Trump budget cuts would gut federal funds to Vermont

WASHINGTON — On Thursday morning, Republican President Donald Trump released a draconian budget proposal that, if enacted, would devastate domestic spending in order to boost military spending and enhance border security.

The Trump plan was modeled on a budget blueprint promoted by the conservative Heritage Foundation, a D.C. think tank that advocates for small government and fiscal responsibility. Trump’s “skinny budget” features significant government layoffs, drastically reduced federal aid programs and weakened federal regulatory enforcement authority.

This is the first time in modern history that an American president has proposed a reshuffling of the nation’s fiscal priorities on such a massive scale. The closest analogy is President Ronald Reagan’s effort to reform government spending in the 1980s. (Reagan famously concluded his 1988 farewell speech by contending that “man is not free unless government is limited.”)

The White House views the so-called “skinny budget” as a fulfillment of Trump’s campaign pledge to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in government while cracking down on crime and terrorism.

Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2017/03/17/trump-budget-cuts-would-gut-federal-funds-to-vermont/