Trump budget released only to be immediately trashed
Today the Trump administration released its proposed 2018 budget for the federal government. Here is a good article on what that budget proposed for NASA.
The Trump administration’s fiscal 2018 budget request includes $19.1 billion for NASA, a $561 million decrease over previously enacted levels that would reduce the number of Earth science missions, eliminate the agency’s education office and do away with the Obama administration’s plans to robotically retrieve a piece of an asteroid as a precursor to eventual flights to Mars.
The budget closely reflects the administration’s blueprint, released in March, and overall, NASA’s acting administrator said America’s space program remains healthy and suffered relatively modest cuts compared to other federal agencies.
Though the NASA budget did include the cancellation of a handful of Earth Science projects as well as a cut in the Earth science budget, those cuts were nowhere near what had been hinted at previously.
The Trump administration has made no secret of its skepticism about global warming and its presumed causes and impacts and as expected, the budget eliminates funding for five Earth science missions and instruments. Earth science would receive $1.8 billion overall, reflecting a reduction of nearly $170 million. “The hard choices are still there, and we can’t do everything,” Lightfoot said. But the budget “still includes significant Earth science efforts, including 18 Earth observing missions in space as well as airborne missions.”
That’s a reduction of less than 10% in the total Earth science budget, hardly a catastrophe. The overall budget proposal was a little more daring, calling for a 30% cut at the EPA, and a 16% cut at Commerce, mostly in NOAA.
What does this all mean? Nothing. A president’s budget proposal is generally only a statement of desires. It has no force of law. Congress decides how to spend money, and the Republicans controlling this Congress are not really interested in cutting anything. In fact, the pigs have already begun to squeal, including a complete rejection of the budget by many Republican leaders in Congress.
‘President Trump’s $603 billion defense budget request is inadequate to the challenges we face, illegal under current law, and part of an overall budget proposal that is dead on arrival in Congress,’ said Arizona Sen. John McCain.
The administration didn’t seem to signal its own vote of confidence by releasing the document during President Trump’s first overseas trip.
Longtime GOP Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky, a longtime appropriator, declared proposed cuts to safety net and environmental proposals ‘draconian.’
‘I don’t think the president’s budget is going anywhere,’ said Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, asked if he’s concerned about the message sent by slashing the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled.
That’s only a sampling. Essentially, these Republicans have no interest in gaining control of the out-of-control federal budget. They like having that budget out-of-control, as it feeds money to their friends and partners whom then line their pockets with campaign contributions.
I should note that I fully expect Trump to bow to their demands, and back off. When it has come to budget matters, he has so far shown no stomach for the fight.
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By the numbers given, the cut in the earth science budget is less than 10 percent, not less than 1 percent. Still not enough to justify squealing, but more than 1 percent.
The pattern continues:
“We’ll do that once we control the House”
“We control the House, but we also need to control the Senate to do what we want”
“We control both the House and the Senate, but what we really need is the Presidency, then we’ll do what we say we’ll do”
Now that the Republicans control the House and the Senate and hold the Presidency, the silence is deafening.
I am so sick of that lying loser RINO Crony john McCain–I wish he would have died 50 years ago and spared us all his non-stop bovine excrement and trillions of dollars of endless debt.
It should come as no surprise these two clowns are pork-meister’s:
Hal Rogers has a Conservative Review Liberty Score of 29%.
Bill Cassidy has a Conservative Review Liberty Score of 47%.
Only one legal method left, to control the Feds–
“Maine could be next to call for Convention of States”
https://youtu.be/1-v_gfRR0WQ
(2:59)
Convention of the States is the only way we can get Congress to reduce federal spending, by either a balance budget amendment or at the very least, a term limit admenment.
Kyle–
Right with you!
In the real world when you need to cut your spending you triage your budget and cut percentages appropriate from each segment of your budget.
That is not how it works within government, government is the be all and end all and the programs that depend on the tap root into the publics pocket book must never be decreased. In government a cut in spending equates to an increase in spending that is dialed down to the specified percentage and in the end in reality it winds up being an increase.
In addition the culture of dependency to which a permanent segment of the population has become accustomed to will not tolerate any kind of decrease or shove into the reality of life where they pay for what they have. This is purely the redistribution of wealth by the government just like Obamacare is.
The U.S. government is an insatiable and voracious consumer of the people’s wealth, there is no line where enough is enough and they determine that these funds are better off in the hands of the public and the private sector.
Oh gosh *only* 603 billion dollars for defense… how can we defend ourselves with such meager rations!
Apparently it’s illegal to slaughter pigs in the Pentagon.
So if there are about 150 million taxpayers, each one is forking out an average of $4000.00/yr for the defense budget.
Of course they aren’t really, the money is just borrowed.
Is this really sustainable?
Why do i mention the Pentagon and not entitlements and other wasteful programs?
Because cutting the EPA, CPB, (NASA’s SLS) etc. are obvious but true budget reform means everything has to be examined and reigned in.
We have to get away from the “let’s cut your programs not mine” way of doing things. If Conservatives are serious the Pentagon budget should be on the chopping block.
If the DOD ever allowed an audit we’d probably find we buy about $400 billion of defense and $200 billion of slushy pork.
And Republicans/Conservatives taking a knife to the DOD budget would give them more power to cut elsewhere.
Related, because its about insanity, and what we are discussing here and on the many other subjects discussed here is insane:
New York City Mayor DeBlasio and the leader of the NYC Council Viverito are in the process of lauding the efforts of a Puerto Rican FLAN member who served 35 years in prison for being involved in multiple bombings in the United States.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mayor-de-blasio-join-puerto-rican-day-parade-march-article-1.3174705
One day after the bombing in England where young girls were targeted. Will they now plan on honoring this Lybian bombing murderer in the next Muslim day parade? And it is projected that the Liberals in NYC will reelect this disgrace of a human.
This behavior is typical of the revolutionary / Marxist / anti capitalism political actors just like Obama and his true believers believe.
Insane? This goes way beyond insane, it IMO is treason of the first order and must not be ignored. What ever you believe about the offences to humanity, capitalism and the exercise of power by the United States these kinds of actions by empowered politicians is not acceptable!