The Hill is reporting that the incoming Trump administration has dramatic plans to reduce federal spending, mostly by cutting the budgets for everything that progressives have ever held dear: civil rights, reducing violence against women, the arts, the humanities, and energy efficiency. The budget proposal is reportedly lifted almost directly from a plan written by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation. Of course it is.
Incoming Trump officials met with White House staff to outline their proposals to scrap a staggering number of federal programs. From The Hill:
The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.
Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump’s team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years.
Yes: the Trump administration plans to privatize the rest of PBS, sending it the way of new Sesame Street episodes, which sounds like an Onion headline that would be scrapped for being too on-the-nose.
The plan also calls for eliminating Violence Against Women Act grants, which funds state and local programs that combat domestic abuse. The Heritage Foundation has called those programs a “misuse of federal resources and a distraction from concerns that are truly the province of the federal government.”
The full budget would have to be approved by Congress. Then again, this is exactly the Congress who would cheerily rubber-stamp this thing.
Anyway, here’s none other than Mr. Rogers, appearing in 1969 to defend PBS against proposed drastic cuts by President Nixon. Because when you find yourself on the wrong side of Mr. Rogers, you are likely behaving like a gremlin with a shriveled, plum-sized heart.
Correction: An earlier version of this post failed to note that new version of Sesame Street have already begun airing on HBO.