States Sue Trump Over Frozen Funds, Media Forgets Who Funds The Freezing
While legal challenges to specific presidential actions are newsworthy, framing this as solely a 'Trump problem' conveniently sidesteps the bipartisan consensus that has steadily eroded social welfare programs for decades. This isn't just about a funding 'freeze'; it’s about a legislative ice age where domestic programs often find themselves collateral damage after defense budgets balloon or tax
cuts for the wealthy become sacrosanct. For instance, in the same fiscal year this freeze might have occurred, Congress, with bipartisan support, approved yet another tranche of military aid abroad. One might wonder if the well-being of American citizens ranks lower than, say, a $3.8 billion annual security assistance package to Israel, as outlined by the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding. So, five
states are suing to unfreeze funds for their citizens. Noble. But perhaps we should also question why those funds are so precariously balanced in the first place, constantly vulnerable to political whims, while military contracts and foreign aid commitments seem to stand on far firmer ground. It’s almost as if 'fiscal responsibility' is a slogan exclusively applied to aid for the needy at home.