When the Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives last fall, a great champion of working people, children, and public schools was restored as chair of a key committee overseeing the social safety net. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut is determined to protect the federal funding on which millions of people depend. Trump wants to increase military spending.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2019
CONTACT:
Will Serio: 202-225-3661
DeLauro Statement on Trump’s 2020 Budget
WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Chair of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, today released the following statement regarding President Trump’s 2020 budget.
“For the third year in a row, President Trump has released a budget that is cruel and reckless. His administration has proposed $21 billion in cuts to programs at the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education—cuts that will crush critical programs that serve working people and middle-class families. This is not hyperbole. President Trump actually wants to cut Medicare, Medicaid, home energy assistance for seniors and people with disabilities, groundbreaking medical research, tools that help local communities fight poverty, job training programs, funding to enforce our trade agreements, pre-school grants, teen pregnancy prevention programs, anti-hunger programs like SNAP, afterschool programs, Pell Grants, federal work study programs, and much more.”
“It is disheartening to see a budget that would dismantle so many programs that people rely on every day. It would be a cold day in hell before I helped pass a budget like this—one that hurts the American people in order to lavish tax cuts on millionaires, billionaires, corporations, and special interests. Instead, Democrats will continue fighting for working people, the middle class, and the most vulnerable.”
Some cuts President Trump’s budget proposes within the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education include:
Department of Labor
- Cuts Job Corps by $703 million
- Cuts the Bureau of International Labor Affairs by $68 million
- Cuts Women’s Bureau by $10 million
- Eliminates job training for Native Americans and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (-$143 million)
- Eliminates Senior Community Service Employment (-$400 million)
- Eliminates Susan Harwood Training Grants (-$10.5 million)
Department of Health and Human Services
- Cuts the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $5.4 billion
- Cuts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by $750 million
- Cuts the Health Resources and Services Administration by $1 billion, eliminating most programs that support training for health professions, including nursing
- Eliminates the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (-$3.7 billion)
- Eliminates the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) (-$1.7 billion per year)
- Eliminates the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) (-$725 million per year)
- Eliminates Preschool Development Grants (-$250 million per year)
- Eliminates the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (-$108 million per year)
Department of Education
- Eliminates numerous programs, including:
- Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (-$2 billion)
- Afterschool programs (-$1.2 billion)
- Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (-$1.2 billion)
- Arts in Education (-$29 million)
- Special Olympics (-$17.6 million)
- Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (-$840 million)
- Cuts Federal Work Study by $630 million
- Proposes a Pell rescission of $2 billion
In addition, the President’s Budget:
- Cuts Medicare and Medicaid by over $1 trillion
- Repeals the Affordable Care Act
- Contains a woefully inadequate paid leave proposal that falls short of what the nation needs
- Cuts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by more than $20 billion per year
- Reduces Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) by more than $2 billion per year
- Cuts the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by $2.8 billion
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Rather than look at the proposed cuts, I hope more people will look into the proposed increase in military spending. Depending on which statistics one accepts, currently military spending is between 56-58% of annual federal appropriations. The proposed budget would bring it to more than 60%. That means 6 out of every 10 dollars annually appropriated for EVERY federal department and agency will go the military. We spend more annually in military research in one year than we have cumulatively in medical research for at least the past 20 years.
Here’s a good summary, but note the numbers are from 2015, three years ago: https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/
We currently spend more than 2.7 times on our military than the next nation on the list: https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2018/05/02/us-remains-top-military-spender-sipri-reports/
If you care about cuts to social programs, then you need to spend more time educating people about this travesty and focus as much or more time opposing these increases rather than focusing on potential cuts to your favorite programs. The advocacy organizations who support social programs never do this. In my view, they are as guilty for this situation as anyone. One cannot divorce military spending from social programmatic spending and still be taken seriously.
