The Trump Administration released its 2018 Budget Proposal and the picture is a disturbing set of priorities aimed at increasing military and law enforcement spending over the next 18 months by $100 billion, while slashing spending on domestic programs that will adversely affect health and human services, education, and scientific advancement.
If this is putting America First, then there are surely tough times ahead for the majority of working Americans and families.
Increasing spending on the military budget is a monumental waste of money that would be better used to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure, create jobs, and shore up entitlement programs that are in need of sensible reform: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Currently, military spending accounts for 54 percent of the federal budget (2015 figures). That means for every tax dollar raised in revenue, over half of it goes to spending that does not directly benefit American workers and taxpayers. The benefits we do get from such lavish spending in terms of national security is largely indirect in the form of a subsidized belief that the bigger our military, and the more money we spend on it, the safer we are. That is a false argument to be sure.
Spending more money on the military in a time of social, economic, and political crisis is a failure of Trump to live up to his stated priorities of putting Americans back to work and ensuring that economic prosperity is spread around to those states, and the working class citizens in them, who feel they have been left behind in the wake of trade agreements, technological innovation, and the forces of globalization.
Many people who voted for Trump may “feel” that his budget proposal reflects their values. But when the anti-tax Congress refuses to fund vital programs, including a much needed overhaul of our nation’s infrastructure, and jobs do not suddenly materialize by returning from overseas, they will once again be left holding the bag. We may have the most powerful military in the world, but the most powerful nation it protects will not be able to provide good paying jobs for its workers, while the streets and bridges crumble under their very feet.