Lose their jobs? They could listen to Trump saying how wonderful the economy is and how low the unemployment rate is whilst waiting on the unemployment line... oh wait, there won't be any unemployment.. that's an entitlement. Even better, if no one is collecting unemployment, Trump will say that everyone is working! What a concept.
3
It's unavoidable that Medicare is next. The only reason that nothing is being done now is that when action becomes unavoidable, a greater burden "to do their share" can be imposed upon the elderly.
1
@Douglas A Johnston --We've already done "our share" it's called paying taxes for 50 years.
3
When the US government borrows a trillion $ per year, that debt requires ongoing interest payments to holders of the resulting US bonds. Year after year of such deficits means many many more interest payments. Those interest payments subtract from what the government has left to spend each year. The only programs big enough to cut to compensate are Military, Social Security for old folks, and Medicare for old folks. Our tax cuts now creates artificial US prosperity, but the resulting deficits are actually spending our future of Medicare for old folks. This is simple math. Voters, is that what you want?
355
@Will Hogan Social security ran surpluses for decades, and if you count the IOUs in the bank, it is in great shape. Furthermore, Social Security is a dedicated payroll tax. It has its own revenue stream through that tax and can be permanently fixed, with increased benefits, by taxing all income, not just the first $130,000.
Medicare is also payed for with a dedicated payroll tax. If there is a shortage of funds, increase that tax.
The elephant in the room, which is payed for by the general income tax, and other income sources, is the Military budget. Military offence spending could be cut in half and we would still be spending more than all of our adversaries combined. A simple example will illustrate this. The USA has 11 aircraft carrier groups. China has 2. All the rest in the world are operated by US allies. Why do we keep spending so much for an offensive miltary capability? Because it provides profits to already obese industrialists, and it provides jobs. Although just paying everybody currently employed in the industry their wages to stay home (like we do for a lot of farmers) would save billions.
101
@Will Hogan The solution is not that hard. Get rid of the huge tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy. They didn't need them and the tax cuts did little for the economy. Retain tax cuts for the working and middle classes. That does stimulate the economy. Not rocket science.
96
@Will Hogan Trump breaks his campaign promises and cuts Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. Republicans love it. They have both earned your vote - for Democrats!
39
Interest rates are at historic lows. We can't raise them for fear of driving down the stock market. Deficits are now over $1 Trillion per year. Tax receipts are down because of the giant, enormous, and unprecedented tax cuts for corporations. The national debt has continued to grow and grow rapidly. Manufacturing is already in a recession, and almost all wage growth has come from blue states raising their minimum wage. If a national recession hits (and history tells us that one is coming) there will be little, if anything, the government can do in the way of priming the pump. Perhaps its time for everyone to pull their heads out of the sand and stop saying how great the economy is doing. We are on the precipice of disaster.
With that in mind, Trump's budget shows us where we are going. Continued tax cuts for the rich; continued waste by the bloated military; and slow strangulation for everyone else.
If anyone thought that Trump would be different from traditional Republican voodoo economists, they were fools. Yes, he is more vile, more corrupt, more deviant, and more entertaining (in the same way gladiatorial games were entertaining); but at heart he's a traditional Republican. And unless you're one of the rich and famous, he's going to grind you, your family and everyone you care about into the dust.
733
@Joe trump & co are going to borrow and steal every last penny they can, driving the debt further and further up, until a Democrat gets in the WH and inherits this mess.
Of course the'll be saddled with a record-level debt and the blame for it because... trump.
92
@Joe "I won't be around when the bills come due", Trump was quoted saying about blowing up the deficit so that the wealthy 1% could enjoy their tax cuts. As long as the immediate result benefits himself, trump couldn't care less about the harm he causes in the long-term. This self-serving reasoning applies to everything Trump does.
But what does trump care?
In the likely event that the ramifications of his decisions will be horrific, trump will have already targeted someone else to blame.
26
@Joe Small correction: Trump shows us where he and Republicans are taking everyday Americans. DEMOCRATS DON'T BUY IT. Vote Trump and his cronies out of office: keep your health.
11
This budget proposes doing precisely the opposite of what we should be doing. That's no surprise. We should cut defense spending and instead invest in urban renewal, infrastructure, clean energy, job training, and public health and education.
The trillion dollar plus budget deficit belongs entirely to Trump and the GOP. During a strong economy (thanks to Obama and the Democrats) we should be focused on reducing the deficit, not inflating it further.
426
@Purple Patriot I agree with everything you say except5be part about Obama and the Democrats as a reason for the strong economy. Number one the economy is not that strong for everyone, job numbers are meaningless when they include working gigjobs for Amazon or Uber. The stock market is strong and has been rising fo4 a decade thanks to a complicit fed keeping interest rates near zero and companies buying back their own stocks with borrowed money all at the expense of the savers, those responsible folks who got that shaft from everyone including Obama. I loved Obama but he bailed out the banks when he should have spent those trillions on infrastructure as FDR did with the WPA: that may happen under Bernie but anyone else, especially this administration it will be all about Goldman Sachs and the Saudis doing the funding as well connected developers ripoff the country. This budget is atrocious as are ninety percent of the politicians in charge.
16
@Purple Patriot , so the economic strength entirely belongs to the Democrats and Obama?
do you honestly believe that? If so, I wonder what cognitive issues exist?
4
@Ted While Obama bailed out banks and automakers, they all paid back the money "spent" on them.
14
While proposing a 26% cut in EPA funding, this budget does not even mention climate change! Meanwhile oceans get hotter as does the severity of storms. As my grandchildren enter adulthood, what can I say when they ask the obvious questions about what I have been doing all this time?
I will keep signing up and showing up to further the struggle against these terrible policies and I hope that others will realize that despair is not an option and act accordingly.
529
Climate change will save us. Climate change is like nature flushing the toilet.
5
@Tom Walsh Change it: Vote for Bernie!
4
@Tom Walsh Shout from the rooftops that it was 65F in Antarctica couple of days ago, and you will get someone saying to the effect that it's really cold here. They have no concept of what GLOBAL means.
17
"Speaking to the nation’s governors at the White House, Mr. Trump said Monday that his budget proposal would bring the deficit close to zero in 'not that long a period of time' . . . . Lower taxes, give an outlandish estimate of GDP growth, and one certainly don't get a budget close to zero ever, no matter how much one cuts Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
The Republicans have been spinning these lies since 1980. Why people still believe them, I cannot understand. And why any senior citizen (I am one) would ever vote for the Republicans after 40 years of economic nonsense and an avowed intent to curtail old-age insurance benefits (which is what Social Security and Medicare mostly represent) lies totally beyond me.
As for the growing defense budget and shrinking environmental protection budgets: how high do we need the rubble to bounce and the seas to rise?
616
It is still voodoo economics that you reference and still as ineffective.
33
@John Storvick ... and yet, as Wiltontraveler observes, large sectors of the population still swallow this bilge, even as they see no real improvement in their own economic situations, wages, or incomes. The answer to Wiltontraveler's question about why any senior citizen would vote Republican may revolve around a deeper issue that goes to the ideological aspects of oligarchic rule in the US: With a simple narrative they just keep reiterating, Republican elites have convinced a wide swath of people that there are things that matter more than their immediate economic interests. Keeping Republicans themselves in power matters first and foremost, because with them things are getting "better, better, better, all the time" with government "off your backs" and even if not, the alternative (those socialist and liberal Democrats who care more about big government than they do about you) will make things far worse than they already are. It's a sick and convoluted logic but it works miracles, allowing Republicans to merrily roll along with their corrupt corporate capitalist plans, eviscerating the lives of the ordinary middle and low income voters who continue to support them.
33
@Wiltontraveler "The Republicans have been spinning these lies since 1980. Why people still believe them, I cannot understand."
One reason, and a powerful one, is that the 30 plus year attack on the liberal brand by hate radio, Fox News and the corporate world acquiescence, has damaged the liberal spectrum to the point that the right sees the left as enemies and a danger to the country. Any elected official is illegitimate and dismissed as such, without the slightest effort to compromise. You add the MSM equating straight out lies as somehow equivalent to a reasoned position and you have the right free to reject and to even considering out of respect any proposals from the left. Is to the point of cutting their noses despite their faces.
39
I wanna see that portrait of Lincoln fall off the wall and crash right on Cheetolini's head.
7
Who needs to play Plants vs Zombies when you can play Trump vs Darwin?
4
"Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud," the President says. "Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud" sounds like a pretty accurate description of President Trump.
37
Thank goodness. At last a President who is doing something to address the fact that the U.S. can only destroy the world 7 times over.