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Note that Rep. DeLauro make absolutely no mention of military spending in this press release. That is malfeasance of the highest order. She knows that a whole lot of military spending goes to Connecticut, especially for the Coast Guard and military contractors based there. If she doesn’t have the intellectual honesty to link that spending to the cuts she decries here, she should not be taken seriously.
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She is in charge of all social spending, not military spending. That’s a different Committee.
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Sorry, Diane, I used that same out for years and years. It is the equivalent of “your thoughts will be important to me if this issue should ever be considered on the floor of the House/Senate” when you get a response from a member of Congress on something you write them about. It’s standard boilerplate to avoid the responsibility to make hard decisions and explain to constituents how the system actually works.
I remember being in David Obey’s office during the Dubya years, when he was chair of Appropriations. He listened quietly as I advocated for more NIH funding and then literally exploded on me when he said something to the effect of, “I don’t want to your whining about more NIH funds if you’re not willing to go back to the people you represent and tell them they’ve got to fight the Bush tax cuts. Until you do that, I don’t give a damn about your issues. If those cuts go through, there won’t be any money, especially because they’re going to increase defense spending through the roof. Tell that to your people. And if you’re not willing to be honest with them about that, don’t ever try to come back in this office.” And you know what? He was dead-on right. It was the best civics lesson I ever got in my life.
Here’s what DeLauro (who I have always liked and respected) should have said: “These cuts are being proposed to support criminal increases in military spending, spending we don’t need, spending that should be cut. They are also being proposed to fund an idiotic ‘border wall.’ If you want to fight these cuts, then we need you to advocate just as strongly, if not more so, against these misplaced, cynical priorities.” That’s what an honest leader would write and say.
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See my comment about DeLauro, posted a few minutes ago.
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truth
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Without additional military spending how will Erik Prince get paid for a war in Iran?
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The budget, “A Budget for Better America,” asks for an additional $8.6 billion for construction of a border wall, and includes a five percent increase in military spending, which is more than the Pentagon had asked for. Also included is a $1.9 trillion cut to safety net programs, like Medicaid and Medicare. Democratic leaders in both the House and the Senate pronounced the budget dead on arrival on Sunday.
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For the uninitiated, meet Representative DeLaura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snHsTxheft0
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Argh! Representative DeLauro.
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Another one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPdLH5Q2vqU
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Here’s from 2017 (she starts around 5:30 for about 9 minutes…and maybe later): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DIWbbdam2I
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When I worked on the Hill in the early 90s, one of my issues was labor. I often ran into Rep. DeLauro at evening receptions hosted by unions when they had their DC lobby days. She was very funny, really too an interest in anyone she spoke with, and was brutally honest in a way that would have been politically dangerous has she been in public. That’s one of the reasons for the disappointment I expressed above. I think she would personally agree with all I wrote, which makes it sad that she did not take advantage of what should have been a true teaching moment.
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Have you thought about contacting her office, Greg? She might be interested in your thoughts. Love your insights.
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She wouldn’t remember me, it was a long time ago. Lots of pounds, less hair, and much grumpier than I was then. Her constituents are what matters most.
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When my book “Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are undermining Education” was published, Cong. DeLauro reached out and invited me to DC. I had never met her. She held a dinner in her home for all the members of the House Education Committee. I told them that NCLB was a failure, as was high stakes testing and charters. Cong George Miller (DFER From CA) was furious. So was Jared Polis from CO, who loves charters. Rosa was wonderful. I love her.
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I agree with about Rosa DeLauro, the Mensch. When I was a very junior staffer, she took notice of me because out paths crossed constantly at union functions. She cared and understood. Perhaps I came across as too personally disappointed, but I believe that in her current role she can be a stronger voice and educator of the public. Obey certainly did so, but his abrasive personality made it easy for people to turn him off. DeLauro does not have that problem. If she came out strong explaining the big picture, I have no doubt she would change minds.
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She’s back with questions at about 34:35 (in addition to opening at 5:30)
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How about cutting off some of Trump’s parts, like the one that gets in the way of him seeing his own feet, his gut?
