President Trump’s first 100+ days are marked by strokes of courage and falls of surrender. Where domestic policy is concerned we are coming to a fork in the road where Mr. Trump will either solidify himself as an astute successful business man citizen president or he will surrender to darker forcers, risk the chance of a 2nd term, and be cast aside as a relic of what is formerly known as conservatism.
From The Hill:
Here are the 66 programs eliminated in Trump’s budget
President Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal would completely eliminate 66 federal programs, for a savings of $26.7 billion.
Some of the programs would receive funding for 2018 as part of a phasing-out plan.
Here are the programs the administration wants on the chopping block.
Agriculture Department — $855 million
· McGovern-Dole International Food for Education
· Rural Business-Cooperative Service
· Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program Account
· Single Family Housing Direct Loans
Commerce Department — $633 million
· Economic Development Administration
· Manufacturing Extension Partnership
· Minority Business Development Agency
· National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grants and Education
Education Department — $4.976 billion
· 21st Century Community Learning Centers
· Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants
· Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
· Impact Aid Payments for Federal Property
· International Education
· Strengthening Institutions
· Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants
· Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants
· Teacher Quality Partnership
Energy Department — $398 million
· Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy
· Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program and Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program
· Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility
Health and Human Services — $4.834 billion
· Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
· Community Services Block Grant
· Health Professions and Nursing Training Programs
· Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Homeland Security — $235 million
· Flood Hazard Mapping and Risk Analysis Program
· Transportation Security Administration Law Enforcement Grants
Housing and Urban Development — $4.123 billion
· Choice Neighborhoods
· Community Development Block
· HOME Investment Partnerships Program
· Self-Help and Assisted Homeownership Opportunity Program Account
Interior Department — $122 million
· Abandoned Mine Land Grants
· Heritage Partnership Program
· National Wildlife Refuge Fund
Justice Department — $210 million
· State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
Labor Department — $527 million
· Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Training
· OSHA Training Grants
· Senior Community Service Employment Program
State Department and USAID — $4.256 billion
· Development Assistance
Earmarked Appropriations for Non-Profit Organizations
· The Asia Foundation
· East-West Center
· P.L. 480 Title II Food Aid
State Department, USAID, and Treasury Department — $1.59 billion
· Green Climate Fund and Global Climate Change Initiative
Transportation Department — $499 million
· National Infrastructure Investments (TIGER)
Treasury Department — $43 million
· Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
Environmental Protection Agency — $493 million
· Energy Star and Voluntary Climate Programs
· Geographic Programs
National Aeronautics and Space Administration — $269 million
· Five Earth Science Missions
· Office of Education
Other Independent Agencies — $2.683 billion
· Chemical Safety Board
· Corporation for National and Community Service
· Corporation for Public Broadcasting
· Institute of Museum and Library Services
International Development Foundations
· African Development Foundation
· Inter-American Foundation
· Legal Services Corporation
· National Endowment for the Arts
· National Endowment for the Humanities
· Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
· Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Regional Commissions
· Appalachian Regional Commission
· Delta Regional Authority
· Denali Commission
· Northern Border Regional Commission
· U.S. Institute of Peace
· U.S. Trade and Development Agency
· Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
President Trump and his team are commended for proposing this list along with additional cuts to Medicaid and other boondoggles. They deserve credit for subjecting themselves to this scrutiny and endless media bashing, but proposing and fighting for are two different things.
My concern is that Trump’s lack of principle beyond taking credit for getting deals done may result in him and his team folding at the first sign of pushback from Congress and there is already plenty of pushback with Republicans leading the charge declaring the budget proposal is DOA.
What will Mr. Trump do when these items are included in the bloated festering corpse that Congress will pass to further enslave us to fiat currency denominated sovereign debt? Will he veto with as strong a message to the Congressional Crapweasels as he delivered to the terrorists in Afghanistan or to those responsible for the horror in Manchester this week?
History suggests he will not as evidenced by his seeking the counsel of John Boehner regarding domestic spending. Here’s a pro-tip from the right: If you are consulting John Boehner, you are doing it wrong. Donald Trump was sent to Washington to drain the swamp. John Boehner is the creature from the black lagoon.
There are many reasons to read the news about some of what Donald Trump does, pump my fist, and yell “F*&% Yeah!” His commitment to fiscal prudence so far has been disappointing and with this budget he has laid down a marker. The media did not run with the Boehner story and only hard core nerds like me are even aware of it. If it happens again I doubt the press will be so gracious and will actively foment discord on the right. Discord a fragile presidency with a popular vote deficit and the office secured solely by better demographic targeting and a corrupt opponent may not endure.
Trump’s longevity and that of his agenda rely on minority numerical support and outsized enthusiasm from is supporters. Absent that enthusiasm his presidency fails. I pray he gets this one right and does not seek the counsel of the likes of John Boehner or his uber-progressive cabal of children.



OK. I totally agree with you. ?But what do we DO about it. ?IS there a chance in hell of affecting the Congress with some grass-roots efforts. Seems Obamacare had a HUGE base of support for repeal, yet it never happened.
Perhaps we are beyond the pale.
I think what we do is have Trump hold the line.
The biggest threat to the progressive tyranny is that a whole bunch of these mickey mouse (no offense to Disney) programs go away and nobody notices.
Then their constituencies start screaming for other programs to go away or taxes to be cut so states can do this foolishness.
The only way I see out is a stalwart President that will not be cowed by the media over pseudo gov’t shutdown or we have a currency crisis.