14
Nothing like nukes, more military spending and Space Force to Make America Great Again.
Talk about a guy with an overcompensation problem!
15
@Barking Doggerel sadly he knows there are a lot of people who suffer the same affliction! They couldn't the United States on a map of the world, but MURICA!
Trump hates the homeless and poor. But He likes to create them! He wants someone to clean them up and ship them out. Maybe His plan is send them all to Wuhan?
He said He loves the poorly educated. Well, He is certainly well on his way to creating more poorly educated!
Interesting no? Republicans want people to be self-sufficient but find pleasure in taking away the things that will help achieve it. That way when they can point fingers at them it will be even more pleasurable.
11
@Marie
What would Robespierre do?
3
Is he increasing the Secret Service budget so that he can charge them even more than $650/night at his resorts each weekend?
14
You wanted the best? You got the best! Oh, wait, never mind that. I was thinking of those makeup-caked apes in KISS, not the ones in
our highest elected office!
1
Mean. Mean. Mean. That’s our U. S. A.
9
Or, to sum things up: Rape the middle class, devastate the working class, destroy the environment and enrich the already rich. Sounds like a plan.
11
But Trump is keeping his promise not to cut Medicare or Social Security.
“It also avoids some hot-button issues that Democrats could seek to turn against Mr. Trump in November — notably, by not reducing Social Security or Medicare benefits. Most of the administration’s initiatives to save money on Medicare are cost-reduction proposals first offered under President Barack Obama, a Democrat.”
I'm so tired of all this winning...
5
Exactly what Jesus wold do.
11
Obviously the trump wants to give more taxpayer money to the military - because it means more money he can divert for his wall and trump-Kushner slush fund.
Typical Republican anti-American anti-society plan to cut the whole reason for a government - taking care of the basics of a functional humane society - all to transfer the savings not to the taxpayer, but to transfer the savings wholesale to the wealthy grifters and scofflaws like himself that evade paying taxes to add to their astronomical hoards of wealth - keeping it out of reach of the society they reap so much from while doing no one any good except as a status symbol and ego boost at the expense of hundreds of millions - even billions - of people.
Without another Democrat to fix the Republican economic mess - again! - another four years of trumplicans in power over America will certainly bankrupt our nation a la trump casinos, airline, steaks and whatever scam he has relied on to sooth his ego. And just like the last recession, it will be the wealthy plutocrats who will increase their wealth while all of us suffer the consequences falling through the absent safety nets - just as they intend.
14
Trump will run on HIS “strong economy.” Some voters will buy into this. But it’s just one more lie.
Any reckless, irresponsible American president can, for a time, cause the stock market index to set new records highs. It’s easy
— Push hundreds of billions more than is needed into the defense budget. Bloat the military-industrial machine’s corporate profits.
— Remove environmental restrictions. Profits rise, the land, air and water are damaged.
— Ignore or rescind consumer protections. Go, index, go!
— Phony tax cut. Massive benefits to the wealthiest Americans. They reinvest gains. Stock market sets daily records.
To make this work, massive deficit spending will be needed. Trump won’t mention or admit this.
The national debt will climb and climb, despite our “healthiest economy ever.”
Trump will focus attention on the gains HE has made for citizens who own stock portfolios.
Trump cares nothing for the truth. Nothing for the damage he does, or the debt he leaves behind him for our children and grandchildren.
Trump needs presidential accomplishments to brag about. Reelection is everything. Fiscal responsibility doesn’t matter, nor does the environment.
Let’s build more weapons!
We already have so many more deadly devices than we could possibly use. We better make more.
And, keep your eye on the market index...
What a healthy economy! What an accomplished president???
7
I've thought for quite a while that this has been the Republican plan all along: rack up a huge budget deficits and then claim to be fiscally conservative by cutting back social programs. The big winner - the defense establishment and industry; the big loser - absolutely everyone else.
16
@Kim Hahn
That has been the longtime Republican m.o. Sadly centrist Dems like Biden, Bloomberg or Buttigeig would support such a budget as did Bill Clinton.
1
The inhumanity of this budget proposal is off the charts. Not only will we have more poverty, more untreated illnesses, and more despair because of the loss of the social safety net, we will see more unnecessary deaths. Yet Trump continues to cozy up to the right-to-life crowd, who of course only care about the right of the unborn to life, not about the lives and well-being of those already born and trying to live as best they can in an unforgiving economy. There is nothing moral or godly or compassionate in this budget. Instead, it is predicated upon the hatred, bigotry, racism, classism, xenophobia, and lust for power and wealth that characterizes this administration and its enablers in the Senate. We the people do not deserve this horror show. If you care about out our country, vote this year as though your life and the lives of all you love are on the line. Because the reality is, they are.
11
Count on cuts to Medicare, Social Security and SSDI if this guy gets re-elected. Guaranteed.
10
@Cat --And...it still won't come close to a balanced budget.
1
All the military force in the world will not stop climate change, it needs careful scientific management but of course the Trump administration doesn't believe it is real, dear oh dear.
7
@Jane I seem to recall the Pentagon listed climate change as the top national security threat to the United States!
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday.
Yes, indeed! Finally, a true statement. "Doing... waste and fraud." Shall we start with the waste and fraud that are the obscene amount of monies that are going into the Trump business coffers vis-a-vis the costs associated with his weekend golf outings and secret service protection for his spawn when they are conducting Trump company business. By the way, who pays for their flights?
13
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.” He said it; he is good at tremendous waste and fraud...among other things; such as tremendous (the BEST continual lying)
5
"Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud." - Yes in the government procurement process, particularly the military.
7
Space force? Truly a feel-good aspirational rah rah talking point. He’s 50-60 years past the peak of that endeavor. Wasn’t one of the blabbering segments in his SOTU all about preserving safety nets? He’s delusional at best, more a harbinger of the doom he himself will force upon us if even a fraction of his crackpot “ideas” becomes reality.
5
Stop calling my social security and my medicare ”entitlements “.
Unlike trump, I pay taxes and I’ve paid into those programs for over 40 years
His grifter family has never broken a sweat.
freeloaders.
I’ve paid into the system
21
Who would have thought that tapping into deep seeded racism (and let’s just be real, folks, this is the biggest attraction for his base), Trump could succeed in whatever malevolent plot he wishes.
Destroy the economy of the United States? Yes, if it means destroying Obama’s legacy.
Trump 2020 = white supremacy. That’s it.
7
Killing the geese that have been laying the golden eggs.
This story would be a good movie sequel to the Academy award winner. “Parasite”.
I went to see that movie thinking it was a metaphor about our society. It is, but it needs a sequel so the the common man can “get the picture”.....(great pun) if I don’t say so myself.
1
“The budget did contain a few new initiatives, compared to past budgets. It included a White House proposal to move Secret Service from the Department of Homeland Security to the Treasury Department, arguing that such a move would “create new efficiencies” in the investigation of financial crimes and prepare the United States to face “the threats of tomorrow” such as the use of cryptocurrencies to finance terrorism.”
Are you kidding me!!
As tax-payers we deserve to know where are tax dollars are going and how they are using our money right now to enrich themselves!
We know that trump’s buddy Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is attempting to stonewall Congress on the total tab for Secret Service agents to follow the Trumps. Clearly this move is for Mnuchin to hide from the American people the presidential travel costs—
Here’s a taste of that cost.
According to a Government Accountability Office report from last year, just ONE MONTH of Trump travel cost $13.6 million in 2018.
We all remember years before he ran for president, Trump complained about how much money was being spent on Secret Service protection for Barack Obama and his family as they traveled.
Well look at this. It’s not a great look for a president who was so hypercritical of his predecessor’s comparatively thrifty habits.
Unbelievable!!
4
How obtuse can our current 'brutus ignoramus' in-chief be? And cruel, to no measure? Meanwhile, justice towards the least among us is left wanting. And diplomacy nowhere to be found. Does this narcissist bully believe we can find strength in 'brute force' alone? If this 'TV reality' weren't so serious, it could be called a joke...on us. But this display of arrogance, and the belittling of our Allies, is dangerous indeed. One more reason to seek Trump's ouster, given that he is beyond redemption.
2
Well, since much of this will have heavy impact of red states...oh well! Elections have consequences.
3
How come the article doesn't mention any spending increases for enlarging the swamp and enhancing payments to grifters?
1
But we sure do need that wall. And my goodness, let's give the military more money. After all, we are essentially still as cannons and muskets! I am so tired of this horrid individual in the Oval Office. And so discouraged at what is going to be his opponent in the up-coming election. Michelle Obama, where are you when we most need you????
