SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Trump's Cruel and Deviant Budget
For years, conservatives warned that liberals were "defining deviancy downward." They said that by tolerating bad social behavior, liberals in effect lowered what was deemed acceptable behavior overall - allowing social norms to decline.
May 23, 2017
For years, conservatives warned that liberals were "defining deviancy downward." They said that by tolerating bad social behavior, liberals in effect lowered what was deemed acceptable behavior overall - allowing social norms to decline.
There was never a lot of evidence for that view, but there's little question that Donald Trump is actively defining deviancy downward for the nation as a whole - whether it's by lying, denigrating basic democratic values, celebrating tyrants around the world, using his office to build his family wealth, or stopping at nothing to win the presidency.
"Budgets are overall expressions of values and priorities. Trump's budget is cruel and deviant."
Now comes his budget. Budgets are overall expressions of values and priorities. Trump's budget is cruel and deviant. He proposes to cut federal spending by more than $3.6 trillion over the next decade, much of it for programs that help the poor (Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security disability, and health insurance for poor children) - in order to finance a huge military buildup and tax cuts for corporations and the rich.
Trump's budget won't get through Congress, but it defines deviancy downward in 3 respects:
1. It imposes huge burdens on people who already are hurting. Not just the very poor, but also the working class. In fact, among the biggest losers would be people who voted for Trump - whites in rural and poor areas of the country who depend on Medicaid, food stamps, and Social Security disability.
Yet will they know that Trump is willing to sell them out to the rich and corporate interests, or will they fall for the right-wing Republican propaganda (amplified by Fox News and yell radio) that the budget is designed to help people take more responsibility for themselves?
2. It sets a new low bar for congressional and public debate over social insurance in America, and of government's role - far lower than anything proposed by Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. It pushes the idea that each of us is and should be on our own, rather than that we are part of a society that benefits from social insurance - spreading the risks and costs of adversity that could hit any one of us.
As White House OMB director Mick Mulvaney absurdly put it, the government should show "compassion" for low-income Americans but it should "also...have compassion for folks who are paying [for] it." That illogic eliminates the justification for social insurance altogether.
The budget thereby frames the debate over Trumpcare, for example, as "why should I pay for her pre-existing health problem if I'm healthy?"
3. Finally, the budget eviscerates the notion that an important aspect of patriotism involves sacrificing for the common good - paying for public services you won't use but will be used by others and will thereby help the nation as a whole, such as schools, roads, clean air, and health care.
Trump's budget celebrates a cruel and virulent form of individualism - much like Trump himself. Until Trump, this view of America was considered deviant. But Trump is defining deviancy downward.
We are a better nation than this.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
For years, conservatives warned that liberals were "defining deviancy downward." They said that by tolerating bad social behavior, liberals in effect lowered what was deemed acceptable behavior overall - allowing social norms to decline.
There was never a lot of evidence for that view, but there's little question that Donald Trump is actively defining deviancy downward for the nation as a whole - whether it's by lying, denigrating basic democratic values, celebrating tyrants around the world, using his office to build his family wealth, or stopping at nothing to win the presidency.
"Budgets are overall expressions of values and priorities. Trump's budget is cruel and deviant."
Now comes his budget. Budgets are overall expressions of values and priorities. Trump's budget is cruel and deviant. He proposes to cut federal spending by more than $3.6 trillion over the next decade, much of it for programs that help the poor (Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security disability, and health insurance for poor children) - in order to finance a huge military buildup and tax cuts for corporations and the rich.
Trump's budget won't get through Congress, but it defines deviancy downward in 3 respects:
1. It imposes huge burdens on people who already are hurting. Not just the very poor, but also the working class. In fact, among the biggest losers would be people who voted for Trump - whites in rural and poor areas of the country who depend on Medicaid, food stamps, and Social Security disability.
Yet will they know that Trump is willing to sell them out to the rich and corporate interests, or will they fall for the right-wing Republican propaganda (amplified by Fox News and yell radio) that the budget is designed to help people take more responsibility for themselves?
2. It sets a new low bar for congressional and public debate over social insurance in America, and of government's role - far lower than anything proposed by Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. It pushes the idea that each of us is and should be on our own, rather than that we are part of a society that benefits from social insurance - spreading the risks and costs of adversity that could hit any one of us.
As White House OMB director Mick Mulvaney absurdly put it, the government should show "compassion" for low-income Americans but it should "also...have compassion for folks who are paying [for] it." That illogic eliminates the justification for social insurance altogether.
The budget thereby frames the debate over Trumpcare, for example, as "why should I pay for her pre-existing health problem if I'm healthy?"
3. Finally, the budget eviscerates the notion that an important aspect of patriotism involves sacrificing for the common good - paying for public services you won't use but will be used by others and will thereby help the nation as a whole, such as schools, roads, clean air, and health care.
Trump's budget celebrates a cruel and virulent form of individualism - much like Trump himself. Until Trump, this view of America was considered deviant. But Trump is defining deviancy downward.
We are a better nation than this.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich is professor emeritus of public policy at Berkeley and former US secretary of labor. His latest book is the No. 1 New York Times best-seller, "Coming Up Short."
For years, conservatives warned that liberals were "defining deviancy downward." They said that by tolerating bad social behavior, liberals in effect lowered what was deemed acceptable behavior overall - allowing social norms to decline.
There was never a lot of evidence for that view, but there's little question that Donald Trump is actively defining deviancy downward for the nation as a whole - whether it's by lying, denigrating basic democratic values, celebrating tyrants around the world, using his office to build his family wealth, or stopping at nothing to win the presidency.
"Budgets are overall expressions of values and priorities. Trump's budget is cruel and deviant."
Now comes his budget. Budgets are overall expressions of values and priorities. Trump's budget is cruel and deviant. He proposes to cut federal spending by more than $3.6 trillion over the next decade, much of it for programs that help the poor (Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security disability, and health insurance for poor children) - in order to finance a huge military buildup and tax cuts for corporations and the rich.
Trump's budget won't get through Congress, but it defines deviancy downward in 3 respects:
1. It imposes huge burdens on people who already are hurting. Not just the very poor, but also the working class. In fact, among the biggest losers would be people who voted for Trump - whites in rural and poor areas of the country who depend on Medicaid, food stamps, and Social Security disability.
Yet will they know that Trump is willing to sell them out to the rich and corporate interests, or will they fall for the right-wing Republican propaganda (amplified by Fox News and yell radio) that the budget is designed to help people take more responsibility for themselves?
2. It sets a new low bar for congressional and public debate over social insurance in America, and of government's role - far lower than anything proposed by Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. It pushes the idea that each of us is and should be on our own, rather than that we are part of a society that benefits from social insurance - spreading the risks and costs of adversity that could hit any one of us.
As White House OMB director Mick Mulvaney absurdly put it, the government should show "compassion" for low-income Americans but it should "also...have compassion for folks who are paying [for] it." That illogic eliminates the justification for social insurance altogether.
The budget thereby frames the debate over Trumpcare, for example, as "why should I pay for her pre-existing health problem if I'm healthy?"
3. Finally, the budget eviscerates the notion that an important aspect of patriotism involves sacrificing for the common good - paying for public services you won't use but will be used by others and will thereby help the nation as a whole, such as schools, roads, clean air, and health care.
Trump's budget celebrates a cruel and virulent form of individualism - much like Trump himself. Until Trump, this view of America was considered deviant. But Trump is defining deviancy downward.
We are a better nation than this.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.