I think there is even a procedure for that. Isn’t it called lip-oh-suction?
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Representative DeLauro draws the attention of “The Young Turks”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ajuXLNJ6Sc
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Ohio Algebra II Teacher: Thank you for the video Rep. DeLauro sure knows how to speak out. This budget is totally wrong. The military doesn’t need more money. Trump’s wall is to satisfy his narcissistic ego and massive cuts to domestic programs is blatantly evil. Thank goodness the Dems won back the House.
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even more Thank Goodness goes to the HOPE behind Dems winning back the House — voters clearly felt the need to push change. How big can this push grow?
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I am an engineer. I work military projects at the Pentagon, and I spent 10 (ten) years in Iraq/Afghanistan, on military contracts. The defense posture of this nation, needs to be strengthened. Military spending must increase, so that we can ensure a superior military, that will not be challenged.
A second-best military is like a second-best poker hand. No good.
A superior military, will serve as a deterrent, and serve to stop any wars, before they start. If you think military spending is high now, just wait until there is a war in Korea, or elsewhere, and then you will really see some spending.
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Charles,
What a picture you paint. A well-equipped military protecting a crumbling nation, where poverty, poor health, disease, and falling bridges and tunnels are commonplace, where neighbor preys on neighbor, where plutocrats destroy democracy and buy whatever they want while stepping over the bodies of the less fortunate.
What is worth protecting when democracy has been bought?
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The constitution is empowered and set up to enable the government to “provide for the common defense”. Are you proposing, that the Defense Department be abolished, and the government spend that money elsewhere?
You are just restating the old “guns and butter” problem.
How about a solution?
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Charles: “Military spending must increase, so that we can ensure a superior military, that will not be challenged.”
We already spend more than the next 8 countries combined. We have killed more people than any other country. How much destruction and killing is enough? We will never kill our way to peace.
How about using some of that money to help people? Our own people are starving and Trump wants to cut money for SNAP, cut Medicare, etc. There is a time when the military spending has gone out of control and that is now. Our air is polluted. Our infrastructure is crumbling. People can’t afford the basics to live but we ‘can’t afford’ a $15. an hour minimum wage.
It is US corporate mingling that caused the problems south of the border but we still don’t have enough judges to allow people to apply for amnesty in a decent amount of time. How about helping these countries become more economically stable? That would be a good usage of money.
I’m sick of the ‘we need more money for the military’. NO we don’t.
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You make some interesting points. It is pointless to compare how much the USA spends on defense, to nations like (formerly) Great Britain, and Holland, and Poland, and etc etc. Our nation is the only remaining superpower. If you think that Germany or Romania should spend more on defense, you are not alone. The president has pointed out that our NATO allies should be spending more on defense.
Destruction and killing is part of the job of the military. Destroying Nazism, and defeating the Imperial Japanese, required killing. You are mistaken if you think that killing does not bring peace. There is nothing more peaceful than a dead person.
US military spending is not out of control. The proportion of defense spending, when measured against entitlements, and other social programs is at an all-time low. We lavish much more on these categories of federal spending, than we do on the military. see
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/program-spending-outside-social-security-and-medicare-historically-low-as-a
AND: Defense spending as a percentage of GDP is at a very low point. see this :
https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_spending
Under the Obama administration, military spending was much higher as a percent of GDP. (Keep in mind, the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts were underway).
How much defense spending should be re-programmed to other programs? Is there really starvation in the USA? see
https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hunger-us
Are you a defense analyst? You say : Q I’m sick of the ‘we need more money for the military’. NO we don’t. END Q
Why do you say this? The North Koreans are building nuclear weapons. Iran is pushing full-speed ahead for nuclear weapons, and the ICBMs to carry them to the US mainland. And the short range missiles to carry nuclear weapons to Israel, and blow it off the face of the earth.
You amateurs, who have never seen an intelligence report, and who have no background in military affairs, really should stick to topics that you know something about.
