$20 Billion Wall At The Expense Of Real Security

Trump is planning to slash budgets of agencies that provide proven services in order to build the monument to his ego, the 20 Billion-dollar southern border wall.

The proposal, drawn up by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), also would slash the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides disaster relief after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. The Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion budget in 2017 would be cut 14 percent to about $7.8 billion, while the TSA and FEMA budgets would be reduced about 11 percent each to $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.

The U. S. Coast Guard is on the forefront of anti-terror and anti-drug operations. According to the Washington Post:

The Coast Guard cuts include deactivating Maritime Security Response Teams, which carry out counterterrorism patrols in ports and sensitive waterways, and canceling a contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries to build a ninth national security cutter, with a potential savings of $500 million.

This short-sighted thinking ignores the fact that if the wall is effective (it won’t) the drug cartels will simply invest the money needed to go around them. The best way around will be by sea. If the weakened Coast Guard is deployed to adequately face this new threat then there will be gaps in it’s service in other parts of the nation.

Cuts in other areas, like FEMA, will directly hurt Americans during other crisis situations. FEMA cuts eliminate or reduce

“the federal commitment to helping states and local governments prepare for natural disasters through training, salaries and benefits for staff, coordination and state-of the-art equipment. These grants help communities prepare for emergencies so that local and state governments can coordinate and respond quickly.”

Once again Americans are seeing the politicized agenda of the Trump administration and Republicans taking precedence over real safety and security.

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