His opening bid is bold and is clearly setting up a marker to make some progress.
In a negotiation, you talk to everyone. Boehner would be a good source on tactical advice.
Will he get it all? No. I bet he gets half.
Will conservatives be happy? No. Is half better than status quo?
If he wants to win, he needs to create a constituency for getting rid of bloat.
As Trump goes this may be an opening bid, but is still pretty small beans in the scheme of the size of gov’t. I agree, it is a darn good start.
“Boehner would be a good source on tactical advice”
This is like going to Dr. Kevorkian when you catch a cold.
Boehner is a key reason Trump is in office. I don’t know that seeking his counsel is wise.
“My concern is that Trump’s lack of principle beyond taking credit for getting deals done may result in him and his team folding at the first sign of pushback from Congress and there is already plenty of pushback with Republicans leading the charge declaring the budget proposal is DOA.”
First and foremost, we should all thank you here on the site for a very comprehensive analysis of the “first 100 days.”
To steal one of your favorite compliments: “Well done.”
I would differ in your observation that Trump’s sole perception of winning is simply making a deal. Winning involves making a deal that is prosperous for both sides. I learned this one the hard way in corporate America when I once thought winning meant I negotiated only what I wanted. In others words, the win-win scenario for both parties is the real accomplishment. Donald knows this.
Trump did not get what you, I, or probably many on this site would have wanted in its entirety, but I laud him for his initial accomplishments.
The GOP has problems with Paul Ryan and I think it wise for our president to take the measure of that man and his agenda. Trump has an enormous challenge- in many ways, one of the greatest of all presidents- because he is embroiled in a knife fight with both parties.
He is neither a Republican or a Democrat and I believe this is why he is relying on a lot of his highly intelligent, trusted family members. He has few others who believe in his vision and more importantly, don’t want to.
Again, I will reiterate the help we can give him by watching our legislative races.
I hope I have been fair regarding the early portion of Trump’s admin.
I have been agnostic about him since the primaries. I originally tepidly supported Cruz and was fine voting for Trump in the general and relieved he prevailed.
I am neither cheerleader or suffering from NeverTrumpSyndrome. To the limits of his executive power I think he has tried to do what he promised and he deserves credit.
Where standing up for what he promised or what we need done legislatively with respect to Congress his record murky as evidenced by the Obamacare modification and then the enormous continuing resolution wherein he consulted Boehner.
I appreciate your taking time to add to the discussion on the post. It raises our game around here.
Thought some more on this provocative post. Trump ruffles feathers because truly, this guy has nothing to lose which I thought made him an excellent presidential candidate and why I voted for Perot in ’92. (That, admittedly, was a mistake, but Trump was not.)
I think he is checking out the landscape and got what he could for now. I’m willing to give him some time because I’d be an idiot for not recognizing the sheer devastation left in Obama’s wake.
E, I am happy to give him the time and he has my full support to stand by this budget.
My fear is that after bringing in Boehner that Trump is abandoning any commitment to fiscal prudence.
I think Trump is using Boehner for Machiavellian reasons – inside information. We may not have agreed with JB’s politics, but I don’t believe he doesn’t understand the system particularly after it destroyed him.
???
I’d just like to note that if you took the $26 billion saved by eliminating these wasteful and useless programs you could go a long way toward building Trump’s proposed 350-ship navy, which is supposedly too expensive to ever think about really doing.
That says a whole lot about priorities of Congress, and nothing good. I would have thought that a GOP-run Congress would have put a stop to such nonsense lickety-split, as soon as the party took control- bwahahaha.
No, this is exactly what I expect from the gop. Also, I expect the party will fight long and hard to prevent these cuts, all the while lying to the GOP base that they’re working just as hard to enact them.
Gop, still not a fan.
I think this is one of the key benefits of a President Trump. He is shining a light on the spineless Republicans.
I think he’s shining a light on the spinelessness of every established party.
A month before the election I was visiting in Michigan and one of my endless “blue’ friends said she would never vote for Trump because he was a Republican. (Interestingly, her husband works for GM.)
My response: “Don’t worry; he is neither a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Independent.
He is his own party.
*
Indeedy. The same way that COngressional leadership needs to bring things to a vote in order to get people on the record, Trump is forcing CongressCritters to say where they stand.
For now, they huddle in the shelter provided by a rabid, insane leftist media. All the Republicans have to do is call Trump dirty names which are slightly less vitriolic than those used by the media and the admitted Democrats, and then just like their 98% of socialism budgeting strategy, they get to call themselves conservatives. But cracks are appearing. Witness some no-account CNN droid cautioning CBS’ Bob Schieffer that “some will say you are normalizing Trump by praising his Saudi speech”.
Rush put his finger on it when he said (tl;dr) that the media Trump doesn;t exist, and that’s how to understand the crap Trump at home vs. SuperTrump aborad dichotomy. The domestic MSM doesn;t have amonopoly on reporting Trump abroad, and the characters and commentariat abroad are not cowed by the American media.
The coup is at risk of falling apart.
My fear is he throws a mammoth bone to the bribed GOP and Dems, basically all of them, to mollify those who might speak harshly of him.
We shall see but if there’s no draining then that’s one big fail area.
I think the ego might be too big to do this.
Totally off topic, but nice to hear from you!
Sad that no OSix teams save Rangers seem to be contenders for Stanley, but I’m rooting for one of the best players to ever shoot a puck … Ovechkin.