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Op-Ed: The Trump budget is just telling the truth—and you can’t handle the truth!

chuckiechan

chuckiechan

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It's time to face the economic realities of truth is spending. We can't afford the welfare state as it is constructed today. We need economic growth beyond what is statistically possible. Our "good" growth is 3%. At this rate we can't keep doing what we are doing. No one likes to hear the truth especially a politician or a bureaucrat.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/op-ed-trump-budget-just-160449563.html

America finally has something it's needed for decades: A budget that starts to tell the truth. And some people don't seem to be able to handle the truth. But they need to start.

Note:A few sentences have been clipped out for brevity and character count.
America finally has something it's needed for decades: A budget that starts to tell the truth. And some people don't seem to be able to handle the truth. But they need to start.

The truth is coming in the form of the White House budget that calls for major cuts to entitlement programs that are not sustainable, taxes that punish productivity and growth, and the fundamental understanding that politicians cannot be trusted to spend our money.

That is, it at least begins to deliver the truth.

Let's start with what it gets right in the reality department. The screaming headlines are all about that truth right now as every major news outlet has chosen to focus on the cuts the Trump budget makes to food stamps, Medicaid, student loans, and agencies like the EPA and the Department of Education. Do any of those articles or the angry members of Congress quoted in them include anything about how these spending programs are unsustainable as they are now anyway? Do they include any arguments about how the overstretched "safety net" of welfare programs provides aid to too many people who aren't actually poor, thus reducing the amount of funds available for the truly needy? Do they include any of the arguments that so many federal agencies like the EPA and the Education Department aren't truly needed in their current sizes? How about some information on how student loan guarantees from Washington are a major source of tuition inflation?

Don't be ridiculous.

But the Trump budget does just that by simply calling for those cuts because "ridiculous" is really the best word to describe anyone who thinks continuing to promise the American people unicorns like the massive increases to the budgets of all the above-mentioned programs aren't going to crowd out spending for almost anything else. The truth can be harsh, but ultimately it's kinder than having our presidents and members of Congress continue to lie to us. The unicorns aren't coming, and it's time for our elected leaders to stop pretending only the politically easy-to-cut programs should go.

It's time to stop throwing the word "poor" around like it's nothing. The fact is, way too much of the so-called "safety net" has been stretched to people who are not poor by most definitions and are thus siphoning vital funding away from those who are truly at the economic bottom. Specifically, this problem has manifested itself with the massive expansions in the number of people on food stamps and taking federal disability payments that has not subsided even with the economic recovery coming out of the Great Recession.

The massive expansions of just about all of the programs the Trump plan seeks to cut have led to a growing number of unemployed people in America who are just getting by on various forms and levels of government assistance. This puts an undue level of new strain on the people who actually are working and paying payroll and other taxes to prop up the rest of the country. The Trump budget at least starts to tell us the truth about what benefits can survive even in the short-term future.

And there's another harsh but crucial reality in the Trump budget — it knows where the money comes from. Taxpayers. Somehow, prioritizing the people who actually provide us the money to spend in Washington has been portrayed as selfish or mean.

Now, let's get to what the Trump budget gets wrong. In short, it still isn't "harsh" enough. So far, we have no details of any reforms to the three biggest problems in our budget: Medicare, Social Security, and Defense. No real anti-deficit and pro-taxpayer moves can be made permanent until all three of those programs are reformed and essentially cut. It's not surprising the White House plan doesn't make the hard choices on that three-headed fiscal monster considering it would make the current political firestorm over his other cuts look like a small campfire.
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President Trump'''s Budget Includes a $2 Trillion Math Mistake | Time.com

President Trump's budget includes simple accounting error that adds up to a $2 trillion oversight.
Under the proposed budget released Tuesday, the Trump Administration's proposed tax cuts would boost economic growth enough to pay for $1.3 trillion in spending by 2027. But the tax cuts are also supposed to be revenue-neutral, meaning that trillion dollars is already supposed to pay for the money lost from the tax cuts.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers called the oversight an "elementary double count" and "a logical error of the kind that would justify failing a student in an introductory economics course" in an op-ed in the Washington Post.
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chuckiechan said:
It's time to face the economic realities of truth is spending. We can't afford the welfare state as it is constructed today. We need economic growth beyond what is statistically possible. Our "good" growth is 3%. At this rate we can't keep doing what we are doing. No one likes to hear the truth especially a politician or a bureaucrat.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/op-ed-trump-budget-just-160449563.html

America finally has something it's needed for decades: A budget that starts to tell the truth. And some people don't seem to be able to handle the truth. But they need to start.

