Trump’s Oil Soaked, Stingy, Skinny Budget

Trump’s Oil Soaked, Stingy, Skinny Budget

The skinny budget clearly tells us who Trump hates: old people who aren’t rich and are declining, poor and minority youth, smart scientists, and anyone who researches or wants to act on climate change.

As with backing House Speaker Paul Ryan’s healthcare, which raises seniors cost ratio over starters from the present 3 to 1 to the higher 5 to 1, the Trump budget is even going after Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels covers a million seniors, keeps them out of nursing homes, and the government only contributes one third of the cost. I will hopefully later write a defense of seniors, and all that they have contributed over their lifetimes.

Trump is cancelling all sorts of small, perhaps trial, programs because they are not big enough to be in his grandiose federal budget and he can’t show them off, or because they found disfavor to the Koch brothers, and appear in their Heritage Foundation’s list of picky-uny. The skinny budget always gives several reasons to drop these, such as they are duplicated, and they can be funded by state, county, city, or churches. The physicists Feynman used to say that you give a lot of reasons when you don’t have one good one.

During the campaign, Trump promised his usual wonderful and amazing programs for inner city youth. He or his budget writers are cancelling all of these, with reasons as those above. He is continuing funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, though, at $492 million.

Trump is killing the National Institute of Health, NIH, with an 18% cut. This is part of a 16% or $12.6 cut at Health and Human Services. This again is an attack on seniors and programs on their health problems, especially considering that over 40% will get cancer sometime in their lives. Obesity is also a growing problem, even for younger people. Researchers already have to apply for many grants to get one, since they are very limited.

We might relate this to Trump’s health problems, or lucky lack thereof. As much as people wonder about his taxes, his health may prove more important, especially with the aging effects of the Presidency, and his own invented additional controversies. He is the oldest President to take office. On the other hand, he is also the most healthy president to take office, according to a note his doctor was forced to write in five minutes. You see how little we really know about his physical health. Everyone makes their own conclusions about his mental health.

The reason that “oil” is in the title is of course because of his total dominance by the oil oligarchs. He is cancelling all restrictions that he can on oil, coal, gasoline, and natural gas pollution, and the budgets to enforce these. He is killing all clean energy research and programs. At the same time he is killing all climate research and their satellites, even the ones that are already orbiting. He will undoubtedly fire all of these invaluable scientists.

Even ex-Exxon CEO and now Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had to admit that emissions had some effect on the climate, but the science was not pinned down yet. That would motivate honest, concerned, government officials to continue this important research. Instead, Trump’s administration is conducting a thorough purge and inquisition against climate research and knowledge. They are essentially burning all of the information on the government websites about this. The House Science committee says that they will require the administration to at least keep all useful databases on this subject. I think Trump should acquaint himself with Savonarola and the Inquisition. Savonarola is not well regarded by history. He is infamous, rather than famous.

About Dennis SILVERMAN

I am a retired Professor of Physics and Astronomy at U C Irvine. For two decades I have been active in learning about energy and the environment, and in reporting on those topics for a decade. For the last four years I have added science policy. Lately, I have been reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic of our times.
This entry was posted in Affordable Care Act, Climate Change, Climate Science, Donald Trump, EPA, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Oil, Politics, Trump Administration, Trump on Climate Change, Trump Taxes, University Funding. Bookmark the permalink.

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