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Trump Budget Compassionate for Those That Truly Need It

“While there are many worthy programs that help needy Americans such as health care assistance, food stamps, and housing, there should also be compassion for the average American taxpayer.”

President Trump’s return from his overseas trip signals a renewed emphasis on his domestic agenda. In particular, his budget has generated numerous headlines and a good deal of critiques from the left and the right. Trump’s budget seeks to balance the national budget in ten years, but does this through what some call over optimistic economic growth estimates, and cuts to medical and welfare programs for the poor as well as government economic development grants that are used by communities.

This has predictably led to the rise of a series of hand wringing stories from the media and over-wrought protests from politicians. But the Trump proposal, and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, both have a good deal of compassion for the taxpayer and this is the first serious budget that responsibly addresses runaway spending.

A simple rule that is often missed by politicians, but was drilled home to me in many fights with my ex-wife over finances is this: caring is not represented by the amount of money spent! Many families on a tight budget know this principle very well, as they bring coupons on double points day at the thrift store and somehow get everything they need for 20 dollars.

Politicians and advocates act as though caring is measured in dollars, and they should get reelected because they care the most. Thomas Sowell said these people believe it’s compassionate to spend other people’s money, but it’s greedy to keep your own. But the government can only give funding to a program because it first took those resources from taxpayers. They justify this by using various code words and phrases, such as calling spending “investments,” or saying that taxing is “asking the rich to pay their fair share.” The government doesn’t ask, they force a person to pay taxes under the threat of jail time.

Rich is a rather vague term that often vaguely refers to somebody that has more money than you. But there are tech sector employees who earn a million dollars a year but still can’t afford a home. One person paid 1,400 a month to live in a closet dubbed a “private room.” And fair share is defined by politicians as whatever they need to cover the cost of a new program. It doesn’t matter to these politicians that the top earners already pay the vast majority of taxes, while the lower half pays none at all.

The budget is a very welcome step to saying no. As Margaret Thatcher said, eventually you run out of other people’s money. While there are many worthy programs that help needy Americans such as health care assistance, food stamps, and housing, there should also be compassion for the average American taxpayer. Every dime spent on what seems like a bottomless appetite for assistance programs from the Federal government, comes from a hard-working American, many of whom work very hard just to enjoy a small taste of the American dream, despite the rhetoric that wants to fleece “the rich.”

When you hear overexcited rhetoric from politicians, or another tear-jerking story from the national media about those negatively affected by the heartless budget, remember every time you looked at your bank account and sighed because you don’t know how you’re going to pay the bills after being taxed to death, and realize that the Trump budget is designed to have compassion on you too.