Note:A few sentences have been clipped out for brevity and character count.
Click to expand...

Typical Rep response...'the only way to balance the budget is with welfare cuts...oh, but, of course, America needs MUCH more military spending.'

What utter nonsense.

Both areas need to be cut or the budget will probably never be balanced.

Yet Trumpbots are asking for more defense spending even though America is under no threat WHATSOEVER to her sovereignty and outspends the next 11 highest spending countries COMBINED.

The title simply said that the statement would make Trump's life more difficult - and it undoubtedly will.

Typical extremist Rep madness...throw every dime at defense and take food from the poor to pay for it...madness, sheer and utter madness.
 
Any budget that doesn't include massive cuts to military spending isn't a serious budget.
 
reinoe said:
Any budget that doesn't include massive cuts to military spending isn't a serious budget.
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Are you being serious or sarcastic (I agree with your post, btw)?

I assumed you were a Trumpbot in all things and loved military spending...more and more of it.

If that is not the case - I owe you an apology.
 
DA60 said:
Are you being serious or sarcastic (I agree with your post, btw)?

I assumed you were a Trumpbot in all things and loved military spending...more and more of it.

If that is not the case - I owe you an apology.
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Unlike Trump haters who operate on a hive-mind like the borg, Trump supporters include diverse people from all walks of life who think independently. I've been calling for reduced military spending since I got to the forum, unlike liberals who's opinions change depending on which party is in office.
 
chuckiechan said:
It's time to face the economic realities of truth is spending. We can't afford the welfare state as it is constructed today. We need economic growth beyond what is statistically possible. Our "good" growth is 3%. At this rate we can't keep doing what we are doing. No one likes to hear the truth especially a politician or a bureaucrat.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/op-ed-trump-budget-just-160449563.html

America finally has something it's needed for decades: A budget that starts to tell the truth. And some people don't seem to be able to handle the truth. But they need to start.

Note:A few sentences have been clipped out for brevity and character count.
Click to expand...

The budget problem is simple to solve - you start with a realistic projection of revenue (last years actual revenue is a good number to use) and then allocate that, program by program, on a priority basis. That means spending cuts of about $500 billion or a tax increase.
 
reinoe said:
Unlike Trump haters who operate on a hive-mind like the borg, Trump supporters include diverse people from all walks of life who think independently. I've been calling for reduced military spending since I got to the forum, unlike liberals who's opinions change depending on which party is in office.
Click to expand...

Come on now...Trumpbots also include people who want more military spending as that is what Trump wants. It was a major platform position for him. The vast, VAST majority of Trumpbots want defense increases. I doubt even 10% of them want defense spending decreases.


But...nonetheless, you are clearly one of the latter.

So...I apologize to you for assuming you must want defense spending increases.

Maybe there is hope for you yet... ;)
 
Trump’s Budget Doesn’t Make Sense
By MAYA MACGUINEAS

On paper, the $1.3 trillion deficit projected for 2027 would be erased under the Trump budget. But there are a lot of heroic assumptions made to get there. A full $300 billion, including interest, comes from a 40 percent cut to nonmilitary discretionary spending, with much of the savings coming from simply assuming non-specified reductions. An additional $100 billion comes from timing shifts, one-time payments and an ambitious estimate for reducing waste, fraud and abuse.

The largest savings come from aggressive growth assumptions, which would generate $500 billion in a single year. Exaggerated growth assumptions in presidential budgets are an age-old tradition, but this budget takes it to new levels, assuming we reach 3 percent growth, a full percentage point above what the Congressional Budget Office forecasts. With the baby boomers leaving the work force, demographics are destiny, and there just is no reliable plan to increase growth that much. We should do everything we can to try, including pursuing many of the president’s policy priorities — like tax reform and smarter spending and regulations — but we should be realistic about expectations, and sustained 3 percent growth is almost certainly unobtainable.

