AMERICA FIRST BUDGET

AMERICA FIRST BUDGET

“Provide” or “Promote”?

If you have NOT read the “America First” budget proposal, but insist on taking a position on it because of something you read in an op/ed or other media piece, you add nothing worthwhile to the conversation.

Step one: Read the Constitution (especially, in this case, the Preamble).

Step two: Read the budget.  https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf

Step three: Research budget items.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Keep in mind that the purpose of the Constitution is to define the specific role of our government; to define its three branches and specify the roles of each. In the Preamble, two very important distinctions are made clear, with respect to those roles: to “…provide for the common defense…” and to “…promote the general welfare…”.

“Provide” and “promote”. THESE are the two key words (and concepts), both in the Constitution as well as the “America First” budget proposal.

In the “America First” budget proposal, toward the bottom, are various Summary Tables. Table 3 is a good place to start to understand the budget proposal. The “America First” budget seeks to bolster the “provide”, keeping it revenue-neutral by restoring the “promote”; fund the military while getting the government fiscally out of non-Constitutional issues.

Perhaps the second area worth reading is the “Major Agency Budget Highlights” (Page 5). This provides somewhat further details on areas of focus for the budget (and its balancing). One paragraph has the media and Democrats, along with “Establishment” Republicans in a fury:

“The Budget also proposes to eliminate funding for other independent agencies, including: the African Development Foundation; the Appalachian Regional Commission; the Chemical Safety Board; the Corporation for National and Community Service; the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; the Delta Regional Authority; the Denali Commission; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; the Inter-American Foundation; the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; the Legal Services Corporation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation; the Northern Border Regional Commission; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation; the United States Institute of Peace; the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.”

But, as I said, if you are not looking into these budget items, you add nothing to the conversation.

Two questions worth researching:

1.     How much does the government grant to these programs now?

2.     Are there any private institutions that do the same thing are these programs?

By way of example, let’s look at Meals on Wheels (which falls under the Community Development Block Grant program), a particular touchstone for the media’s, Democrats’ and Establishment Republicans’ hostility.

The CDBG’s budget is $3 billion. According to the Meals on Wheels 2015 independently-audited financial statement (http://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org/docs/default-source/financials/meals-on-wheels-america-audited-financial-statements-2015.pdf?sfvrsn=2), on page 4 (Statement of Activities), Government Grants totaled $248,347.00. Total revenues (mostly private and corporate donations) were $7,564,588.00. So, of its total budget, the Government kicked in 3.2%.

THIS is what has the media, Democrats and Establishment Republicans up in arms.

And, let’s be VERY clear: If I can do this simple research, THEY can…..and DID….it, too. They KNOW these numbers. BUT, they are BETTING that Americans will NOT to do their own research. And, these days…..it’s not a bad bet.

And one more thing (about the CDBG, since it’s the current topic, but is RAMPANT in all these programs): These programs are a cesspool of fraud and waste. An example: in Riverside, CA, an audit in 2016 for poor documentation of their expenses. They were granted $761,744 from the CDBG, and the audit revealed that most of the grant money was used to renovate the playground at ONE school. NO money went to local Meals on Wheels program. ZERO.

What President Trump is seeking to achieve in the “America First” budget is simply this: the beginning of the process to restore the government to its Constitutional principles and limits. He seeks to bolster the “provide” and end the providing of the “promote”.