1
From overseas America looks unusual. If Trump closed all programs for health and social security and gave all the money to defence and tax cuts for the rich he will likely win the next election with an overwhelming majority.
2
Thats because the Republican promise that matters is “keeping certain people in their place”.
Lyndon Johnson has it right:
“You tell the lowest man he’s better than the best minority and you can pick his pocket. Give that low man someone to look down upon and he’ll pick his pocket for you”
Trump’s budget priorities appear to favor the industrial military complex, while gutting programs that support the general population. Let’s not fail to notice his post impeachment behavior to humiliate a purple heart recipient removed for doing his job, contrasted against his pardon of a rogue military officer committing crimes against humanity, reported by his fellow troops. This is an emerging, strategic pattern that is telling and frightening. And Senate Republicans continue to enable.
4
Pay attention Trump supporters. What comes out of Trump's mouth is different than what's in his proposed budget. He claims, and will continue to claim during this election season, to be protecting healthcare for Americans. Not only is this not true, he's literally trying to take your healthcare away, or diminish it or charge you more for it. This is no mystery: Trump gave an enormous tax cut to corporations and the offspring of the wealthiest Americans, claiming that it would pay for itself - ha ha ha - and here we are over two years later and the deficit keeps climbing. Trump will henceforth claim ad nauseam that the reason for the cuts to Medicaid and other programs is because they are driving up the deficit. He'll make no mention of the fact that his tax cuts are a colossal failure. Corporations didn't need the capital, they had plenty to invest, and rich people may have bought a new car (European make) or a larger yacht (European make) but they've done nothing to stimulate our economy. It was a giveaway by the Republicans in retribution for the ACA (Obamacare). If you vote for Republicans you better have plenty of money, because these guys will hurt you eventually. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will all go under the knife if Republicans get a chance. And don't put it past Trump to declare a national emergency so that he can cut entitlements. He would do it in a heartbeat, in a 2nd term. You will lose by voting for Republicans. Bank on it.
13
My question for the religious right is "what would Jesus do?" My question for the DNC is why they don't use religious morales in campaign ads? I'm not a religious person but my guess is that God is to be pretty ticked off at anyone that supports someone trashing both our environment and the poor.
11
And why was it important to elect a Democratic House in 2018? Because if it were left entirely to the Republicans, the cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security would be a done deal. That's a message everyone would do well to remember, and vote on, this November.
27
@Bill Heghlee Donald Trump's new budget cuts Medicare; Medicaid and other social programs . NO. This is wrong. The Budget increases Military spending;we are not at war and Trump promised to bring the military home.This budget will explode the deficit even further. No to this budget. Ray Sipe; Dist 18; Florida
13
We are at war. The mortal enemy is located in the White House and the Capitol Building.
Paper ballots will defeat him.
That’s all we need for military budget to decimate to obliterate the enemy... paper ballots.
Remember the Maine? Remember the Alamo. No matter. But do for heaven’s sake remember Iowa... paper ballots for all 50 states.
3
There's no such thing as a "budget cut". Here's what happens:
1. Congress passes a 5-year spending plan for a particular program. $10 billion the first year, $12 billion the second, $14 billion the third, $17 billion the fourth, $20 billion the fifth.
So even though inflation is running at 2%, this program's funding increases around twenty percent every year, eventually doubling by the fifth year. Ridiculous.
2. The President proposes a reasonable adjustment to the appropriation earmarked for the program. Instead of $12 billion the second year, s/he deems $10.5 billion - a five percent increase - to be appropriate.
3. The media and politicians of the opposing party scream bloody murder that spending 5% MORE this year than last year is somehow a "CUT".
I wonder how many second-grade math teachers would give you a passing grade if you called a 5% increase a "cut".
2
America’s working classes prioritize false grievance and maintenance of social hierarchy over their own economic security.
Elections have consequences. We thought Hilary and Trump were the same so here we are.
No one should complain.
7
The US defense budget is greater than the next 7 nations combined, and is the world's largest exporter of munitions.
Unless America shifts priorities to provide decent education and health care for its own people and returns to setting an imperfects but effective example of progressive, sustainable and evolutionary capitalism, it will continue its rapid spiral into obsolescence and the world into a mess of authoritarian dictatorships.
As a perfectly-timed call for renewal, trump is doing a great service. He has revealed just how broken the checks and balances are, how indebted to big money and foreign compromat the politicians are, how obsolete the Founder's well-intended electoral college and senate structure are, how dangerous alternative reality social media can be, and how dangerous the current slide into polarized intolerance is for the future. Putin just keeps winning in Cold War 2.0.
9
If you invest capital on building bombs nothing further is produced by that invested capital and you not only do not receive a return on that capital, you do not receive the capital back either. You drop the bomb and that capital no longer exists. Moreover, it results in the destruction of capital that was invested in whatever it blows up. A double-whammy.
You have a far better chance of productivity from capital If you use it to improve health care. education and infrastructure than on weapons of destruction that are a dead-end use of capital.
Trump has had repeated business failures. He is leading the US down the same path that led to his multiple bankruptcies and loss of most of his inherited wealth.
20
Folks with money and assets always want taxpayers to pay for their protection. This is standard. How about 'no'? Remove the 2016 tax breaks for the wealthy now.
10
Public Service Announcement: If you think Trump is working for you (as the president most assuredly is, right?) he's not.
"Mr. Trump’s budget again recommends eliminating subsidized federal student loans and ending the public service loan program, an incentive for teachers, police officers, government workers and other public servants that cancels their remaining federal student loans after a decade of payments. Those proposals were in last year’s budget; Congress failed to adopt them."
There's only one directive here: save people like himself money by cutting benefits for everyone else. Despicable.
19
This is sounding an awful lot like Regan's budget.
First, big tax breaks for corporations and wealthy, which will supposedly "Trickle Down" to the rest of us. It didn't. Meanwhile a small token tax break for the rest of us, which didn't make much difference.
Then increases in military spending, whether the military wants it or not, 'cause that plays well to conservative voters. 'Nuke wars are easy to win.'
And "Space Force"... Anyone remember "Star Wars" (no, not the movie, Reagan's safety net around the globe). It never amounted to anything, but we spent Billions on it. Just like Space Force, there was never any plan, just political rhetoric for the crowds.
Next claim that "We'll grow our way out of it", almost verbatim what Reagan said. Did it work? Nope. Bush Sr had to put taxes back up because that was the only way to reduce the Reagan Deficit. The next Pres will have to figure out how to undo the Trump Deficit; it won't disappear just because he promised 4 years ago that it would.
Then claim to go after waste and fraud, without actually showing if there is much of it out there, and with no plan to actually accomplish anything. (And one has to overlook the waste of the unneeded military spending.)
Then get rid of environmental protections, 'cause the environment only affects the liberals y'know.
But he sure gets crowds to cheer for him, just like Reagan did. And if you're busy cheering, you don't notice your pocket is being picked.
17
It's time again for the Speaker and the House Democrats to flex their muscles and reject Trump's budget requests. All appropriation requests must originate in the House according to the Constitution. So let's have the House dictate the political and legislative agenda now!
14
The military and the military-industrial complex is the biggest socialist program this country runs, and it's all about hegemony, imperialism, invading and occupying small countries that never attacked us, plundering other country's resources, and creating taxpayer-funded jobs.
Social Security and other programs are paid for by the American people. They're helpful and healing. They don't involve killing and injuring people.
So no surprise Trump wants to increase funding for the war machine, and cut social programs.
The man has no heart, conscience, compassion, ethics or soul.
27
Trump wants to spend lavishly on the military because he fears the military. With the Republican Party having abdicated its responsibility to protect decency and democracy, and the judiciary closing in on that goal, the U.S. Military might be the biggest obstacle standing in Mr. Trump's way. So he's doing what comes natural: He's paying them "protection money." And like always, he's using someone else's money -- yours and mine.
10
@RR Same principle applies to his moving the Secret Service to the foreclosure king & non-economist, Mnuchin.
1
@RR,
Correct.
A dictator always need to feed the military and buy their loyalty. Trump is learning well from his lord and master, Vladimir Putin.
Does it matter who benefits from the safety net programs if they need the help? I don't have a problem cutting waste or cutting off those who are cheating or those who are not working, but are able bodied, especially in this economy where Trump rightly says unemployment is low. It's the education cuts that bother me.
