Trump's Wartime Budget

by Stephen Lendman

Information on Trump's budget was leaked ahead of his Tuesday night address to Congress.

It shows he's a wartime president like his predecessors, an imperial interventionist, a big spender, mostly on the wrong things - at the expense of too many of the right ones.

He wants another $54 billion added to already bloated military spending at a time America's only enemies are invented ones. No others exist despite propaganda claiming otherwise.

His priorities are counterproductive and destructive, wanting increased militarism when humanity begs for ending it. 

He intends offsetting more for weapons and warmaking by big cuts in other discretionary spending - less for healthcare, education, environmental protection and other vital social programs, neoliberal harshness perhaps more severe than under the Clintons, Bush/Cheney and Obama. 

America will be more unfit to live in than already, including greater domestic militarization, increased police state powers, perhaps tipping things to full-blown tyranny.

Making the world safe for Wall Street, war profiteers and other corporate predators matters more than governance serving everyone equitably. 

So does keeping America's boot in the face of humanity, maybe waging new wars besides many now raging, raping countries on the phony pretexts of combating terrorism and democracy building.

On Monday, Trump said he'll seek congressional approval for a "historic increase" in military spending. He's prioritizing "a public safety and national security budget…to rebuild the (grossly overbuilt) military of the United States" - at a time when social spending should be greatly increased, offset by major Pentagon cuts.

Not as long as bipartisan neocons want endless imperial wars, countries raped to control them, their resources looted, their people exploited.

On Monday, federal agencies were sent copies of Trump's draft budget - to be released to the public in mid-March, his entire fiscal agenda later on, including tax policy, featuring big cuts for business and high net worth households expected.

White House claims about not increasing the deficit and national debt ring hollow. It's just a matter of how much higher they'll go.

The national debt is just shy of $20 trillion. The FY 2016 federal deficit was $587 billion. The FY 2017 deficit is projected at $504 billion. With Trump wanting greatly increased military and infrastructure spending, it could go much higher.

So far, budget cuts don't target Social Security and Medicare. Trumpcare, if enacted, could turn Obamacare's nightmare into something worse. It could wreck Medicare and Medicaid, threatening the health of US seniors and poor.

Trump's inaugural address, pledging to serve all Americans "begin(ning) today right here, right now" was a Big Lie.

"We are transferring power from Washington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people," he said.

False!

"The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer."

False!

"The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans."

False!

"(W)e will make America strong again…wealthy again…proud again…safe again…great again," he said.

Only for its privileged few exclusively, most others left out, the way it's always been, especially since the neoliberal 90s under the Clintons.

After six weeks in office, Trump proved he's a dirty politician like most others in Washington.

He didn't become a billionaire by being a good guy. As president and military commander-in-chief, he using his power to inflict enormous harm on most Americans. Maybe devastation on humanity will follow.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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