Tag: Trump budget

Trump Takes a Gamble in Cutting Programs His Base Relies On

The following article by Michael D. Shear was posted on the New York Times website March 16, 2017:

Copies of President Trump’s budget at the Government Publishing Office bookstore in Washington on Thursday. Credit Shawn Thew/European Pressphoto Agency

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s proposal on Thursday for deep cuts to the budgets of a broad part of the federal bureaucracy was billed as a tough-minded and necessary corrective to the growth of the government’s power. But even members of his own party questioned some of the cuts — and what was not being cut.

The harshest criticism of Mr. Trump’s budget came from Democrats and liberal organizations. But in a city where many federal programs enjoy longstanding bipartisan support, some Republicans also assailed the president’s judgment.

“While we have a responsibility to reduce our federal deficit, I am disappointed that many of the reductions and eliminations proposed in the president’s skinny budget are draconian, careless and counterproductive,” said Representative Harold Rogers, Republican of Kentucky and a former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “We will certainly review this budget proposal, but Congress ultimately has the power of the purse.” Continue reading “Trump Takes a Gamble in Cutting Programs His Base Relies On”

The Cost Of Trump’s Wall Compared To The Programs He’s Proposing To Cut

The following article by J. Brady McCollough was posted on the National Memo website March 18, 2017:

The fiscal 2018 price for President Trump’s border wall is in: $2.6 billion. That’s a cost to U.S. taxpayers, not a cost many people any longer think will be picked up by the Mexican government.

As first installments go, it’s a pretty big number. Indeed, its size can be appreciated in one powerful way by setting it against some of the many budget cuts Trump proposed this week. Continue reading “The Cost Of Trump’s Wall Compared To The Programs He’s Proposing To Cut”

Trump and GOP have it in for their own voters: Jason Sattler

The following article by James Sattler was posted on the USA Today website March 15, 2017:

Democrats can either wait their turn to punish them, or win some back with empathy.

Liberals who want to punish Trump voters need to get in line behind President Trump and the GOP.

The American Health Care Act introduced by House Republicans last week and swiftly endorsed by the White House appears to have been designed to hurt Trump voters — at least the vast majority of them who are older, live in rural areas and take in less than $250,000 a year in investment income. Continue reading “Trump and GOP have it in for their own voters: Jason Sattler”

Trump’s budget cuts hit his base — rural voters

The following article by Victoria McGrane was posed on the Boston Globe website March 16, 2017:

Some of the biggest losers in President Trump’s proposed budget are the rural communities that fueled his stunning White House victory.

Funding that keeps rural airports open, grants that help build rural water and sewer projects, and money for long-distance Amtrak lines that serve rural communities would all disappear under Trump’s budget blueprint released Thursday.

Trump also wants to kill the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps people, including seniors on fixed incomes and the working poor, to pay their heating bills. It’s a particularly prized resource in New England, with its brutal winters. Continue reading “Trump’s budget cuts hit his base — rural voters”

Statement from DFL Chairman Ken Martin on Trump’s First Budget Blueprint

March 16, 2017

“Last Night, Donald Trump made his first budget blueprint public and it’s a disaster.

“Republicans have always said that they want to see our country run like a business but our government is set up to help people, not turn a profit. To meet their bottom line, Trump’s Administration proposes deep cuts to programs that provide help that no state alone can. Programs like medical research, environmental protections, WIC grants, and money for state water projects.

“Trump’s budget pulls money from international and cultural programs, before and after-school programs, rural water infrastructure, federal subsidies for rural airports, and dumps it into a $54 billion dollar increase of defense spending. Cutting these vital programs that so many vulnerable Americans rely upon does not and will not make America great. Trump’s inexperience in government and blindness toward the benefits of governmental programs have combined into one of the most dangerous federal budget blueprints of our lifetime.

“This Trump budget has failed that moral test of government in more ways than I can begin to count. Budgets are a reflection of priorities and clearly Trump and the Republicans could care less about the prosperity of families, comfort for our seniors, progress for the working class, protection of our environment, or the future of our country.”

Trump’s planned military buildup is based on faulty claims, not good strategy

The following article by Daniel Wirls was psoted on the Conversation website March 16, 2017:

President Donald Trump just released a budget plan intended to fulfill a promise to rebuild the military with “one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.”

Specifically, Trump wants to boost “base” military spending by US$52.3 billion to $574 billion, an increase of 10 percent over fiscal year 2016. Separately, he’s requesting $65 billion for ongoing wars. Continue reading “Trump’s planned military buildup is based on faulty claims, not good strategy”

Trump’s budget calls for seismic disruption in medical and science research

The following article by Joel Achenbach was posted on the Washington Post website March 16, 2017:

The University of Maryland’s basketball court in College Park was transformed into a mobile dental clinic in September 2014 to provide $1 million of free dental care to 1,000 underserved, uninsured, and underinsured adults. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

President Trump’s budget calls for a seismic disruption in government-funded medical and scientific research. The cuts are deep and broad.

They also go beyond what many political observers expected. Trump had made clear that he would target the Environmental Protection Agency, but the budget blueprint calls for a startling downsizing of agencies that historically have received steady bipartisan support. The National Institutes of Health, for example, would be cut by nearly $6 billion, about a fifth of the NIH budget. Continue reading “Trump’s budget calls for seismic disruption in medical and science research”