Poli-Ticks Me Off

Proposed Increase in the Military Budget Equates to Deficits in Crucial Federal Programs

Niko Baldwin and Jackie De Melo

Within the first months of his presidency, Donald Trump has proposed a 54 billion dollar budget increase in military spending, which will be purportedly funded by reducing many other federal expenditures which combat everything from poverty to climate change.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly mentioned that he would “spend less money overseas and more money back home,” former U.S. Representative John Michael Mulvaney said in an National Public Radio (NPR) interview.
However, the irony of this statement is that Trump went exactly against his original campaign promise. This new proposal is only the tip of the iceberg as this decision is shaky at best and criminally idiotic at worst.
Despite the obvious impracticality of cutting crucial programs including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Housing and Urban Development and more, the instability of Trump’s administration only compounds the danger of proposing so drastic of an increase at the expense of programs which support the American public.
Even more bizarre is Trump’s promise to fund the military increase without slashing either Medicare or Social Security, a necessary maneuver to generate support, but utterly divorced from the practical reality of financing such an extensive overhaul without siphoning from programs which account for 26 and 23 percent of federal spending, respectively.
Trump backs up his claim to this budget increase on the premise that it will “keep Americans safe,” disregarding the fact that he is potentially endangering the lives of millions at home. Despite any threat of foreign aggression, the more potent issue at hand is that a drastic budget deficit for domestic programs is on the horizon.
The predicted deficit would include “20 Education Department programs, renewable energy research programs at the Energy Department and anti-poverty programs,” reporter Roberta Rampton of Reuters.com said.
The cuts Trump plans to make are completely outrageous, with the greatest reduction to federal programs since the post World War II era. The U.S. is neither in a post war zone nor is it nearing a zone of total war, so it is absurd to increase military spending by such a drastic amount.
“Military already has a very large portion of the U.S.a�� budgeta�� there’s no point in protecting the U.S. if we can’t protect education, health or the environment,” freshman Sarah Derr said.
Trump said that he is not planning to raise taxes or increase the deficit, but is rather calling for cuts from key areas in which the American people have long relied upon and have grown accustomed to.
Many of these budget proposals will be challenged with firm resistance, both in legislature by the democratic party and among the general populous, yet there is a significant portion of the population which have long awaited a boost to military funding.
“Although it requires cuts in other sectors, national defense should be priority a��as the U.S. also faces a debt crisis, military spending is a complex issue with no clear solution to make everyone happy,” senior Sam Backlund said.
As with any change, there are bound to be winners and losers. While passions will indubitably flare up over proposed changes of such significance, it remains crucial to vouch for and defend those institutions with which your principles and sympathies most closely align with.