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bpg609•

Trump is proposing that federal spending increase

How much of that is even under his control? Isn't the majority of Federal spending mandatory spending that requires an act of Congress to end? It's a bit disingenious to take the entire budget and attribute it to the President, when he can control maybe 5-10% of it at best.

This is one of the first myths we covered in Poli Sci 101. People vastly overstate the President's influence on the economy. The budget is mostly set by Congress. The President can exert some influence on the margins but it is mostly Congress.

Fifth, domestic discretionary spending will be curtailed.

Okay I should have read this first.. this is what matters.

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austenpro•

His budget probably wont be passed, but the president can put whatever they want in their own budget. Its just sortof a guideline or recommendation to congress. But still, there is no excuse to increasing "defence" spending when even the FBI admits 90% of it is not helping defend the country.

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bpg609•

Well he also has to cater to the hawks who elected him and share the office of government.

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austenpro•

I think it's well established that Trump is a hawk despite what he said at the debates.

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bpg609•

I don't think he is anything. He just wants power, like any politician.

Come to think of it that may be how he won. Having no personal ideological constraints he was able to strategically position himself along the spectrum. His marketing skills even allowed him to sell ridiculous claims like "I am a devout Christian" and flip flop during the campaign season. He is a brilliant politician. Elites see right through him but all you need is a majority of voters within each state you need to win a majority of the electoral college.

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alpengeist19•

Fifth, domestic discretionary spending will be curtailed.

But not just curtailed. Spending in the future for this category will actually be lower if Trump’s budget is approved. In other words, a genuine rather than fake budget cut.

I didn't think I'd ever see funding fall in my lifetime. I don't love this budget, but I must say I'm pleasantly surprised, relative to what I was expecting.

He could stand to go (much) further, but I can live with this. Of course, this article didn't say a word about defense offense spending, and I think it's safe to assume that's going way up.

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