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Charles, if you can shoot off your mouth about education, which you do daily, then anyone on this blog can sound off about military spending. We are citizens. We pay taxes. We are free to say what we want. How many trillions and how many lives have we squandered in Iraq and Afghanistan? With what results? Listen to teachers.
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Charles, you have to stop relying on Donald Trump and his media slaves for your sources.
“Donald Trump misleads on US defense spending, NATO budget”
“But what do these numbers mean? The spending doesn’t represent money spent on behalf of NATO, nor for NATO. They’re the total defense budgets of NATO members. For 2017, the defense spending of all NATO members totaled about $957 billion.
“The United States spent $686 billion on all of its defense spending across the globe for that year.”
But what about the military spending of the EU vs Russia?
The EU Defense Union has a combined military force of more than 1.6-million troops spending almost $300 billion annually. Russia spends less than $50 billion annually.
It’s clear that the world doesn’t need the U.S. military to protect it.
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Your point is taken. Of course, citizens should have input on military policy, and all government policy. No denial. The US has spent a great deal of money on the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts. The results are still coming in, the impact will be felt for many decades. One definite result, that benefits all Americans. There have been no major terrorist attacks on US soil, since 9/11. This is one of the direct results of our military programs in Iraq/Afghanistan.
I have no problem with listening to teachers, on education policy (and other policies). Fine, let them speak.
You do not have to be a farmer, to have input on agricultural policy.
But, until you have slept in the dirt of Iraq, and frozen in the snow on an Afghan hillside, with artillery falling on you, your expertise is limited. Until you have read the classified intelligence analysis, and supervised security on a military base in the desert, your ability to comment with any expertise is limited. Until you do the engineering studies on the next generation of military equipment, your ability to ascertain the cost-effectiveness of this equipment is similarly limited.
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I totally disagree with you. Killing is never going to bring peace. Helping people will bring peace. How do these people feel when their livelihoods have been trashed? How do they feel when they look at their ruined neighborhoods and know that their friends or relatives have been killed? I see photos of total destruction. This does have an impact. Dying a violent death seems to be okay in your book. It’s not in mine. Humans should take care of each other…not kill.
“War deaths from malnutrition, and a damaged health system and environment likely far outnumber deaths from combat.”
………………………………………………………….
The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have taken a tremendous human toll on those countries. As of March 2015, approximately 210,000 civilians have died violent deaths as a result of the wars. Civilian deaths have also resulted from the US military operations in Yemen that began in 2002.
People living in the war zones have been killed in their homes, in markets, and on roadways. They have been killed by bombs, bullets, fire, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and drones. Civilians die at checkpoints, as they are run off the road by military vehicles, when they step on a mine or cluster bomb, as they collect wood or tend to their fields, and when they are kidnapped and executed for purposes of revenge or intimidation. They are killed by the United States, by its allies, and by insurgents and sectarians in the civil wars spawned by the invasions.
Death can also happen weeks or months after a battle. Many times more Iraqis, Afghans, and Pakistanis have died as a result of battered infrastructure and poor health conditions arising from the wars than directly from its violence. For example, war refugees often lose access to a stable food supply or to their jobs, resulting in increased malnutrition and vulnerability to disease.
The Costs of War reports document the direct and indirect toll that war takes on civilians and their livelihoods, including the lingering effects of war death and injury on survivors and their families.
Key Findings
Approximately 210,000 Afghan, Iraqi, and Pakistani civilians have died violent deaths as a direct result of the wars.
War deaths from malnutrition, and a damaged health system and environment likely far outnumber deaths from combat.
Recommendations
The US government should include civilian deaths and injuries in public reporting of war deaths, including a tally of children killed.
(Page updated as of March 2015)
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Oh, the long list of ad hominems that popped into my head describign what I think of Charles thinking when Charles threw this “thought sewage” out:
“But, until you have slept in the dirt of Iraq, and frozen in the snow on an Afghan hillside, with artillery falling on you, your expertise is limited”
Charles, everyone has a right to their opinion about war and most of the critics are right 99.9 percent of the time even if they never served in combat.
