Trump Cuts Social Safety Net While Boosting Pentagon Budget
While Newsweek carefully mapped which states were hit by $10 billion in cuts to social services funding, the wider picture remains uncolored. This defunding coincided directly with the Trump administration's dramatic increase in military spending and tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited corporations and the wealthy. For example, the 2018 defense budget, signed during these cuts, authorized $700
billion—a significant jump that dwarfed the social service reduction. It seems our priorities were less about alleviating poverty and more about bolstering the defense industry's bottom line. So, while your local community lost vital support, industries like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin saw their stock prices soar. It's almost as if 'fiscal conservatism' only applies when it targets the
vulnerable, but vanishes entirely when it comes to subsidizing weapons manufacturers or giving billionaires another tax break. Funny how that works, isn't it?