Better Ideas for a Bad Budget Proposal

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington DC 20500

1 March 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

According to an article published in The Atlantic yesterday (28  February) , you are proposing a budget which would increase defense spending by 54 billion and offer a major tax cut primarily benefiting the wealthy. 

Since it is partly my tax money you are proposing to spend, I would like of offer the following suggestions as you finalize your budget. 

1.       You were elected by people who have been complaining for decades about wasteful and unnecessary government spending.  We are not currently at war with anyone.  We are fighting ISIS, a bunch of thugs and bullies who engage in ground level guerrilla warfare. Additional bombers and big ticket items will be good for the shareholders of military contractors, but in a fight which is waged primarily with intelligence and surgical strikes, and in which there is no large massive army or people to drop bombs on, this moves seems at best foolish and at worst immoral.  And it certainly goes against the wishes of your base who have cried out for more fiscal responsibility in the federal government.

2.      Your budget proposal offers a significant tax cut for the wealthy, a population which is not at risk of poverty or even hardship and which does nto need a tax cut.  In fact, in light of your own refusal to release your tax returns, my guess is that most of the people who would benefit from your tax cut already pay embarrassingly far less than their fair share.

3.      I am a white middle class male over fifty.  The article in The Atlantic says that your budget will primarily protect people like me, while making life harder for young people, urban people, and those who are economically disadvantaged.  It cites calculations by The Urban Institute that reveal that the government currently spends 6 dollars on seniors for every one dollar for kids.  I guess I ought to be happy that you are giving me the gift of more spending – except that I have children and I teach college students who are just beginning to make their way in the world.  I agree with you that we need to continue to fund social security as a safety net.  It is one of the things that make this country a good place to live in.  But we have a far greater responsibility to give young people a shot at a better life –especially those that do not have white privilege and wealth on their side. 

Perhaps the tone of these arguments seems harsh.  I do not want to be combative, but honestly, because it is my tax money you are spending (and, since this will increase the deficit, the tax money of my children as well, I urge you to do these three things.  First, keep defense spending at the level it is currently at.  Second, eliminate your proposed tax cut for the wealthy.  Third, redesign your budget proposal so that it benefits all future generations who will need help rather than the older wealthier white generation currently living in luxury. 

Regards, 

Bill Boerman-Cornell