Furthermore, these numbers come before incorporating what the White House has promised to be “one of the biggest tax cuts in American history,” which is conspicuously missing from the budget altogether. Indeed, the budget seems to assume tax reform will increase revenues, at odds with everything the administration has proposed and said on the issue.
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DA60 said:
Are you being serious or sarcastic (I agree with your post, btw)?

I assumed you were a Trumpbot in all things and loved military spending...more and more of it.

If that is not the case - I owe you an apology.
Click to expand...

If the world were a safer place, and Obama didn't gut the military - to be fair so did Clinton, and others, we wouldn't be paying the higher price due to deferred maintenance.

BUT... Now the budget goes to Schumer and Pelosi's houses of "NO". But, obviously there is room for some bi partisan give and take.
 
chuckiechan said:
If the world were a safer place, and Obama didn't gut the military - to be fair so did Clinton, and others, we wouldn't be paying the higher price due to deferred maintenance.

BUT... Now the budget goes to Schumer and Pelosi's houses of "NO". But, obviously there is room for some bi partisan give and take.
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The notion that "Obama gutted the military" and "Clinton" gutted the military is malarkey. Since it takes years for a military buildup, Bush invaded Afghanistan with Clinton's military. Obama didn't deny the military anything that was necessary. If you disagree, exactly how did Obama weaken the military?

While conservatives talk about waste and abuse, that doesn't seem to apply to the Pentagon.
 
MTAtech said:
The notion that "Obama gutted the military" and "Clinton" gutted the military is malarkey. Since it takes years for a military buildup, Bush invaded Afghanistan with Clinton's military. Obama didn't deny the military anything that was necessary. If you disagree, exactly how did Obama weaken the military?

While conservatives talk about waste and abuse, that doesn't seem to apply to the Pentagon.
Click to expand...

National defense is mandated in the constitution, allowing 30% of the population to feed off the other 70% isn't.
 
MTAtech said:
Trump’s Budget Doesn’t Make Sense
By MAYA MACGUINEAS
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GOP SOP.

Cut taxes. Increase military spending. Claim the tax cuts will create growth that will pay for the increased spending and make up the revenue lost to the tax cuts.

When then debt/deficit grows, claim that programs like SS and Medicare are to blame and need to be cut to fix the problem. They've been repeating this nonsense since at least Reagan. "trickledown", because it's working in Kansas!
 
chuckiechan said:
America finally has something it's needed for decades: A budget that starts to tell the truth. And some people don't seem to be able to handle the truth. But they need to start.
Click to expand...
Trumps budget cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid would remove healthcare benefits for 14 million Americans (mostly children and the elderly). This is over and above the 27 million projected to lose healthcare under the GOP House AHCA Plan which is now in the Senate. Trumps budget would also effect 8 million people who qualify for Social Security Disabled benefits even though Trump promised not to touch Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Donald Trump said:
Donald J. Trump ✔
@realDonaldTrump
I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.
10:38 AM - 7 May 2015
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An outright lie. For more information:

Trump's budget by the numbers: What gets cut and why

Donald Trump’s Budget Breaks These 7 Campaign Promises
 
chuckiechan said:
National defense is mandated in the constitution, allowing 30% of the population to feed off the other 70% isn't.
Click to expand...

Defense and general welfare are both in the same sentence in the constitution. There is no standing army in the constitution. There is no quasi-governmental Military Industrial Complex in the constitution.

Where in the constitution is the Warfare State? It's exactly where the "welfare state" is - absent.
 
<alt>doxygen said:
Defense and general welfare are both in the same sentence in the constitution. There is no standing army in the constitution. There is no quasi-governmental Military Industrial Complex in the constitution.

Where in the constitution is the Warfare State? It's exactly where the "welfare state" is - absent.
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Either way, that is not what the OP Is about. It's about cutting spending and incentivizing people to work, and reducing the deficit.