Making college or other post high school education un-afforadable hurts all of us - have you tried to get a trades-person lately? They are few and far between and those are great jobs, that pay a living wage. If you can't afford to go to school or if you don't know someone willing to take you on as an apprentice, how are you going to support yourself, in any field? No one can get ahead, it's just too darn expensive. Most families and students who cannot afford to further their education are not lazy, they are not looking for a handout, they are looking for something that they can reasonably afford. There is no reason for Trump and the Republicans to make it so difficult to get a little break on a student loan, unless it's to keep people down. The uneducated are Trumps favorite people, right? I think the direct statement after the Nevada primary was: I love the poorly educated. But why do they love him? It boggles the mind that some folks don't understand his style of oppression, they just continue to call it fake news and blame others.
15
@Denise And his undermining democracy while building his dictatorship is un-noticed by the trump cult until trump declares us the United States of Corporate America & is full blown dictator.
@Denise 100% right Denise, he fears educated people who have learned truth from falsehood and have the skill to tell what they see, not what the Wizard of Oz says is there.
First it starts with Medicaid, with those who depend on this safety net having muted voices. Then it will expand to Medicare and Social Security. All in the name of fiscal responsibility! After all, we've got to fix that trillion dollar deficit somehow. Oh those Republicans; too clever for the rest of us to notice.
14
@M Harvey This is his next target group, the poor, the sick, the needy; trump's cult doesn't see their turn will come because he only wants White Wealthy people in America;the cult's racism will be turned back on them.
1
If Trumps budget does not move some red state voters to think seriously about who and what they are supporting, then it is all about Trump for them...the cuts in the budget would directly effect them overwhelmingly, if this doesn’t matter then it really is a cult.
11
Fox news will make them believe whatever they want them to believe.
Our president is a terrible man.
33
And every person who supports him are also terrible. Every single one.
6
This has the makings of some great Democratic campaign ads.
Elimination of subsidized student loans? Elimination of a public service loan program that cancels student loans for school teachers, policemen and firemen? A trillion dollars in cuts to Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid? All this from the president who just announced he’s doing more for the working class than any president in history?
Save us from such “greatness.”
37
Oh, Nancy, we're going to need your "shredder" for a certain budget proposal.
14
@JM
Au Contraire !
A really nice "Copier" !
Enlarge it and distribute it, Widely !
Waste and fraud, the mindless mantra of politicians. Get real. We need more military spending like we need more crooked presidents.
23
If Trump wants to eliminate waste and fraud, the. He should eliminate himself. He’s the biggest waste of space and resources and the biggest fraud.
33
His budget director said that to get medicaid a person must speak English!
4
Trump should put some $$ in his budget proposal for "English as a second language" courses for himself. And maybe some speech remediation, too.
Otherwise, we'll keep reading sentences like this:
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
10
@hdtvpete For once he's being honest when he boasts about all the waste and fraud he's promoting.
1
Let’s build up the military and decimate the population!
4
@Truthiness He is relying on the military (and the police and the "bikers") to come to his aid if you know what happens.
The heartless, cynical plan of a heartless, cynical monster. Now we will see how many heartless and cynical Americans there are, and I fear the worst.
7
@James Mazzarella The genius in these kind of plans is that the MAGA crowd might actually suffer, but they cannot admit it! They have to keep up the fiction that they are wildly successful because of Trump. If they were suffering, they'd be loser socialists!
1
Trump is doing what he does best: making things go belly-up. He ruined everything he touched before becoming president. Only a fool would think that would change.
Remind us again, why would Sanders' people before profit priorities be so terrible?
9
Tremendous waste—oodles of $$$ to Trump’s golf habit at his properties, for Secret Service hotel rooms at up to $600 per night. CHECK.
Tremendous fraud—same, while alleging the hotel rooms are free. CHECK.
Waste and fraud, indeed.
13
So disappointing....such a large deficit when we should have a balanced budget which includes repaying our debt. To hear the economists stating the deficit, as a percentage of GDP, is fractional, are misleading the American people. We have almost $22 trillion of debt - the annual interest expense on that debt is approximately $400 billion dollars. The total U.S. tax revenue last year was approx. $3.4 trillion - the interest expense alone is over 10% over our budget. I don't believe we'll ever be able to begin repaying that debt. If the economy has been so strong for the last 2 decades, why hadn't either the Obama or Trump Administrations reduce the debt - instead they kept spending...more and more. Obama doubled the debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion - much of it on wasted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, Trump is increasing the military budget again....and I heard Mnuchin say ",,,,expanding the economy will overshadow the debt.." I don't think so - if anything the debt will hinder our economy from expanding.
5
@JMS , Obama did reduce the annual deficits slicing them in half. A single president is not responsible for all of the debt calculated at the end of a fiscal year as he is the annual deficits. For instance, debt from WWII appreciated for decades after the war although almost all of the original spending for it was initiated by FDR. Likewise, much of the debt related to the Iraq war stems from spending done under Bush, Jr. The better metric to judge annual budgets is to look at annual deficits not total debt.
1
@jonathan
Obama borrowed heavily to pay for the war in Afghanistan- it’s estimated we spent $1 trillion in that wasteland during his Administration- he borrowed an average of $1.25 trillion per year - now we’re we’re paying interest on that debt - he was a spendthrift
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
Yup
5
How about we cut the Mar-a-lago taxpayer-gouging for Trump playing golf for a third of this presidency, paying for Secret Service there??
Cut the Phony Prayer Breakfast hate-festival, cut the Be Best blarney, get back tax payer $$$ from political groups that have a fig-leaf of religious coverage to hide behind and get tax-free status.
Voting Trump out will probably be the most economical thing a voter can do.
13
“Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
The King of Projection holds the mirror up to gaze upon his visage.
8
How many Americans die because of a lack of border wall compared to how many Americans die due to a lack of affordable healthcare?
15
@Linda a border wall that defies nature..
1
Every time I see an article about an increase in "defense" industry, I think about Willie Sutton's answer to why he robbed banks. "That's where they keep the money, stupid," was his supposed response. If Willie were alive today, he would be investing in the "defense" companies, now fighting for our "freedom," which, for some reason is being held hostage in the Middle East.
5
“'We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,' Mr. Trump said Monday. 'Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.'”
MAN BITES DOG! Mr. Trump told the TRUTH for once. (He's merely mistaken -- not lying -- about "waste and fraud" being good things.)
4
"We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.” Hey at least he's admitting that his admin is all waste and fraud. Yes?
5
No fraud nor waste in military spending, I betcha! More! More! More!
3
Exactly the kind of "budget" I'd expect from a parasite who has never worked an honest day in his life and only pays his debts by court order.
11
this "budget plan" looks like something right out of the days of corrupt european royalty, keep 'em ignorant and in crushing poverty so they can't fight back. i predict another gov't shutdown over yet another trump economic disaster.
6
Vote him out , he is ruining this country .
9
Our military loses all wars. We should dismantle our military; they are worse than useless. Read about our generals and their 18 year coverup of the Afghanistan fiasco.
2 American military killed recently, all needless deaths.
3
The Trump supporters will love it. if they bought Trump's crappola this far they will believe that this class war budget will only effect black and brown people and those who do the hard back breaking low paid jobs that English speaking white folks will not do.
Waste, theft, fraud and corruption is the history of every gangster controlled government including the one run by crime boss Trump and his stooges in the Senate and the Justice Department.
In 2016 people wanted something new. What they got was something far worse. The crooks and stooges must be cleaned out and we should elect some one with the qualities that Boss Trump does not possess: e.g., common decency, patriotism, honesty, truthfullness, compassion, competence, and trustworthyness and the ability to accept personal responsibility for his/her actions or lack thereof without blaming someone else.
The Trump cult depends 110% personal loyalty.
5
More built-in cover-up of Trump crime and it doesn't even raise an eyebrow!! Trump success!! I see it because I know to look for it and more often than not, THERE IT IS!!
2
These numbers trouble you? Get out and vote this corrupt phoney out.
6
The value of safety nets is underappreciated by those who never walk on tightropes.
3
I don’t know what Trump’s rationale will be for the deep cuts to the safety net. He may argue the stock market is so good, people no longer need food stamps. This argument fails when one looks at Governor Greg Abbott in Texas and his hostility towards the homeless. If a strong stock market meant that there should be no homeless, there is no reason for Abbott to order the Texas Department of Transportation to clear out the underpasses of bridges in Austin and elsewhere.
Trickle down economics likes to talk about rising tides raise all boats. The metaphor fails because no one considers that not everyone can afford a boat. A corollary for the metaphor should be those who cannot afford a boat are flooded out of low lying areas.
4
So we're not at war, and Trump claims he's the peace President, but we also need to spend more on the military?
6
@D.A.Oh
To ensure we’re strong enough no one will be tempted.
Democrats used to know that.
We already spend more on the military than the next 7 countries combined! When, oh when, are Americans going to rebel against this travesty. Cut the military heavily, let's say 25-30% and put that money to work solving the real threats to our security: health care, college, and child care costs, and climate change.
