Dear Editor,

Is this what the Trump disciples and voters had in mind for making America Great Again? A budget that does the following:

• Cuts the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent

• Cuts the State Department budget by 29 percent

• Cuts the Labor Department budget by 21 percent

• Cuts nutrition funding for women, infants, and children

• Shreds the Affordable Care Act, causing 20 million to lose coverage

• Eliminates funding for Meals on Wheels completely

• Eliminates funding for legal aid

• Eliminates low income heat assistance

• Eliminates community block grants, which fund disaster recovery

•Eliminates community services block grant, which funds community anti-poverty efforts

• Ends the Senior Community Service Employment program

• Ends the housing assistance program in the middle of an affordable housing crisis is America

• Ends the Appalachian Regional Commission, which supports economic development in “left behind” communities who supported him

• Eliminates National Endowment for the Arts

• Eliminates the Public Broadcasting Corporation

• Eliminates the Corporation for National and Community Service, which funds Americorps

• Eliminates Community Development Financial Institutions, which fund financial services in economically distressed areas

• Slashes teacher training, after-school and summer programs, and higher education aid for low income students

• Cuts health and nursing training

• Cuts infrastructure investments like Amtrak and FAA, hurting rural communities

At the same time, Trump’s budget increases “defense spending” by over 10 percent or $53 billion! We already spend more on defense than the next eight countries combined. When are the obscene expenditures on weaponry enough? Must we spend as much as the next 20 countries combined to make us feel safe?

And yet Trump’s budget is not balanced — far from it. They plan to save $883 billion by shredding the Affordable Care Act; but this would be matched by a $880 billion tax cut for the top 1 percent of income earners. The tax giveaways to the rich and the corporations preclude a balanced budget. But now that Republicans are in control, balanced budgets don’t seem to matter any more – just like Dick Cheney said!

In truth, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse. They take from the poor and middle class and give to the rich. I have been around the block a few times and this doesn’t surprise me. But I expect that more than a few of the 63 million people who voted for Trump are going to be unhappy. By the way, 74 million of us did not vote for Trump. Remember that fact when he talks about his “mandate.”

Jim Porter

Danville