You really should read the 2020 budget
Packaged duplicitously as forwarding self-sufficiency, Trump’s budget proceeds to cut every safety-net program we have to the bone. There is no added money for job training or acknowledgement that so many reliant on these programs are disabled, elderly, or struggling with addiction. It does not explain that most of these programs already have work requirements. It just cuts.
Program Cuts
The budget proposes steep cuts in Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and TANF (Welfare) over a 10-year period. The graph below shows the annualized proposed cuts as a percentage of the programs’ FY 2019 budgets.
This provides a sense of the magnitude of the reductions, which range for 36 percent for Medicaid to 26 percent for SNAP and 12 percent for Medicare and TANF.
Give more to Defense
While Trump proposes to slash social programs, he continues to increase defense spending. He claims we have defeated ISIS and the level of troops deployed to the Middle East is just a few thousand. Even if you accept the idea that we underfunded defense in the past, it seems like by now we should have caught up. Do we really need to spend twice what China and Russian spend?[see: What level of defense spending is enough]
A ballooning Deficit
Furthermore, because Trump cut taxes, we are running a huge deficit. As the graph below shows, the deficit for 2020 is forecasted to exceed 1 trillion dollars. The deficit he made is now one of the reasons used to justify social program cuts,
Putting People out on the streets
The only way to achieve the targeted reductions in the safety programs is to reduce the roles or slash the benefits which are already bare bones. I suspect the strategy will be to further tighten the eligibility requirements which, in effect, will result in kicking people off the programs. Some might think this is great, a “tough love” type of approach. Such people know little about this population. As these programs have been tighten first by Reagan and then by Clinton, those that qualify for benefits are truly struggling. Where will they go if they are cut off? A few may get jobs, family members might take some in, but most will not have these options. Some will live on the streets, some will turn to crime, and some will die.
We are all connected
Do you care? Even if your humanity is not moved by this scenario, you should care because we are all connected. We all will feel the repercussions of our communities crumbling. Do you want to live in a place where there is virtually no where you can walk without a serious risk of being mugged? Do you think you can escape to suburbia or live in a gated community or hire private guards to protect you? The suffering of others will impact your freedom, safety, and well-being.
Only a Bully has no heart
This is the dystopian world Trump is advocating. One in which we collectively have no heart. A world in which a few thousand families have nearly all the money and they are unwilling to share to give people a minimal safety net.
Note: I really have read the 2020 budget. In part, because it is related to my job, I do not think it will get much play as the House will never pass it. As such, it is unlikely people will know what is in it. People think they agree with Trump but they do not know what he is actually proposing. They also do not realize that some members of their family are currently being helped by these programs. Ultimately, much of his base is not voting their interests.