More details from President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal are trickling out via a flurry of overnight reports from The Washington Post, Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
Here are some of the highlights from the latest batch of trial balloons:
- The budget will slash $1.7 trillion in spending on entitlement programs, according to Bloomberg.
- Trump’s budget will include a massive nearly $200 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the modern version of food stamps, over the next 10 years – what amounts to a 25% reduction, according to The Washington Post.
- The food stamp cuts are part of a broader $274 billion welfare-reform effort, according to a report by The Associated Press.
- The budget calls for about $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid for fiscal year 2018, WaPo reported.
- The budget also calls for $2.6 billion in border security spending, $1.6 billion of which will be earmarked for Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.’s southern border.
- The budget is also expected to propose major domestic discretionary spending cuts – an earlier version of the budget called for $54 billion in such cuts next year alone.
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Predictably, Democrats are already up in arms over the proposal, even though a formal draft isn’t expected until Tuesday.
In a statement cited by Bloomberg, New York Senator Senator Chuck Schumer clumsily compared Trump’s campaign rhetoric to a “Trojan Horse.”
“This budget continues to reveal President Trump’s true colors: His populist campaign rhetoric was just a Trojan horse to execute long-held, hard-right policies that benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the middle class,” Bloomberg noted.
Well, at least Trump didn’t promise that if Americans liked their healthcare plan, they can keep it.
To be sure, Republicans have also expressed some discomfort with the cuts, particularly Trump’s plan to whack $54 billion in discretionary spending. Mitch McConnell even told Bloomberg that Congressional Republicans would ultimately end up writing their own budget, the same way Senate Republicans are rewriting Obamacare repeal.
Trump has promised to balance the federal government’s budget in 10 years, though, as Democrats have noted, the projection is dependent on economic growth accelerating to 3% following the passage of massive tax cuts, and no recession over the next decade, a rather bold assumption. Meanwhile, growth collapsed to an annualized rate of just 0.7% in the fist quarter, the slowest rate in three years, while loan demand has plunged to the lowest level in 6 years. Meanwhile, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget claims that rather than reining it in our national debt, Trump’s tax cuts would make the debt much worse.
The horror of it, the horror.
Listening to economist Peter Morici this morning, he said most of Trumps proposed cuts were set in place during the 2008 crisis and it’s time we ended the added welfare because it impacts the labor participation rate and GDP negatively.
That being said, Morici, also reminded listeners that this is just the presidents proposed budget, congress sets the budget and there is little chance congress will adopt the presidents budget, just like every year we had to listen to obama’s budget proposal.
Barnum and Baily Circus shut down, they couldn’t compete with washington and the media.
“Barnum and Baily Circus shut down, they couldn’t compete with washington and the media.”
Nicely said.
Best line of-the-day without a doubt.
If savings is by cutting people from SNAP, 25% of 41 million SNAPers or 10M people (3% of Americans) will need to make a garden. If the cut is per person, then 25% of $158/mo is a $40 cut: 158-40=118. $118/30=$3.90 per day for food or $1.30 per meal. I lived on much less food for four years of college (and there was ZERO Welfare for White males then). For example now: A serving of oatmeal is 4 cents; two slices of bread is 40 cents; bologna is 10 cents per slice; 2 eggs cost 28 cents; total cost is $0.82. That leaves 48 cents to buy rice, potatoes, onions, carrots etc which are all cheap and a multivitamin (the health clinic usually gave me a bottle as needed). There will be more incentive to graduate, get a job and grow a garden for the able bodied.
We should end the food stamp program entirely, give people a food allowance instead. Each month, according to their household size, they are permitted a certain amount of certain foods ONLY. So much oats, raisins, milk, beans and rice, apples and oranges, eggs, bread, peanut butter, jelly, butter, peas, green beans, ground beef and a few chickens. That’s IT. If they want different or better they can work for it. This would also end the incentive for fraud since they can’t get what they want by obtaining another persons share. It would likely also lead to substantially better nutrition and lower healthcare costs.
Not “if they want different or better they can work for it” but “if they want to eat they can work for it”. St Paul: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” 2Thes3:10. Christians are not Barbarians, of course there is exception for the disabled etc. It is Socialism that perverts nature; it aids and abets the indolent by taking from the workers to feed those to lazy to feed themselves.
