Trump’s “America first” budget

Trump’s “America first” budget February 28, 2017

Pentagon_satellite_imagePresident Trump will submit a budget that he says will put “America first.”  Defense spending will jump 10%, a $54 billion increase.  That money will come from what we used to spend for foreign aid and from big cut-backs to most other federal agencies.

Law enforcement and Veterans’ benefits will also get more money.  Trump vowed that Social Security and Medicare will not be cut.

Details about the cuts to other agencies and services will be announced later.  Those may prove quite dramatic.  Look for some agencies, such as the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, to get eliminated altogether.

Also coming later will be the president’s tax plan.  He has promised a big tax cut, which will put further pressure on the need to cut spending.

The military has been somewhat neglected financially during the Obama years, but if we are going to put America first, cut back on foreign entanglements, and insist that other countries defend themselves instead of expecting America do it, do we really need to spend so much more on our military?  Or does this military increase signal that America will continue to project its power on the world scene?  Or does it mean that we are building a defensive wall, so to speak, around our country so that nobody dare attack us?

UPDATE:  Tonight President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at 9:00 p.m. ET.  Democrats are planning to pack the gallery with immigrants, Muslims, and Meryl Streep.  Expect lots of booing and jeering, trying to make the President lose his cool.  But he will probably be announcing his Congressional agenda, so this will be important.   I’ll put up a post tonight if you want to comment on the address as it unfolds–I may or may not take part in that–or discuss it afterwards.

From Abby Phillip and Kelsey Snell, Trump to propose 10 percent spike in defense spending, massive cuts to other agencies – The Washington Post:

President Trump will propose a federal budget that dramatically increases defense-related spending by $54 billion while cutting other federal agencies by the same amount, according to an administration official.

The proposal represents a massive increase in federal spending related to national security, while other priorities, especially foreign aid, will see significant reductions.

According to the White House, the defense budget will increase by 10 percent. But without providing any specifics, the administration said that most other discretionary spending programs will be slashed to pay for it. Officials singled out foreign aid, one of the smallest parts of the federal budget, saying it would see “large reductions” in spending. . . .

In a statement at the White House on Monday morning, Trump said that his budget would put “America first” by focusing on defense, law enforcement and veterans using money previously spent abroad. . . .

The White House did not specify how Trump’s budget would address mandatory spending or taxes, promising that those details would come later. The main drivers of government spending are entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security and Trump has promised not to touch those programs. The administration is also planning to slash taxes, which would probably further add to the debt.

Most federal agencies would see substantial reductions in their budgets, said the Office of Management and Budget administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity on a call with reporters to discuss the proposal.

[Keep reading. . .]

Satellite photo of the Pentagon by U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain.

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