The Orange Jerk(R) decided where he's gonna cut

Trump’s initial federal budget cuts have just been released – and it calls for the total abolition of a list of standard “bogeyman” agencies that the Right has despised for years, including:

·         Corporation for Public Broadcasting (the parent company of PBS).

·         Legal Services Corporation (which provides legal services for the poor and indigent).

·         AmeriCorps (the “domestic Peace Corps” – focused on organizing citizens to provide basic services for the needy.

·         The National Endowment for the Arts (which subsidizes the creation and public display of the works of “non-commercial” artists whose work would otherwise never get off the ground).  Most of the “public art” you see in parks and other public spaces was likely financed, in part, by this federal agency. 

·         The Export-Import Bank (which is a boon to many American businesses by assisting their foreign customers in obtaining financing to buy these business’s products).  But the Koch brothers hate the I-E Bank on libertarian grounds, so….

·         The Office of National Drug Control Policy (which helps to finance local efforts to combat drug trafficking and community-based programs to reduce drug use).  No explanation of why this program is being axed – but my guess would be is that Jeff Sessions intends to greatly expand heavy-handed law enforcement tactics (costing many times more than this agency) – taking away “the carrot” and replacing it with and endless supply of “sticks”.

And here’s the kicker.  The abolition of all these programs noted above (and several others not listed in the article below) will yield an annual savings to the bottom line of the federal budget of…….. wait for it……… $2.5 billion dollars.  Given that the current federal budget is close to $4 trillion, if my rough calculations are correct, that $2.5 billion is 0.0006% of the total federal budget.  It’s a rounding error.

And you wonder why I can't stand the A**HOLE?