Bearing Witness to Trump Week 8

Week of March 12 – 18, 2017

Trump calls his new budget “America First”. Probably because he proposes over $50B more spending for the military. I think of it as “Americans Last” as spending in things that help us have been decreased if not slashed. The list of reductions is long and includes the EPA, Education, Agriculture, Labor, Health & Human Services, State Dept., Transportation, NIH,, Corps of Engineers, Housing and Urban Development, NOAA, Interior Dept., SBA, Justice, Clean Power, AmeriCorps, Public Broadcasting, Medical research, meals on wheels, planned parenthood…..

It seems that the country we have built the last 50 years has been taken over in a coup by extremists who wish to destroy it from the inside out, an act of terrorism, while distracting us with promises to protect us from the outside dangers. Just look at all the things Trump and his enablers have attacked, disparaged, or threatened in two months. They include our intelligence communities, the judiciary, consumer protection, health care, Medicaid for the poor, freedom of the press, federal employees, the IRS, federal courts, a clean environment, the UN, immigrants, Muslims, state department, public education, norms of the White House, various countries and their leaders from around the world, and most of all, the truth.

As if decimating the budget of the EPA by over 30% was not enough, Trump visits Detroit to roll back mileage CAFE requirements. All this in the same week that scientists report the Great Barrier Reef of Australia is at risk of loss from warmer and more acidic oceans caused by climate change due to the burning of carbon fuels.

It appears that Trump, like so many other Republicans, lied about the “new and improved” health care plan for all Americans. It will cost more, cover fewer people, and shift cost from the wealthy to the poor and middle classes. Oh, and of course, they put a huge tax decrease into the bill for the rich.

The above news items have been taken from a number of international, national, regional, and local news media sources, both print and digital. Additional editorial opinions and comments about these news items are those of this author.