And as a former U.S. Marine that spent 1966 in Vietnam (where I didn’t freeze), I’m someone who served on combat. My first advice to everyone is do not join the military and become a cog in the killing machine that is responsible for at least 20-million deaths since the end of World War II, and TWO major illegitimate wars that were based on lies.
The Tonkin Gulf incident was another hoax that was used to justify sending in more troops to Vietnam and escalating that conflict into a full-scale war. Vietnam was started by President Eisenhower when he sent in Green Beret to train South Vietnamese troops. Kennedy increases the number of Green Beret troops. Nixon was responsible for ordering the bombing of Cambodia and Laos and dropping more bombs than all the bombs dropped during World War II.
The WMD Hoax that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with what happened in New York on 9/11.
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When I read Charles’ comment, I wondered whether he himself had actually experienced combat. In prior comments, he said he had not. I am confused about what he actually did in Iraq.
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In my PTSD support group, one of our members, a former Marine who then went into the Army and became a Green Beret Medic (he served four years in the Marines and nine more in the Army as a Green Beret) said people like Charles are REMFs.
To my friend, REMF means Rear Echelon Mother F ks
There are two other acronyms that help describe REMFs
POG [pronounced “pogue”]: Originally used mainly by infantry personnel, referred to ‘people other than grunts,’ rear-echelon support troops. Varies in usage. Usually referred to someone that is a “shammer,” or someone that is no good. Usage moved throughout the Army, now generally refers to anyone that is a poor excuse for a soldier or Marine.
Remfland: The rear-echelon areas where support personnel live and work in relative safety — …
For instance, one of the other members of my PTSD support group was an Army combat photographer. He served two tours in Vietnam and was always flying off to the front lines all over Vietnam and even into Laos and Cambodia to take photos and sketch scenes of front line troops. He never stayed long. He’d be with one unit for a few days and then hop on a chopper to fly into another area to document other front line troops.
He shared this story with us: He walked up to a chopper that was getting ready to take off and he asked the pilot where they were headed after he showed the pilot his orders as a combat photographer. He said if they were headed to a front line unit, he wanted to go with them.
There was already a major on the chopper headed to Saigon to spend a few days with bar girls [prostitutes] and playing golf (yea, the REMFs had golf courses and health clubs in Vietnam – many of them worked in buildings that were airconditioned).
The pilot kicked the major off the chopper and told Jim to climb in. That major was an REMF. They flew up near Laos where Jim got off and joined some Marine grunts out in the field that were fighting every day. Some of the people he sketched were dead in a few days. The dead still haunt Jim’s days and nights.
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Dude. Despite being a blowhard, Holland is NOT a country.
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Be honest, Charles. You love military spending because it will ensure that you get to ride the gravy train. You expose yourself as an overcompensating, insecure male when you even imply that the American military can even approach “second-best.” I’ve already wasted more time responding to this than it deserves.
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If you think you have responded too much, you have the right to remain silent. I have spent much more of my career, on private sector work, and government civil-service, than I have spent on military projects. I served in the diplomatic corps for five(5) years. I supervised the installation of a telecommunications system for the King of Saudi Arabia.
I support a strong, and modern, 21st century military, because it is necessary. We live in a dangerous world, with very dangerous people, and dangerous regimes.
Everyone should see, that military spending, is cost-effective. When you have the biggest stick on the playground, no one is going to mess with you. The function of a military, is to deter a war if possible, and then if war comes to win it decisively.
“If you want peace, prepare for war” – An old maxim, that is very true.
I am considering selecting a new contract, in telecommunications, that is not affiliated in any way with the Defense Department. I am considering going to Liberia, on a telecom project with a private firm.
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We had the biggest stick in the playground on 9/11/2001, and we were gobsmacked by 19 guys with box cutters.
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No one is calling for the elimination of the Defense Department, so stick that talking point somewhere.