13
@JS
Stats like the next seven countries combined is a meaningless comparison.
Other countries use conscripts, for example. And the cost bases in China and Russia are dramatically less.
You need to examine the threat and price out the response in U.S. dollars.
@EGD
Which begs the question;
Do you think we're getting good value for the Dollars ?
1
@EGD
The only western country that still has conscripts is Germany.
Trump’s proposed budget increases to the military are transfer payments to the defense contractor/donor class. Stoking defense spending is one way to fatten the cats while starving the poor church mice.
21
Military increases will only go to fund his useless wall. Goal is to improve the bottom line of Trump’s pals he hired without any competitive bidding to build his barricade. He will try to put a guilt trip on American taxpayers that if we don’t bow to his demands we will be harming the troops, thumbing our noses at veterans. Enough already. Trump did not feel patriotic enough to serve in Vietnam, so he needs to be told that he can declare all the national emergencies he wants at the border. No more gravy money. We are tired of big defense budgets that fatten the bottom line of a few wall contractors.
This budget is helpful to Democrats if they are savvy in describing how it affects voters. Can Democrats do this? How are they going to get the word out?
11
Yes, it's going to be just super having all these new weapons and space forces. Problem is, no one will be able to read and write to operate these systems or pass a physical if the government continues to undermine education and health care.
22
@mike L
We can use immigrants, then.
1
The cuts merely take us back to where they were before ballooning after the crisis and under the Obama administration.
The entitlements in total are still way above 15 years for example
3
Trump University failed and so did Trump Casino ,why is this man even planning how to spend the taxpayer's money and by the way what happened to his past Income tax reviews that he is avoiding to show the American public.
14
Fodder for the Democrats - re- elect him and watch cuts to Medicare and Social Security the following year. And then followed by another Depression at the end of four years. This is a man who survived numerous bankruptcies with the help of his kids friends at Deutsch Bank. There is n one to save the US.
11
The rich buy their tax cuts and then pay for our social cuts. Why do I hate my country and its government?
14
@Andrew
‘Why do I hate my country and its government?’
Probably because you look at your country from a fundamentally negative perspective based on fundamentally flawed expectations.
1
Then he'll have the military take over the Treasury and crank up the printing presses. He'll tell his fan base they're all gonna be rich, and they'll fall for it just like all the other the schemes.
7
"Tremendous waste and fraud" in food stamps and student loans, but the gigantic Defense budget needs to be increased? That's backwards.
I work on an Air Force base. I see big inefficiencies everyday.
Trump wants to stick it to my physically-handicapped, developmentally-disabled senior citizen friend who lives in public housing.
I object to Trump's budget not along Left / Right lines but on reality / fantasy lines.
24
1.5 trillion dollar tax cut which over 50% went for stock buybacks and increased dividends to help the 1% get richer. Peanuts for the workers a raise of only 1% over the inflation index while our so-called financial gatekeepers took a whooping 346 billion dollars in bonuses. Trump's economy whereas the rich get richer and the rubes get the pennies and are just happy to have a job. That's not the American dream it's a con kept going by the banana republicans.
15
Trump has sold out to the military industrial complex, just like Obama the Bushes and all the presidents back to Lincoln except JFK.
2
Why do we need a massive defense budget? We have a president that capitulates to every tyrant on earth.
26
Just goes to show you how much the GOP values young people when it comes to voting - those changes to Student Loans will do nothing to benefit save those in the DeVos family.
13
Let’s cut the budget for the CDC. How likely is it that a Corona virus will sweep the world?
5
I hate to be so childishly simple, but it suits the style of the trump administration. If we are getting out of Afghanistan why do we need more defense spending?
6
@jb More money for the military keeps them on your side in case the citizenry gets any ideas..
The machinations of a dictator, swayed by special interests (read: oil and big medicine)
7
Let Trump be Trump if this is what the American people believe and ultimately vote for. Period. We can see the consequences are dire, but the only way for this country to wake up is to live through the disastrous consequences. And let the 0.001% rich be content with their expanding riches while the world around them scoffs at their arrogance and foolishness.
4
A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick
Poor people might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to rich gentlemen and ladies.
J.Swift.
7
I'm sure the impeachment-crazed Democrats will sign off on this "additional spending for the military"......just as they have in the past two years.
Isn't it wonderful that Republican and Democrats are always in lockstep with regards to the obscene amounts of money spent on "defense"?
You would almost think that there was something like a military industrial complex pulling the strings on these puppets.......but that would make me a "conspiracy theorist" like Dwight Eisenhower.
1
Cutting the needs for the most in need.
Boosting the funds to kill more people.
All in the name of "defending ourselves."
How much more selfish can a person get?
A typical Republican ideology of defending the "Privileged" and cutting off the "Underprivileged." Just like the racial problem in our country.
6
Aside from the cuts to education, the EPA and Medicaid, the most frightening is boosting our nuclear arsenal! When every President in since Eisenhower has tried to limit nuclear weapons in the world, Trump is goading the Russians and the Chinese into another nuclear arms race. And what message he is sending to every other nuclear armed nation in the world!? This is sheer madness.
3
"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
- Grover Norquist 2001 -
We're just witnessing, a variation on a theme.
I'm still thinking,
Trump explodes/implodes before the convention.
Not finding him as stabile, as he used to be. /s
5
@Yokwyk Norquist and Gingrich, swamp liars, started republican news way back when Reagan removed the "Fairness Doctrine" from the FCC as one of 60 DEMANDS the KOCH boys gave him;without counterpoint, hate radio was hatched &GOP fracked in fox fake news.
1
Imagine:
This is the budget Mr. Trump is proposing for the benefit the American people when he is in the middle of a re-election campaign he hopes to win.
I am sure he is being as kind and thoughtful as he can possibly be at this time because he needs his supporters and other voters to vote for him.
But imagine what he will propose when he no longer needs to earn our support to get re-elected.
Then, he will be able to do all the cutting and slashing he wants to.
Right now, he is asking for cuts to the Childrens Health Insurance Program and cuts to programs that protect our environment, keep out water drinkable and our air safe.
When freed from constraint, Mr. Trump will undoubtedly cut Social Security by simply ending annual Cost of Living Adjustments.
Medicare and Medicaid will be block granted, which means the federal government will give a basket of money to each state to spend however each state wishes or needs to; some of the funds might be used pay for medical care, but no guarantees.
Trump's budget, next year -- when he no longer needs to please us to win our support and votes -- will be beyond my poor imagination.
18
@Lilburne
He’ll be out of office come next January, so your hand-wringing about what he’ll do next year is for naught.
2
@Lilburne They would eat dirt if he told them to, because, as Lyndon Johnson said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket."
2
This budget seems deliberately written to put Democrats on the spot for the election season. A good Democratic response would be to spend a long amount of time in the House highlighting the draconian and inhumane elements of Trump's proposed budget, including real-world effects on regular people. This should be done as many times as possible between now and Election Day - don't shy away from this terrible budget; emphasize how terrible it is.
24
Let's change the title slightly to "American's Dim Future." It will be dim indeed for the environment, the ill, the struggling. Their lot will only get worse, as tax cuts further exacerbate the government's ability to fund the safety net (not that they wanted to, anyway). With the Senate and Executive branches of government merged, as they now are, the future for those on the bottom of the ladder doesn't look especially bright. That of course, is the historical norm for serfs.
13
Shorter version: Give billions to tax dollars and benefits to the richest Americans and military industrial complex, and cut the meager support for the poorest among us. Vote as if the health and stability of our nation's middle class depends upon it, because it does.
19
@James and convince the "base" that cuts to Medicaid and EPA funding is in their interest.
13
His billionaire friends are eating high on the hog. Too bad our children will pay for it.
Education, Environment, Health care, roads, anything the government encourages - all gone. Except we will have big beautiful tanks, ships and planes.
34
@bud
Oh, you again. Could you tell me about the unemployment rate? School prayers? Abortion?
Let's not forget that increases for "defense" actually mean increases for shareholders of contractors who supply the defense department with all kinds of soon-to-be obsolete weapons, $300 wrenches, service contracts that are ten times over-valued, etc. etc...
This is largely money going to Republicans, because big money Republicans happen to be for the most part the shareholders of these "defense" contractors. This isn't money going to actual defenders of the country - i.e. soldiers - this is big time money going to Republicans.
45
@Sirlar
The mother of an Iraq veteran told me that the soldiers have uniforms and equipment charged against their pay. They even have to pay for extra ammunition if they want it.