I like the way you think but with the outsourcing of as many jobs as possible, importing of immigrants for the ones we can’t outsource and the rise of IT and robotics the reality is we don’t have NEAR enough jobs anymore, not even for the people who WANT to work, and particularly not GOOD paying jobs.
If you can’t afford to feed yourself (provided you’re not old, or infirm) you have no reason to exist.
As for cuts – don’t buy convenience foods, no frozen pizzas, no snacks. Stop smoking / stop buying lottery tickets, stop drinking, bring your lunch, stop eating out. We could cut that program another 25%.
Nice to talk about, but talk is all that will happen. Even his own party will not cooperate.
Well this happened here in Minnesota. Minnesotan’s elect some pathetic people: Paul Wellstone (he’s right next to Christ), Al Franken, Keith Ellison (Muslim nut job), our current gov Mark Dayton – who looks ‘luded’ out.
In 1998 we elected Jesse Ventura (a pro wrestler) to governor. The guy was from the Independence Party. Seemed pretty level headed. Neither the Dem’s or Repub’s would work with him. We had insanely high yearly car registration taxes. He managed to make them reasonable. After he left, they promptly raised them.
Smaller government is always more responsive. Here, I get an email response from the State Senator within an hour or so, and I have an address and phone number.
Look at the cooperation Trump has so far, and then tell me this agenda will happen.
Card802 is correct but I am sure the three remaining Trumpeteers will soon brag that Trump kept his campaign promises by cutting entitlements.
Yeah, cut welfare and free shit to the Mexicans, sand niggers and niggers. We are all for that. Put corporate welfare on that list as well. Dream on folks, Trump or no Trump that has a snow balls chance in hell. It is not going to happen.
overthecliff- Well, you seemed to be convinced it was possible during the campaign and when Trump was first selected. Why the change of heart? He was to do great things, remember?
Believe it when I see it. Just more lipstick.
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Perfect, Nkit
Star – You and I both agree on this one………Brilliant Dog 2020. Humans are too fucked up to get me to vote but Bowser looks pretty sharp.
Preach Nkit!
Most of the people I see using EBTs are 500 pound nigs. Cut them to the bone its mostly all fraud anyway.
I think this is more about establishing the theme than cutting this time. The Useless Eaters have served their purpose as Useful Idiots. They are expendable now that the takeover is nearly complete. They will be herded into something resembling the prison work system and housing vouchers will be for a glorified broom closet. Not workfare mind you, although they may use that term to sell it. This will be more like a 60hr work week in the new sweatshops the Saudis are going to build here. With shaved heads for sanitation purposes the hair dressers will demand the same deal.
Preach fleabaggs!
As I recall on 9/10/01 Rumsfeld gave a press conf announcing the Pentagram couldn’t account for $2.1 Trillion of spending. Since then I’ve heard the figure has expanded to $6 Trillion unaccountable. Instead of cutting the Pentagon budget until they get their shit together, Trump wants to increase their budget by $54 Billion. But of course to do that he needs to cut $1.7 Trillion from programs that serve the people (yes I agree the waste and fraud NEEDS to be cut, and we shouldn’t be feeding land whales who sit on their arse all day). But you get my point, eh?
And yet increases by hundreds of billions of dollars, to the military/empire budget. While I do NOT believe that government has any place in providing welfare/charity, the same holds true for the military-industrial-arms-bankster complex that is funded through the Pentagon budget. Just cut 90% across the board for everything. That would be more equitable and make a larger move to getting closer to a Constitutional government.
I was the 321st Budget Officer under Carter and he cut us 10% each year for four years and that hurt. The FSA will be in the streets burning cities down if they get cut 10% across the board (food, housing, medical, perks) much less 90%; but the next economic leg down will cut the 99% of us 30% (just to start).
The biggest opposition to cutting food stamps and welfare will come from big business,not the recipients,though big business will be in the background.
Big food retailers,especially WalMart,will team up with big food companies to defeat this.
It’s just not fair that these people wouldn’t be allowed to buy prepared deli food,tv dinners,or cokes with their ebt cards.
I’m a poor man’s landlord and it would blow you guy’s minds how often I find ebt receipts thrown on the ground that are for purchases of soda,chips,candy,etc.
We could easily cut 50% of the food stamp benefit budget and nobody would go hungry because of it.