We spend at least 2.7 times more on the military than the next biggest, China. China is investing in soft power which is why they are cleaning our clocks in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The primary reason the Iron Curtain fell was because of grassroots pressure that admired our ideals and economic prosperity, not because they feared our military. Their governments overspent on terrible military infrastructure that was hollow and the people saw through it. Our intelligence services underestimated and lied about their incompetence.
We have divested from soft power—international aid, exchanges, foreign students studying here, sharing of ideas in medical research for just a few examples—and are feared for our abandonment of our core principles and casual discarding of allies as we court murderous dictators.
The defense to GDP ratio is a red herring. We have a growing, significantly aging population. Demand for social services will go up dramatically as the cult of Individual-1 wants to cut them further.
The proposed reckless increase of unaccountable military spending is directly related to the devaluation of education.
Please go to Liberia. Hopefully the next e coli outbreak will begin and end with you. Very likely if NIH and academic exchanges continue to be gutted.
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Killing of civilians is just fine with you. Killing in explosions is only part of what happens. “War deaths from malnutrition, and a damaged health system and environment likely far outnumber deaths from combat.”
….
According to Press TV since U.S.-coalition forces have been bombing Syria to rid the country of IS some 3,222 civilians have lost their lives in the explosions.
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I never said that killing of civilians is fine. But, war requires killing. If you can figure out some way to fight war, without killing, you will earn the Nobel Peace Prize.
The first World War killed many millions of people. But, the influenza epidemic of 1919, killed more people than the war. The epidemic was intensified, due to poor nutrition, weakened immune systems, poor hygiene, group living, etc. all of these contributed to the spreading of the disease.
Weapons and military spending, should be embraced by pacifists. I have seen the costs of war up close. Two of my co-workers were killed in Afghanistan.
The only way to stop war, is to make the fighting of a war too costly. When the costs of war, outweigh the supposed benefits, then war will disappear. Modern weapons, which will annihilate any aggressor, will force any potential adversary to think twice about waging war against the USA.
A strong military, second to none, will keep the peace.
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Charles, the justification for a strong defense is, above all, to have a society that is worth defending. If we let our democracy evaporate, bought by oligarchs with no loyalty to our people or our land, what is worth defending?
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“A strong military, second to none, will keep the peace”
NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O! It is a self-consuming machine that doesn’t know when to stop killing. There is no excuse for our being militarily involved in over 70 countries. The military thrives on this destruction and killing.
During the Vietnam war, people protested because people they knew were drafted. Now, with the volunteer army, nobody cares about the destruction nor about who gets killed. The media is busy being involved with Trump and we don’t hear the human stories that should be published. That is the way to get an outcry…understand what is happening.
Watch the movie “Red Dawn”. It shows how we would feel if the US was invaded. We need to look at how many civilians are killed in foreign lands because it is their homes and livelihoods that are being destroyed.
We cannot kill our way to peace. Stop the killing! Start helping people who are needy. That is the way to lasting peace. Help the economies that have been destroyed by corporate greed. This is especially true in central and S. America.
I was in the Peace Corps. We didn’t kill anyone. I don’t care how much you froze.
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I’m having posts here disappear, so I’ll try again. Here’s Representative DeLauro in 2017:
at 5:30, at 34:30, and at 1:54:20…
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https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/11/big-cheat-2018-corporations-make-billions-profits-demand-tax-refunds-american?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=The%20Big%20Cheat%20of%202018%3A%20Corporations%20Make%20Billions%20in%20Profits%2C%20Demand%20Tax%20Refunds%20from%20the%20American%20Public&utm_campaign=Trump%20Budget%20%27Breathtaking%20in%20Its%20Degree%20of%20Cruelty%27%20%7C%20News%20%2526%20Views&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software--email--Trump%20Budget%20%27Breathtaking%20in%20Its%20Degree%20of%20Cruelty%27%20%7C%20News%20%2526%20Views-_-The%20Big%20Cheat%20of%202018%3A%20Corporations%20Make%20Billions%20in%20Profits%2C%20Demand%20Tax%20Refunds%20from%20the%20American%20Public
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yvonne: Corporate greed rules. They really needed that great ‘tax cut for the middle class’. How many people are stupid enough to not understand that we average people are getting screwed.