I agree that it is hard to push back on the welfare state.
 
chuckiechan said:
Either way, that is not what the OP Is about. It's about cutting spending and incentivizing people to work, and reducing the deficit.

I agree that it is hard to push back on the welfare state.
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Did you just 'moonwalk?'
 
chuckiechan said:
It's time to face the economic realities of truth is spending. We can't afford the welfare state as it is constructed today. We need economic growth beyond what is statistically possible. Our "good" growth is 3%. At this rate we can't keep doing what we are doing. No one likes to hear the truth especially a politician or a bureaucrat.
Click to expand...
Or, back in the real world: The Trump budget and its proffered rationalizations are total bull****.

The biggest drivers of deficits are Social Security and Medicare -- neither of which are touched, at all, by the budget.

Trump wants to blow billions on a worthless wall on our southern border, and military spending we don't need.

His tax plan will cause trillion-dollar deficits over the next 10 years.

Tax cuts and deregulation won't get us to 3% growth. In fact, the tax cuts will generate trillion-dollar deficits, even under aggressive dynamic scoring scenarios.

The tax plan and spending plans are not, in any way shape or form, designed to reduce the deficit. It's taking benefits from the poor, to insufficiently pay for huge tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

Eric Levitz tears it apart pretty thoroughly in NY Mag today:
The Trump Budget Is Based on Discredited Delusions
 
chuckiechan said:
National defense is mandated in the constitution, allowing 30% of the population to feed off the other 70% isn't.
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I think this point of view is just propaganda.

What you have is 30% of the population is to old or sick to work. Not wanting to work is a sickness, not being able to, or not being able to compete.

In my state you can't get welfare unless you're a mother with children, so what are you talking about?

I'm all for taking welfare mothers' children away from them and putting them to work, but just cutting them off is reprehensible.
 
Visbek said:
Or, back in the real world: The Trump budget and its proffered rationalizations are total bull****.

The biggest drivers of deficits are Social Security and Medicare -- neither of which are touched, at all, by the budget.

Trump wants to blow billions on a worthless wall on our southern border, and military spending we don't need.

His tax plan will cause trillion-dollar deficits over the next 10 years.

Tax cuts and deregulation won't get us to 3% growth. In fact, the tax cuts will generate trillion-dollar deficits, even under aggressive dynamic scoring scenarios.

The tax plan and spending plans are not, in any way shape or form, designed to reduce the deficit. It's taking benefits from the poor, to insufficiently pay for huge tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

Eric Levitz tears it apart pretty thoroughly in NY Mag today:
The Trump Budget Is Based on Discredited Delusions
Click to expand...

This is just an opening gambit. It still has to go through the house of "NO".
 
chuckiechan said:
Either way, that is not what the OP Is about. It's about cutting spending and incentivizing people to work, and reducing the deficit.
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It really isn't.

Total spending, unsurprisingly, goes up -- from $3.9 trillion in FY2016, to a proposed $4.1 trillion. How is that a spending cut, exactly?

Few aspects of the current welfare system genuinely disincentivize work. EITC incentivizes work; malnutrition does not. Social Security disincentivizes work -- by design, because ideally we don't want 75 year olds to feel pressured to work. "Workfare" is a disaster, which didn't change unemployment rates; what it does is discourage people from getting assistance, which drives more people into deeper poverty. Slashing Medicaid is not going to incentivize work, either.

Unsurprisingly, there are no new plans which encourage work, or revisions to existing plans -- except to just cut cut cut.

And what jobs are these people supposed to get, exactly? The retail sector is contracting; any day now, Sears could declare bankruptcy and fire 100,000 employees or more. Will jobs magically appear in the Rust Belt, specifically as a result of taking away food stamps and SSDI from former factory workers in Michigan?
 
chuckiechan said:
National defense is mandated in the constitution, allowing 30% of the population to feed off the other 70% isn't.
Click to expand...
:roll:

Figure-3.jpg


The Constitution doesn't mandate that people work until they drop, or that no one over age 16 should be in school.

The Constitution also does not rule out federal spending on education, or safety nets, or Social Security.
 
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