So, contractors in Iraq were so slip-shod that soldiers were electrocuted by faulty wiring on the bases, but they had Play Stations and Baskin-Robbins ice cream cakes. They didn't have body armor, but they have Pizza Hut. Talk about priorities! You can't get what you truly need, only what the contractors want to sell. Disgusting.
7
More money for the military? Why does Trump need that when he’s precipitously closing down “endless” wars and declining to defend our allies?
24
@Steel Magnolia
Perhaps so he can grab some of that money to pay for the wall.
Would not be the first time.
4
@COOP
Yes, indeed. Trump thinks of the money in our treasury as 'his' anyway.
1
It would be interesting to hear how the various proposals would affect Conservatives vs Liberals or Independents.
If, for example, undermining Obamacare hurts conservative America as much as liberal, or more, some Trump supporters and GOP Congresspersons might balk at it.
If cuts to Medicaid would hurt Conservatives more, perhaps the same reaction. (It's been reported that Red states draw more Medicaid than Blue or neutral ones.)
Ditto Social Security.
And it would be great to hear about cost of the trade war to farmers and industrial workers; how much is being born by Conservatives vs others.
Getting people to rallies to cheer for him is one thing. Delivering, even for his supporters, is another.
8
@Mark Miller
Suicides by farmers have increased dramatically since he started the trade war with China. The billions that were supposed to go to the family farmers went to Big Agra instead.
MRGA = Make Russia Great Again. It's been his mission since 2016.
10
@nora m
Not only that, sales of precious American farmland to foreign investors, notably the Chinese, have been increasing at a rapid rate.
It leads one to wonder of this trade war isn't a major component of the Chinese plan to control American agriculture.
4
Reagan, Milton Friedman, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, Romney all would have loved to slash the safety net. Trump is continuing the hyper capitalist neoliberal economic dogmas of the right wing.
8
@Peter
What did you just say? Catchy but meaningless.
4
@AADaptogen
Just far right economics which all mainstream Democrats fall back on when push comes to shove. Obama wanted to do this but was stymied by Bernie if you have forgotten.
This is Trump's campaign document, telling corporate donors what they'll get if he is reelected. Trump will keep his supporters riled up at hate rallies with spoon-fed, meaningless slogans while the real business of politics and our government is corporatized for the wealthy. Watch out MAGA supporters, the Matrix has you.
35
Promises Made - Promises Broken
Trump’s budget, true to form, has red ink losses as far as the eye can see. Instead of eliminating $20T of our national debt as promised, he added $30T for our total debt of $50 trillion, and likely much, much, more!
Trump deserves credit for all these losses. He’s not just endangering banks, vendors and investors anymore, now he's endangering the entire country.
Well done Donald - Another Broken Promise
36
@US Debt Forum Long history of not meeting his financial obligations even before he was President. Just ask Deutsche Bank how many times he stiffed them and investors holding bonds in his failed real estate deals. His promises mean about as much to him as the truth does.
17
@Kevin don't forget all the contractors and suppliers he stiffed in the MidAtlantic. People never got paid for providing goods and services to his casino. Most were small "mom and pop" businesses,and many went bankrupt because of these unpaid accounts receivable. He's doing to the entire country what he did to these small businesses -- running us into the ground.
6
@US Debt Forum If you live in or near NYC long enough, you'll eventually meet someone who trump has either directly or indirectly cheated out of money -- bankers, lawyers, contractors, casino workers, realtors, hotel & restaurant staff, city officials, tenants... you name it. Is it any wonder that with the help of the GOP, trump is now gleefully cheating the American people?
Why do people who depend on safety net programs support Trump? As the saying goes: if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
165
@Ann K We need to teach students, from a very young age, how to reason, analyze and question what they hear!
DTJ want to keep the people ignorant. Easier to fool them!
5
Keep your government hands off my Social Security - any Trump Supporter...
1
Another fraud by the fraudster-in-chief. Were not the massive tax cuts designed to pay for themselves? Wasn't the Republican tax fraud designed to reboot the American economy? Everything that Trump and his Republican enablers have done was designed to help the oligarchs who have reached a not so secret deal with Moscow to destroy our democracy, a democracy the oligarchs believe is only for them, especially an economic system sustained by crony capitalism where consumers and workers are both enslaved by the oligarchs who run the banks, the tech companies, and the media. Either we put a stop to the financial crimes that are enabling the march toward oligarchy or we will become the helots of the twenty-first century.
15
If Trump is intent on reducing waste and fraud he should work on the most obvious problem area first, himself, and resign immediately.
39
@Miriam
Trump and his family are a big source of the waste in government. He is charging the Secret Service about $650 a night for staying at Mar-A- Largo and his other properties where he entertains his supporters and supplicants seeking government contracts or sweetheart deals. Corrupt to the core.
7
Moving Secret Service back to Treasury, from whence it came? Now that's management innovation.
7
Yes, YES!
More bombs and missiles and aircraft carriers and tanks and military bases. A new Space Force - Star Wars FOR REAL - WOW!
Fewer schools, less affordable healthcare, no more environmental protection (who needs clean water and clean air anyway?). Affordable housing: who needs it?
Donald J. Goldilocks, with his GOP politburo, feels empowered to do whatever he wants without being constrained by the laws that apply to everyone else. Witnesses? Evidence? Who needs them? Facts? They're only for suckers.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin's strategy to dis-empower and disintegrate the United States and western Europe (Brexit, anyone?) is proceeding spectacularly.
ALL WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT.
Except, of course, in Ukraine, which tried in vain to undermine Trump's ascendance, Trump's apologists keep insisting, so that really doesn't count.
Thus, our military defenses become ever stronger, while our social, moral, legal, societal defenses are being undermined. We may have way more bullets than anyone else. But we use them to hide the reality of our ever-greater Potemkin "democracy; " You know, that nation "of the people, by the people and for the people"?
To what end?
21
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
Now that's a quote. Whether or not you think these are "good" things is another story. But at least this time he wasn't telling lies about what he's doing.
14
@Yorick Trump needs to look no further than in the mirror to see massive fraud and abuse. For example, the money the American taxpayers are wasting every time he goes to Mar a Lago to play golf for a week is ridiculous. The Government Accountability Office has estimated the cost to taxpayers at 3.4 million per trip. He has logged 114 days playing golf at his various properties so far during his presidency, and the Washington Post has estimated that the cost to taxpayers is around $127 million dollars! You can also add to that the 30 billion dollars of taxpayer money he used to bail out farmers (and keep their loyalty) It was only necessary because he created the situation with his "easy to win" tariff war which cost not only farmers, but American businesses over 46 billion dollars. You could go on an on.
Like everything else coming out of this White House, Trump's budget is a sick joke. Foreign aid acounts for less than 1% of federal spending so cutting it is meaningless toward reducing the Trump deficit. Instead of cutting student loans, food stamps and Medicaid, Republicans should be cutting the tax dollars Trump wastes on his vacations at Trump-owned golf resorts, where he has spent fully a third of his first three years in office. The Secret Service and others in his retinue pay $600 a night for hotel rooms and pad Trump corp's profits with costs for travel, meals and overtime to protect his porcine presence on the links.
14
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
Yes, he is doing a lot of waste and fraud. At least he admits it. Tremendously.
".....Mr. Trump said Monday that his budget proposal would bring the deficit close to zero in “not that long a period of time”
He's lying about that.
20
@Moehoward
He was referring to glacial time. Ops, that is speeding up with the thermometer showing 65 degrees in Antarctica recently.
3
Does he want more homeless people?! That’s what is going to happen if these cuts go through. Those programs need more money, not less. Where would that funding be? How about cutting his and his family’s security protection, taxing his wealth and that of the rich and corporations, and having him pay for his and his families travel. This is a disgrace.
9
"“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
I think e finally said something that's true.
12
I don’t mind if Trump destroys this country. That is long overdue, but destroying the world goes a bit too far.
2
Accept this budget and we’ll be a nation of very well defended poor with a few who are perversely rich.
13
@Aaron Czyzewski Yep. The ideal U.S. according to Trump seems to be a neo-feudal system.
2
@Aaron Czyzewski
Accept this budget because we are a nation of very well defended poor with a few who are perversely rich.
Trump's budget does not address the needs of a country that is unequal in education, opportunity, and financial security. It continues to feed the rapacious military-industrial complex that brought us Vietnam and Iraq.
The Federal budget process is too important and too unhinged from reality to continue being cobbled together without little public discussion of fundamental principles and cost and benefit analysis. Do we absolutely need a $1.2 trillion a year defense establishment, or could we get by with $800 billion? Or compare the incremental cost of an additional F35 to pre-school for 700,000 kids?