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“This budget prioritizes the Government’s core responsibilities to its citizens.” Barf! Here’s the WH’s take on this ‘wonderful’ budget:
……………………
1600 Daily
The White House • March 11, 2019
The worst number in Washington
$15 trillion. If you needed a single number to represent Washington’s decades of dysfunction before President Donald J. Trump was elected, that’s a good place to start.
In the 20 years from 1997 to 2017—President Trump’s first in office—America’s national debt nearly quadrupled from just over $5 trillion to more than $20 trillion. Those skyrocketing deficits accompanied a Federal Government that was increasingly unaccountable to its citizens, putting favored interests ahead of U.S. taxpayers.
In 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama called the $4 trillion in debt accumulated under President George W. Bush “unpatriotic.” Once in the White House, President Obama himself then swelled the national debt by nearly $9 trillion. After losing the presidency in 2016, Democrats once again ramped up their tough talk on the deficit, this time as a means of attacking President Trump and Congressional Republicans.
Well, good news—the 2020 budget proposed by President Trump today gives both parties a chance to show Americans where they stand on Washington’s “unpatriotic” spending addiction. With economic growth soaring above 3 percent and unemployment at its lowest in 50 years, now is the moment to lift the debt burden off of our children’s backs.
President Trump’s budget was written with the working American citizen in mind:
Taxpayers first. Recent history is clear about the source of our debt problem. The issue isn’t that Americans are taxed too little—it’s that Washington spends far too much. President Trump’s 2020 proposal reduces spending by $2.7 trillion and balances the Federal budget in 15 years.
Promises kept. This budget prioritizes the Government’s core responsibilities to its citizens. It allocates $32.5 billion for border security and immigration enforcement, more than $80 billion to fully support medical care for veterans, and $750 billion to continue rebuilding American national defense.
Government waste slashed. Few Americans know that every year, the Federal Government spends $68 million on international labor activities, such as promoting unions in South America. Or that Washington spends $35,000 per student—more than tuition at many top universities—to send tens of thousands of young people to “Jobs Corps” centers with an abysmal safety and security record. This type of underreported, unchecked waste and abuse must end.
Republicans and Democrats both call out the national debt when the other party is in power—no surprise there. The difference today is that only one party, led by President Trump, is actually trying to cut spending once in office.
Pay close attention to whether Democrats suddenly go silent about our national debt.
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So SICK.
And our Public Libraries, too.
https://cqrcengage.com/ala/app/write-a-letter?2&engagementId=497505&ep=AAAAC2Flc0NpcGhlcjAxl71FNxprp2Rke5zBJILUo0EOBq4SZTeOo19_PqOZtHHGt2KFW9ipRGX8lTg6CcBDjoqlhX9T-nBSQq8a4CfhzRXdQa1v3i0pHLGWOAoJQuE&lp=0
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yvonne: I just signed the petition. My Representative is Pete Visclosky, [D-IN] He’s one of the better fellows.
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Thanks, carolmalaysia.
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The Trump education budget is classic ed reform:
INCREASE ACCESS TO SCHOOL CHOICE
President Trump believes that a child’s future should not be determined by his or her parents’ income or
zip code. No child should be limited to a school that fails to meet his or her needs. Family access to a
wide range of high-quality educational choices, including strong public, charter, magnet, private, online,
parochial, and home school options must be expanded. Communities must be enabled to provide a robust
range of schooling options, to ensure that all students can thrive in school and are prepared for success”
Public schools get nothing. You won’t find mention of them until you get to “school safety”- apparently the 90% of US children who attend public schools are only mentioned in at the federal level in the context of school shootings.
The schools the Trump Administration prefers are showered with goodies, while public schools get “security systems” and armed teachers.
