The Office of Management and Budget [OMB] have pored over Donald Trump’s budget, and the numbers are clear: The ruthless slashing of $3.6 trillion in spending will hit the people who voted for him the hardest.
NBC’s Benjy Sarlin reports on Donald Trump’s budget proposal:
“The administration proposes reducing spending on Medicaid programs by more than $600 billion over the next decade, a massive cut that appears to go on top of $839 billion in Medicaid cuts included in the House bill.”
Furthermore:
“The president also strongly opposed cuts to Social Security during the campaign, but the new budget would make cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance, which covered over 10 million recipients as of December 2015. It would save about $72 billion through changes to disability programs over the next ten years.”
A total of 65.1 million Americans receive benefits from programs run by the Social Security Administration, including retirees, disabled workers, and widows.
The Hill adds:
By most analyses, Trump’s budget is a draconian hatchet job that slashes programs for the neediest, the poorest, and the most vulnerable Americans, to give humongous tax cuts for the wealthiest, as well as massively increasing spending on the military and on building the border wall.
“The irony is rich,” according to The Hill. “Many of his drastic cuts are to programs Trump supporters rely on to live every day. ” These cuts include $50 billion to farm subsidies and $21 billion in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and $193 billion to Food Stamps.
Trump #budget will cut $193 billion from food stamps and $72 billion from disability benefits. These cuts would directly hit his supporters pic.twitter.com/LHLLhoPAuc
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) May 23, 2017
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s budget gives wealthy people like himself a huge tax cut.
During Donald Trump’s campaign, he vowed to be a different kind of Republican. One who wouldn’t cut Social Security or Medicare. One who’d “drain the swamp.” One who’d take care of everyone…Well at least those of us who are “real” (i.e. white) Americans.
Why do the people who voted for Donald Trump — especially those who’ve voted for Democrats in the past and swung the election — let him get away with it? It turns out they’re not.
Donald Trump’s budget and healthcare debacle are losing him support.
Sure, we’ve all seen all those baffling polls that claim Donald Trump’s supporters are ignoring “fake news” from the “lamestream media” and remain solidly behind him. But Five Thirty Eight‘s data guru Nate Silver says we need to read between the lines.
Nate Silver explains that despite seemingly constant “approval ratings,” the polls show a growing gap between “strong approval” and mere “approval.”
But the theory isn’t supported by the evidence. To the contrary, Trump’s base seems to be eroding. There’s been a considerable decline in the number of Americans who strongly approve of Trump, from a peak of around 30 percent in February to just 21 or 22 percent of the electorate now. (The decline in Trump’s strong approval ratings is larger than the overall decline in his approval ratings, in fact.)
Meanwhile, the “strongly disapprove” numbers spell trouble for the White House.
Far from having unconditional love from his base, Trump has already lost almost a third of his strong support. And voters who strongly disapprove of Trump outnumber those who strongly approve of him by about a 2-to-1 ratio, which could presage an “enthusiasm gap” that works against Trump at the midterms. The data suggests, in particular, that the GOP’s initial attempt (and failure) in March to pass its unpopular health care bill may have cost Trump with his core supporters.
Watch: Bernie Sanders’ speech On Donald Trump’s budget juxtaposed against Trump’s false campaign promises.
draftbernieTPA: draftberniefl RT SenSanders: Trump’s immoral budget must not see the light of day in Congress. pic.twitter.com/Ed1snIr7Wz
— Pasco Revolution (@PascoRevolution) May 24, 2017
Featured image: Composite with photos from Public Domain Pictures and cc 2016 Elvert Barnes Protest Photography via Wikimedia Commons. A version of this first appeared on Freakout Nation.