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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump budget will slash Meals on Wheels
Report: Trump budget will slash the EPA, State Department, Amtrak, Meals on Wheels grants
President Trump's first budget blueprint would make deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department, and slash smaller but well-known programs like Amtrak and community grants, while increasing defense spending and immigration enforcement, according to a report by the New York Times's Glenn Thrush and Coral Davenport.
This matches reporting from the end of February, when news of deep cuts to EPA and State and a major increase in defense spending was first leaked. At that time, budget director Mick Mulvaney publicly stated there would be a $54 billion defense hike and hinted that major cuts to State and to foreign aid spending were forthcoming. The defense hike is really more like $18 billion when compared with Obamas last budget, which has raised the ire of defense hawks such as Sen. John McCain who are demanding still more funding.
But Thrush and Davenport and other reporters are now offering more details about the budget outline to come, including some deep cuts:
The EPA's budget would fall from $8.2 billion down to $5.7 billion under Trumps plan, a 31 percent cut that would put funding at "its lowest level in 40 years, adjusted for inflation. This is reportedly against the requests of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt no fan of the agency before taking office who requested a $7 billion budget.
The State Department would be cut between 28 percent and 31 percent. Originally Trump wanted cuts of 37 percent but faced resistance from Congress and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The Food for Peace Program, a State Department program that distributes food assistance in emergencies such as famine and natural disaster, and does some non-emergency food relief, will face drastic reductions. It currently gets between $1 billion and $2 billion a year.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will be cut 97 percent, according to CNN. Other cuts will hit the EPAs environmental justice program (which helps communities affected by pollution) and Global Change Research, a George H.W. Bushstarted interagency program conducting research on human-induced and natural processes of global change.
Other areas that would be cut, according to Thrush and Davenport, include Amtrak, public education, the Essential Air Service program keeping small rural airports in operation, and the $3 billion Community Development Block Grant program, which is housed in the Department of Housing and Urban Development and funds Meals on Wheels and community infrastructure programs.
The $3 billion in annual foreign aid funding for Israel will be left untouched, according to Thrush and Davenport, despite the other huge cuts to foreign aid.
The budget outline, which will be released on Thursday at 7 am, will according to Reuters not include any details on mandatory spending programs like Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid, and focus exclusively on discretionary spending such as on federal agencies, defense, and other assorted programs. Thrush and Davenport write that its more of a broad political statement than a detailed plan for spending and taxation.
That leaves a lot of uncertainty remaining, and Congress will undoubtedly fight specific proposals hard. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has said the State Department cuts are dead on arrival. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is hugely popular among representatives from neighboring states, and CNNs Stephen Collinson reports that Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is already fighting to keep it fully funded. The Community Development Block Grant has historically enjoyed wide, bipartisan support.
But successful or not, Trumps attempt to slash State, EPA, and various non-defense discretionary funding while boosting defense is a clear statement of his administrations priorities, and an indication of what fights on the budget Trump will attempt to wage in coming years.
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/15/14940248/trump-budget-leaks-epa-defense
Good thing no one needs or uses this program.....
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)none of these program cuts would negatively impact anyone.
Lied through his teeth.
Now we know what qualifies someone to work for this administration.
Listening, Comey? Yeah, you are, aren't you?
hlthe2b
(102,239 posts)I'm beyond all of this.... I don't want to have the thoughts I've been having lately...
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)democrank
(11,094 posts)have only one meal a day....the one delivered by Meals on Wheels. They're poor but proud and would never reach out for help on their own.
I swear there is not a shred of compassion or empathy in the Trump White House.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)That seniors are not working. He lives in a bubble.
Zoonart
(11,860 posts)Depends on Meals On Wheels for her hot meal every day. She is a shut in with extreme health issues, but is digging in against the will of her children and insists on staying his her house. I'm certain this is a familiar situation for many here at DU.
She has always voted Republican against the better interests of her children and grandchildren, because she is comfortable and has that libertarian mindset.
She does not connect Meals On Wheels to Government dollars and thinks that this is simply "coming to her". She will be shocked when it is taken away and we, her children, will have to scramble to make sure she has a cooked meal.
As Howard Dean said the other day...something like... "Lots of people will wake up when the nursing home drops Grandma off in the driveway."
Boomers... be prepared to take care of your elders. It's expensive and no joke. I've been doing it for four years. I don't know what I would have done without. meals on wheels and medicare, and their little bit of money. I am about to find out and so are you, Trumpists.
tanyev
(42,552 posts)world wide wally
(21,742 posts)What could go wrong?
BainsBane
(53,032 posts)dalton99a
(81,475 posts)and driving
Nwgirl503
(406 posts)Bootstrap makers are gonna make a killing under this administration. Old folks, sick people, kids with no food...the target market is really almost endless. I think I might need to rethink my portfolio distribution.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)We haven't even really begun to see the effects of their stupidity and evil yet, not in full force anyway. I can't believe what they are doing to this country.