This is how little they value our schools and students- they cannot come up with a single positive idea or plan for public schools. It’s ALL negative.
It’s a shame. There are a lot of solid public schools and a lot of great kids. They really deserve better adults in government.
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Look at their education experiences…not so great, and limiting.
I have always wondered about parents to send their kids off to private boarding schools, then off to another dorm-like environment for higher education.
I am still very sad about the DFERS.
Arkansas’ mistake became the nation’s mistake.
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In America, there is more choice, but the choices are awful.
Choice in America:
“How many ways can a hamburger be destroyed?”
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Oh, look. The US Department of Education forgot about the 90% of US children who attend public schools again:
“1. Education freedom for more of our nation’s students
Education Freedom Scholarships (EFS) would provide up to $5 billion in extra education funding to help students across the country access the education that is right for them. To learn more about EFS visit ed.gov/freedom
Doubled DC Opportunity Scholarship Program funding, for a total of $30 million.
$500 million for the Charter Schools Program which is an increase of $60 million over FY19.
$107 million for the Magnet School Program.
$50 million for Student-Centered Funding Incentive Grants to help increase transparency in education funding and allow more federal, state and local dollars to follow students to their schools.
Our students and schools simply don’t exist in the Trump Administration. No one works on them, with them, or for them. They’re the dead-last priority.
These people supposedly have full time jobs in “public education” yet they deliberately and consistently exclude or ignore 90% of students.
They’re completely irrelevant to 90% of families with school-aged children. They return absolutely no value to us.
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AMEN!
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“President Donald Trump is seeking a 10 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Education’s budget in his fiscal 2020 budget proposal, which would cut the department’s spending by $7.1 billion down to $64 billion starting in October.
Funding for teacher development under Title II, totaling $2.1 billion, would be eliminated, as would $1.2 billion in Title IV funding for academic supports and enrichment and $1.1 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers that support after-school programs. In total, funding for 29 programs would be eliminated in the federal budget. ”
Cuts for public schools, 500 million for charter schools and 5 BILLION dollars for private schools.
I don’t know- could they make it any more clear what ABSOLUTE CONTEMPT they have for public school students, schools and teachers?
As far as I’m concerned they can abolish the whole US Department of Education. They don’t add any value for 90% of students anyway. I certainly don’t want to pay for this anti-public school student ideology.
There isn’t a public school kid or family in this country who would notice if they all simply stopped showing up for work.
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Trump is a prophet!
He’s incredibly gifted at being wrong.
By Dana Milbank
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This comes from the Onion. This is a good portrayal of our very smart ‘stable genius’…the hind part.
………………………
Trump Complains About Overly Complicated Controls Needed To Operate Modern-Day Doors
WASHINGTON—Insisting that the technology was far too complex and required significant scientific knowledge to use, President Donald Trump complained Tuesday about the overly complicated controls needed to operate modern-day doors. “Doors these days are way too intricate and confusing for the average person to open or close,” said the president in a Twitter thread, insisting that door technology needed to go back to the old days when doors were simple and easy for everyone to use. “The only Americans who know how to operate these complex doors are MIT engineers and rocket scientists, and regular people can’t go inside or outside anymore. There’s a million things to twist and turn and all these buttons, you push and push on them as hard as you can, and yet still half the time doors don’t even work.” Trump added that the issue of door technology struck a personal chord for him, as many of the people who open doors for him are not very smart and often have trouble doing so.
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A marketing professor at Wharton from 1951 to 1982, frequently described Trump as “the dumbest g**** student I ever had.”
Trump was admitted to Penn after an interview with a ‘friendly’ Wharton admissions officer who was an old classmate of Trump’s older brother.
Someone surely had to have helped Trump. He is not the brightest bulb on the street.
Video: Celebrities Give Bribery The Old College Try
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Published on Mar 12, 2019
The Department of Justice is calling the college admissions cheating scheme ‘Operation Varsity Blues.’
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