The Budget

To look at the proposed budget click here.

Chances are, if you are a social studies teachers like myself you probably have read most of the proposed budget brought forth by President Trump.  There are considerable changes to the budget compared to previous years of course, but what makes Trump's budget stand out is the high amount of reductions to most departments and the dramatic increases to others.

If you want to check out the Vlogbrothers' video explaining the budget check it out here!

After reading the budget this is only one part of it that I agree about: increasing the amount of money towards Veterans Affairs.  The VA has been under constant criticism in how it deals with veterans in pain as well as dealing with veterans with PTSD.  Programs towards veterans getting a job in the private sector are poor as well and to see increased spending towards the betterment of veterans is a definite plus.

But like I said... that is the only thing I like about this budget.

Let's look at the negatives:

1. The need to increase the Defense budget.  We already outspend most countries for defense and I would definitely state that we have the best military in the world so why is there a need to increase that budget by 10%?  Especially since it would come at the expense of so many other programs (see below).
2. Climate change and climate monitoring programs.  The Environment Protection Agency took the biggest hit in the proposed budget out of all of the departments.  Of the reductions listed would be the Clean Power Plan as well as reducing the amount of money towards Superfund sites (a Superfund site is a place that needs to stay open due to the hazardous waste that is produce at the plant.  Essentially, to close it would be extremely dangerous to the environment).  Also, a portion of the reduced budget for NASA includes not using satellites that monitor the climate.  
3. Helping the poor goes to the wayside.  As a teacher I know that there are a fair amount of students that come to school and have breakfast and lunch at school at a free or reduced rate will be the only times they will have a meal that day.  Also, the possibility of eliminating the minuscule funding for Meals on Wheels because it, along with giving free food to poor students, doesn't yield "results" is truly baffling to understand.   The fact that you are comfortable with people starving to pay for more military, nuclear weapons, and a goddamn wall just makes people lose hope.  
4. These deductions are going towards The Wall.  Yes, the reductions of some department's budgets will go towards the Mexico-US wall... aka the biggest waste of money ever.  We are using excuses to build a wall that only a few extreme people want.  Yes, the threat of the wall has reduced illegal border crossings, but it won't stop people from finding ways around the wall.

Will the budget pass?  Absolutely not.  To approve a federal budget you need 60 votes in the Senate and the balance of the current Senate rests at 52 Republicans, 46 Democrats,  2 Independents that side with the Democrats.  There will need to be significant changes before it will ever pass the Senate and that is fine by me as long as common sense and sanity prevails.