More Soldiers, Fewer Bureaucrats

That is President Trump’s budget proposal in a nutshell. Trump’s plan will include a “whopping” $54 billion increase in defense spending, according to the Associated Press. That will take the defense budget a little more than half way to where it was when President Obama started cutting it in 2011.

The president’s budget will “impose corresponding cuts to domestic programs and foreign aid,” meaning pretty significant cuts for most federal agencies. Hence the title of this post: more soldiers, fewer bureaucrats.

The Democrats will hate it, of course. Chuck Schumer gets out the violins:

A cut this steep almost certainly means cuts to agencies that protect consumers from Wall Street excess and protect clean air and water.

But trading bureaucrats for soldiers will be popular, and shouldn’t have any trouble getting through a Republican Congress, unless the Democrats decide to filibuster and shut down the government.

Trump’s budget proposal won’t do anything about Social Security and Medicare, which is smart. Currently, the parties are playing chicken on entitlements. Everyone knows they are unsustainable, but until the collapse is closer, neither side will give much. So proposing reforms this year would be a distraction that would accomplish nothing.

Where the Trump proposal will wind up on tax reform (let alone what will get through Congress) has yet to be seen.

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