Housing Secretary Ben Carson Says Poverty Is A 'State Of Mind'

[Belsnickel]

(05-26-2017, 04:53 PM)Benton Wrote: A lot of excellent points, and I think most people agree with a lot of what you're saying.

To the bold, the issue is more on what it's being spent on, and what it's not.

From the last numbers I received, we're increasing Homeland Security by 7% (it was already one of the bigger chunks of federal spending), DoD by 10% (the biggest chunk at $575 billion total) and 5% in VA (which I don't think anyone would argue isn't needed).

Among the cuts are several agencies (Delta Regional, Appalachian Regional Commission, USTDA) which help facilitate thousands of jobs, entrepreneurial efforts and job training. Many of those (DRA, ARC) are in the poorest, rural areas of the country. Cutting transportation funding is also going to shrink paving projects, bridge replacements, lock upgrades, etc.

So the budget spends more money on padding pockets of a few international investors by increasing military spending, but is going to cut out jobs and safety nets in place for those displaced.

I've shouted for reduced spending for 10+ years, but cutting out jobs and giving more money to a handful of defense contractors is the wrong way to do it.

Exactly. A lot of people recognize a need to reduce spending. But when we reduce spending we shouldn't be leaving our citizens hanging out to dry. The defense budget is half of our discretionary budget, and with the proposed budget it would probably become about 2/3rds. This budget isn't going to go anywhere, because a president's budget is less about what will happen fiscally and more about what the policy priorities are for the administration. This budget is not "America first" because it is going to result in reduced services to those that need them most in our country to line the pockets of the military industrial complex.