The Wrong Values

The Trump Administration this past week released their proposed federal budget for the next fiscal year. If a budget tell you values it is no exaggeration to say that this one screams that this Administration is promoting ignorance, disease, violence, and control.

The budget slashes most of our institutions promoting knowledge including: the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation by 55%, National Institute of Health by nearly 50%, and 55% cuts to NOAA. Not even the public broadcasting was spared. They also went to town on healthcare programs, with 25% cuts to all of Health and Human Services, slashing programs at the CDC. Foreign aid, environmental protections, public assistance programs, if it helped people, Trump wants to cut it.

Amidst all this carnage, the regime of course found the need to increase both the defense budget, and border enforcement, because if there's something there is always more money wanted in Trump’s America, it's the War Machine and new Gestapo. In total, the proposed budget cuts non-“defense” spending by 22%, while increasing military spending by 13% overall!

In more normal times one might expect that this budget to be entirely advisory. Indeed, in the past president’s budgets, including Trump's, have been treated as loose guides, diverging in many places even under Republican Congress. This time feels somewhat different, however. Even though Trump's overall poll numbers and popularity with the American people have cratered from his insane and damaging actions during just his first 3 months in office, he nonetheless maintains a complete death grip on the Republican Party. While the break may come if empty shelves truly come to American stores, Trump is still secure in the cult of personality that he has established.

While there is some indication that individual Republican Congress members have pushed back against some of the more heavy-handed cuts towards programs like Medicaid or Social Security, they also know that going against Trump likely means political suicide in their primary race. In the current environment, it would be wise to expect that while this budget should not be taken as prophecy, it will certainly hold far more weight than any normal presidential budget.

 The damage wrought by this will be devastating. It will lead to a poorer, sicker, more ignorant populous. The American people will be less competitive on the world stage, with massively diminished economic mobility at home as inequality rises, and less prosperity overall.

At the moment it seems much of the anger and energy are being pointed in the correct direction, in large part thanks to the actions of politicians Like Bernie Sanders and AOC who have been squarely pointing the figure at the oligarchy and wealthy class during their Fighting Oligarchy tour. Democratic governors, like Pritzker from Illinois, and Mills from Maine, have also both recently made names themselves showing that standing up to Trump works better than kowtowing to his threats.

As heartening as it is to see at least some political figures rising to the occasion, we can't wait until 2026 to strike back against the Trump regime. Even as resistance is rising across the country, all of Trump’s cronies are working quickly solidify these actions as much as possible, so that what they've done cannot be undone.

We need to build power and solidarity now by getting out in our communities working together and building human connections. We must nourish that seed of empathy to build a political and economic movement that can challenge the power of the oligarchy and undermine the Trump regime’s ability to deprive us of our freedoms and our future. So join us each Tuesday in growing solidarity as we fight for real American values of liberty and justice for All!

Don’t Shop on Tuesday.

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