President Donald Trump delivered his budget and a message for Congress.
Since I’m lazy, I’ll quote Time magazine.
First, the President’s message to Congress:
“I urge the members of Congress to remember that last November the American people’s message was loud and clear. The mandate for change, expressed by the American people, was not my mandate; it was our mandate.”
Then, the analysis:
The President’s meaning was unmistakable: the public wants deep cuts in both spending and taxes, and any legislator who tries to keep the ax from falling risks putting his own neck under an ax at the polls. But the warning did not prevent opponents in and out of Congress, some of whom had initially seemed stunned into silence by the vigor of Trump’s budget blitz, from recovering their voices. Though Trump still seems likely to win a great deal of what he wants, it will only be after a fight in which some of his specific proposals could be substantially reshaped.
Actually, I played a trick on you. I replaced Reagan with Trump. Time’s article is about Ronald Reagan’s first budget, submitted 36 years ago, almost to the day. The quote was Reagan’s, too.
For those pesky NeverTrumpers, Trump’s budget was another nail in their reputations' coffins. In his first budget, Trump goes further than Reagan ever did. Though Reagan campaigned on ending the National Endowment for the Arts and Corporation for Public Broadcasting, he never pursued those ends. Reagan’s promise to close the Department of Education never happened. His campaign criticism of the EPA led to only minor reforms.
But Trump takes his promises even more seriously than the Gipper. Think about these highlights:
** DEFENSE: $52 billion increase. ** HOMELAND SECURITY: $1.5 billion for The Wall. ** FOREIGN AID: 28% cut. ** EPA: 31% cut. ** HEALTHCARE: Repeal and replace Obamacare with something that works and keeps costs down. ** TRANSPORTATION: Air traffic control privatized, budgets cut. ** AGRICULTURE: 21% cut. ** LABOR DEPARTMENT: 20% cut. ** CRIMINAL IRS: $239 million cut. ** COMMERCE DEPARTMENT: 16% cut. ** SHUT DOWN AND ELIMINATED: Public Broadcasting Corporation, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Chemical Safety Board, the United States Institute of Peace, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for National Community Service and the African Development Foundation.
That, my friends, is the most conservative budget in American history. The last vestiges of NeverTrump can slink back under the mossy rocks from which they slithered.
Ronald Reagan, were he still alive, would stand up and applaud this budget. He would thank Donald Trump for picking up where he left off.
It feels good to be on this team, doesn’t it?
We are WINNING AGAIN!!!