Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is leaving Saudi Arabia to come back to D.C. and roll out the blueprint for the Trump budget Tuesday. OMB Director Mike Mulvaney will assist. Trump will continue his nine-day journey.
At the same time, James Comey is preparing to testify on Wednesday. The media is reporting that he will reveal more embarrassing comments made by Trump and suggest Trump was trying to influence him on the Russia probe.
Jonathan Swan of Axios has the scoop on President Trump’s 2018 budget proposal to include the following significant cuts to entitlements. Axios added it was courtesy Koch Industries. Axios must love the whole entitlement state thing we have going on.
- Social Security and Medicare will not be reformed
- $1.7 trillion will be saved on mandates over the next ten years
- The budget will balance in ten years with cuts on mandatory and discretionary sides. It depends on 3% GDP within the next few years.
- Entitlement cuts will include food stamps (SNAP), Children’s Health Insurance (CHIP), and Disability (SSDI). This is dependent on him signing the American Health Care Act into law. Medicaid will be cut $800 billion over ten years. The $800 billion is coming out of the federal oversight – it has been ineffective.
- There will be an emphasis on work requirements for able-bodied people to save money on social welfare programs.
There are also significant cuts to government agencies.
This is a budget for conservatives. Liberal Republicans will rebel.
Axios added that Trump only very reluctantly signed the last trillion dollar plus spending bill. Allegedly, Priebus reached out to former Speaker Boehner to convince Trump and it worked. Boehner emphasized the problem of shutting the government down at this time.
Trump must defeat Ryan on the budget or he is through. One of several important aspects is of course the wall.
This 10 year budget stuff always cuts at least 2 ways. First, that large number isn’t so big over a 10 year period of time. At the very least, spending will probably be close to $45-50 trillion over that same period.
Second, reduced from what? How much of it is just a reduction in the increases vs. actual ‘cuts’?
Third, all the other stuff is fluff regarding ‘balanced budgeting’. Their ‘assumptions’ regarding taxation revenues are usually overstated and Congress and Presidents usually find new ways to spend money.
I don’t hold out any hope regarding this announcement, unless someone REALLY wakes up and starts ending all the welfare programs for which most Republicans and no Democrats have the cajones to do.