Why not structure the budgeting process like the NCAA basketball playoffs? Lay out all the programs, group them, and then over the next 6-8 rounds of informed debate develop a fiscally constrained budget. Big picture, in public.
5
This budget should surprise no one. An audit would show Trump donors and supporters deeply entrenched in the Wall, defense contractor, and space programs that will be funded. Follow the money.
Luckily, this budget has no chance of passing the House.
16
War on education and poor people—which makes defense spending understandable. We will probably need more military in the streets when low income parents see food removed from the table.
14
@JSBNoWI "War on education and poor people ---"
and that includes so many supporters of Trump.
Long term, more education will help poor people.
6
trump does love ignorance and stupidity. However, ignorance can be fixed; stupidity, not so much
1
I think Trump should cut down on his personal spending which has amounted to $115 million. His trips to Mar a Lago and other golf resorts are quite expensive, however he doesn’t seem concerned. As long as he himself does not experience any cuts.
30
@Truthiness
...and how much have his rallies cost the country?
I'd be curious to see if he still has all these rallies if he were to be reelected. I don't think he could do without the screaming fans.
12
There are 3 threats to the country and the World. The first is the fossil fuel industries threat to the climate. The second is the arms industries threat to the US budget and World peace. The third is the threat of the private insurance companies to the the health of the US citizens.
The tobacco industry was brought under control through a bi-partisan effort. There has been some discussion on these items in the current Democratic primary campaign, but if more focus could be made on on the first two items in the national discourse, we may be able to stop a climate or nuclear catastrophe.
8
@Denis
The biggest threat is the current occupant of the White House who is:
Promoting fossil fuels and increased pollution (increased cuts to the EPA, pollute like climate change isn't real);
Increasing USA GDP via increased military spending and promotion of US weapons around the world;
Doing his best to dismantle the ACA without any meaningful replacement (let private insurers do what they may to the masses).
There is no science, no civility, no view of what's good for America. It's what's good for Trump, as in "are they supporting me or aren't they?"
If they are, they get their hugely favorable policies ("we are winning"); If they aren't, they get eviscerated.
Those so-called “deep cuts” are really just normalizing the spending to a level which is still unaffordable for this country. The world has gone mad with overspending on social programs. Additionally, it has been proven that throwing money at a social problem does not solve the problem, but often exacerbated the the problem.
President Trump is being responsible when he cuts spending, but the media takes every opportunity to twist and distort fiscal responsibility into a negative story.
If the media is sincere about wanting to unite this country, let them start by supporting the duly elected President of the UNITED States. Let the people decide without influence whether they accept Trump’s actions. The media should report the facts, and leave out the opinions and commentary. Let people think for themselves. The media is the biggest problem facing America.
2
@Jam77
You write 'without influence', I see 'without facts'.
If you care to take umbrage with facts set forth in the article, please do so.
But don't expect me to not have a rational and emotional take on what I just read because you do not.
After all, If you kill the messenger, you'll only further insulate yourself from outside 'influence'.
5
@Jam77 - "The media is the biggest problem facing America."
Along with the record deficits created by the Republican tax legislation of 2017.
If this administration were truly concerned about spending, then ALL programs should be trimmed, including military spending, and most tax breaks should be rescinded, especially those for corporate interests.
6
@Jam7
The budget normalizes military spending increases and excessive tax cuts for the rich and corporations at unsustainable levels.
President trump is not being responsible in declining to address these two major budget problems.
3
The defense budget is obscenely large and it contributes to debt, diversion of valuable manufacturing, financial, engineering, and other resources into wasteful production. We need a peace candidate to actually strengthen the economy and our defenses. When will the Defense Department figure out that they can't win asymmetric warfare with a bunch of over-priced technology? Try exporting alternative energy, anchored economic production, and mechanisms to promote equality.
13
Defense contractors and suppliers, for example, Boeing air tankers, have the type of efficiency and integrity that this Administration admires and rewards.
8
With the coronavirus spreading around the world, Trump wants to cut the budget for the Center for Disease Control by 9%. During his rambling speech to the governors, Trump said the coronavirus will end on its own in April. We don't need to fund the CDC when we have a stable genius who knows all about epidemics.
49
@Linda trump ought to watch Medical Police on Netflix when he can’t sleep at night. He will learn a thing or two.
2
Isn't preexisting conditions back in that mix? Dems should be running this hard. And the Social Security, that crowd are voters.
10
Cutting the EPA funding. Guess this time we can get a real Native American with a tear in his eye for the PSA.
14
Culling, mostly, His own Herd. Eventually, you get exactly what you Vote for. Or what you allow, by NOT Voting.
NOVEMBER.
36
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
He got that right! He is wasting billions on a wall that won't work and he's defrauding the American taxpayers daily with his schemes, his ignorance, and his personal agenda.
135
He REALLY said that?
You can’t make this stuff up.
7
@say what This is why Trump is signaling that he won't participate in the election debates. He'll fabricate some lame excuse about media bias, but we all know the real reason. Any of the Democratic candidates would put him to shame. Even as tongue tied as Joe Biden sometimes gets, it's nothing compared to Trump's increasingly frequent slurring, sniffling, weird speech patterns, and incoherent thought process. There's a reason why Speaker Pelosi noted that Trump seemed medicated during his propaganda SOTU speech. That wasn't just a throwaway line...she said it like she knew more than what she was letting on. There's something wrong with our so-called president's mental state. And it's disturbing that his staff is going to such lengths to keep it hidden from the public.
3
@say what This is why Trump is signaling that he won't participate in the election debates. He'll fabricate some lame excuse about media bias, but we all know the real reason. Any of the Democratic candidates would put him to shame. Even as tongue tied as Joe Biden sometimes gets, it's nothing compared to Trump's increasingly frequent slurring, sniffling, weird speech patterns, and incoherent thought process. There's a reason why Speaker Pelosi noted that Trump seemed medicated during his propaganda SOTU speech. That wasn't just a throwaway line...she said it like she knew more than what she was letting on. There's something wrong with our so-called president's mental state. And it's disturbing that his staff is going to such lengths to keep it hidden from the public.
1
All this from the King of debt? Wow. Speechless.
37
Don't forget... boost Defense so Trump can steal from Defense to build a wall to keep Mexicans out. He hasn't invented a wall that doesn't blow down, can't be bored-through, or circumvented by tunnels or other simple conveyances. What a mess.
25
@Ghost Dansing: and the monstrosity he is building is destroying habitat for many species
besides being ugly (using up desert spring water for making concrete, digging up cottonwoods and saguaros, leveling hills,..) the emasculated EPA is not involved, as the "national security" preempts any concerns about the ENVIRONMENT. november....
2
At this point with all of trump's proposed cuts to our social safety nets while increasing our insane military budget I say that soon there will be no more elderly and/or poor Americans to defend here with a gigantic military!
I am begging the House to throw this proposal from trump into the garbage can where it belongs!
And, I am begging my fellow Americans to 'Vote Blue, No Matter Who' this November so that we can stop this trump fella from destroying what's left of America over the next four years.
RESIST!
42
@Barry Wolk
This budget is DOA in the House and the Trump administration already knows it. Just campaign propaganda to energize his base, who think that the poor are sponging off people like themselves and who deserve cuts to their "entitlements."
3
@spc I knew that, I just think that trump is such a threat and danger to America that I trash him at every opportunity I get.
I now, for the 1st time in my life, understand how a hitler can rise to power. Trump is cut from the same cloth. VOTE BLUE... NO MATTER WHO!!
2
America is not a business.
America is a nation state.
The President of the United States isn't a businessman.
The President of the United States is the head of government and state.
Michael Bloomberg, Shawn Carter and Sean Combs are successful New York City businessman who didn't inherit their wealth from their daddy and play businessman on reality TV.
Donald Trump's federal income tax cut scam for the very rich already put this ' budget' in the red.
Trump has spent a third of his time in office vacationing and playing golf at Trump Organization properties. Trump has spent 2/3rds of his time in office tweeting and speaking nicknames and slurs while watching Fox News and at campaign rallies.
87
@Blackmamba
I'm happy to vote for Bloomberg.
Jay-Z? Gotta think about that one. But he'd be better than Trump.
8
@Blackmamba
Isn't this what you elected him for? If not you, at least his supporters did.
@Blackmamba Would rather have trump golfing and tweeting then actually trying to govern. Imagine how much more damage would be done.
2
This quote says it all...…
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
19
Last weeks stock manipulation points out the need for a transparent securities and exchange commission.
Publicly traded stock sales should be public information.
I want to know when Mohammad Bin Salmon is propping up a sham senate trial.
4
Keep focusing on Russia and impeachment. See how his behavior has modified.
3
Sounds like more socialism for the Wall Street and War Profiteers.
23
We want you to have more children, which you can't afford and government won't help you with, so then they will be uneducated, grow up to vote for more tax cuts, then die poor and hungry unless they join the ever-expanding military.
33
A promise made! A promise broken! unrestrained tax cuts for the wealthy...more tax cuts for corporations..
Trump will drive the budget to the highest deficits on record.
He has no conscience..and will lie or blame shortcomings on President Obama.
He has no shame...no guts..
a catastrophic agenda
16
What’s better than a regular dictator?
A recently acquitted emboldened dictator.
Get ready.
34
A total mess. The president is running our country into the ground as he did his businesses. Now Putin and Xi will own the US. And MBS...
14
All the programs that help Trump’s base are being cut to fund his imperial Pretorian Guard, keep brown kids in cages, and a never-ending investigation of the Bidens.
13
By safety net you mean the hammock right?
3
Once again, politicians are robbing us, leaving us in despair, stealing from us again leaving us with nothing that we're already paid for, then laundering everything into their pockets claiming it's for our defense. The swamp wasn't drained; it's murkier than ever! And we get to pay for the added slime!
14
Trump probably called some conservative hacks and told them to write up their wishlist and dump it at his desk!
He doesn’t care and doesn’t even know what’s in it! He only cares if he’ll still have his own wealth.
7
Another dumb plan by the stable genius. Does his beloved base know that their social safety nets might go away? The seniors he courted, do they know that his real plan is to gut Social Security and Medicare? I don't know about you, but I see hard times ahead by a reckless and cruel administration. Who wants another four years of this?
13
@Birdygirl
Democrats need to campaign on this!
"Trump plans to cut Medicare and Social Security!"
That'll turn people out against him!
5
Can’t wait to vote to end this nightmare. 
13
This is standard Republican fare, n surprises. It’s good we have a Democratic House to kill it.
8
@Doug Lowenthal
If they can locate their back bones to place their feet firmly down in denying this clown his wishes. After all the house has the power of the purse.
"Fraud and Abuse" is the mantra of the tax cuts. The assertion goes back to Reagan's mythical "Welfare Queen" who lives in a mansion and drives a Cadillac - all paid for by government handouts. Not true or provable but believed, to this day, by millions of Americans.
At the same time big business is defrauding the government by booking profits for products sold inside the USA in off-shore tax havens, cooking the books so that a company with huge profits reported in the Quarterly and Annual Reports - is dead broke when it comes to taxable income.
So, we blame all of the economic problems of the nation on those with the least amount of money and opportunity. We erect barriers to "them" getting ahead. Because, we assume that they are always cheating and stealing. While happily rubbing elbows with those folks who run those profitable but tax exempt companies who just happen to fund election campaigns.
"Fraud and Abuse" is always blamed on the poor, never on the wealthy.
11
Does anyone remember the moment after the Republican-controlled House approved The Great Tax Cut to the Rich Bill when then-Speaker Paul Ryan was caught on a hot mic telling a colleage that the massive new debt resulting from those tax cuts would help to kill "entitlements" including Social Security (which we have paid into from our paychecks), Medicare and Medicaid.
Other programs on the Republican list always included reductions in social services including school lunches for children who need them the most.
The Republican Party has not only devolved into a party of fiscal responsibility, they have fallen into cruelty. Nearly all recessions, and The Great Depression, have been a result of Republican fiscal policies favoring the rich and powerful. When Democrats are charged with cleaning up after failed Republican/conservative policies, tax cuts must be clawed back, while regulations to control industries at the core of American downfalls are brought back to heal the nation.
As Democrats succeed in bringing America back from the edge of the cliff, Republicans spend billions fighting back to protect their donor sources and their soiled reputations as the nation's bean counters.
Libertarian econ' professor Art Laffer's trickle-down theory convinced Reagan and fellow libertarian Alan Greenspan how tax cuts pay for themselves. After three collosal failures of the theory, including The Great Recession, the GOP has yet to learn the lessons of of behavioral economics.
16
@David Ohman Paul Ryan grew up on Social Security after his father died. Ryan owes everything he obtained to the safety net of Social Security but he and the GOP want to make sure no one else gets it.
13
In reviewing the NYT summary of President Trump's new budget, it is hard to know what is real, of substance and is believable, based upon his "statements and promises" of the past. For example he wants to extend the Tax Reduction Plan, that he passed, which has proven to be a budgetary disaster creating record deficits. His continued begging for funds for his "Wall" which is uniformly judged as a waste of funds from leaders and land owners in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
His deficit spending has already broken records. Thus it is hard to see credibility in his proposals, and those items that appear "doable" indeed have negative ramifications for the economy. His promises schedule of recouping funds over a few years is shallow and not supported by facts.
That's our perspective from the mountains of New Mexico, away from the foggy bottem of DC.
Ben Boothe, Sr.
11
This, less than a week after his proclamations (he loves applause lines) at the SOTU that he would not touch Medicare, Social Security and pre-existing conditions. Clearly, he was hoping SOTU would get wider play and anybody reporting this was just pushing fake news. Remember in November. The MAGA zombies will get hurt by these proposals if enacted; yet they continue to drool at Trump's every tweet.
13
Speaking to the nation’s governors at the White House, Trump said Monday that his budget proposal would bring the deficit close to zero in “not that long a period of time”, adding one of the greatest lies in human history to his already rich treasure chest of incredible lies.
“We’re doing a lot of things that are good including waste and fraud,” Trump said. “Tremendous waste and tremendous fraud.”
He's wasting away America's future so the rich can buy their 9th mansion.
His Presidency is pure fraudonomics, much like his business 'career'.
Moral, intellectual and economic bankruptcy on a Trumpian platter.
This budget is a nationally-assisted suicide pill.
This Trump Titanic voyage will not end well, America.
Trump and the GOP need to be removed from office.
November 3 2020
99
@Socrates
Let's ask him to put up a couple of his hotels on that promise.
5
If this budget had a name it would be “Survival of the Richest.”
14
@Susan It would also be called Hunger Games for everyone else.
4
There is a reason Parasite won this years Oscar for best picture. The income inequality highlighted in the film is reflected in Donald Trump's budget.
13
@STSI even the pope is pleading to world leaders to address income inequality. With trumps plan the president hopes the poor will die off?’
1
The real waste for the people has been the three years he has been in office and the fraud is all the republicans that can not see the emperor has no clothing. Why is it that we need to be the biggest spender for a war machine. What are we, you or me afraid of. I am not afraid of any country coming over here and taking over. That is happening now with the republicans here on on our own turf. The pot is starting to boil and the frogs (Trumpsters) seem to like it. At least Mitt jumped out. What will it take for a few more to take a leap of faith?
16
"Tremendous fraud" is the answer. Actually, IT'S the problem.....
11
If heh only knew what a thin thread so many people with disabilities hang on to survive...
Perhaps he should spend a week in a wheelchair or an under or unempioyed month as a person with deafness.
Or a week being blind.
Possibly, he might learn an ounce of empathy.
9
This budget proposal amazes me not at all. I'd expect nothing less from Trump and the T-GOP.
What truly amazes me is that more than 40% of this country, the folks most in need of public benefits in the form of better healthcare, more support systems, better safety nets, more affordable education, better environmental outcomes, better trade deals, less taxes spent on defense sinkholes - support this crazyness - because, what? Racism? Stick it to the liberals? Stick it to the "east coast elites?" Better I remain in poverty and retain my ability to blame others for my condition than someone else also benefits. Is that what this is? Is that how we end our country and follow in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia, Russia, the worst of the plutocracies? Just blame folks on the bottom for the ills of the top. Oh how far we have fallen. I continue to weep for this nation.
Johnson (about the lowliest white man and the best-off black man) and Eisenhower (about the war machine funding) were right. If only we'd listened.
11
So this guy wants to take money away from SNAP and give it to the Space Force program? He wants to protect us from outer space aliens by ripping food from the mouths of poor, hungry Americans. What a guy! Does he and his supporters realize there are many, many, many people living in the red states who rely heavily on SNAP and other social service programs? They vote, you know! Perhaps this will serve as a wake-up call for Trump supporters. We can only hope and pray.
14
@larry
"Hope and pray" is the proffered GOP response to their cruel policies. Try voting and educating not the base, but those in the majority who Trump intentionally turns off and disgusts so that they stay home. VOTE.
Reducing "waste and fraud". Does that include the Pentagon? And weapons systems like the F35 and USS Gerald R. Ford?
9