October 21, 2017
By Morgan Winsor
The United States Air Force (click here) could recall as many as 1,000 retired military pilots to active-duty service to address an acute shortage in its ranks.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday allowing the Air Force to call back to service up to 1,000 retired aviation officers who wish to return, the White House and the Pentagon announced.
By law, only 25 retired pilots can be recalled through voluntary programs to serve in any one branch. Trump's executive order temporarily removes this limit by expanding a state of national emergency declared by President George W. Bush after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 as part of efforts "to mitigate the Air Force's acute shortage of pilots," according to Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander Gary Ross....
...On Friday, the government announced it was going further with a recall of retirees into active service.
"We anticipate that the Secretary of Defense will delegate the authority to the Secretary of the Air Force to recall up to 1,000 retired pilots for up to three years," Ross said in a statement Friday. "The pilot supply shortage is a national level challenge that could have adverse effects on all aspects of both the government and commercial aviation sectors for years to come,"
Excuse me? The graduates of the Aviation School at the University of North Dakota are waiting.
Trump is eliminating the effects of the REPUBLICAN TAX CUTS under Obama.
Due to the constrained fiscal environment of the past few years, (click here) the Air Force continues to prioritize capability over capacity. Air Force leadership has also made it clear that near-term reductions will be made in lift, command and control, and fourth-generation fighter aircraft to ensure that its top three modernization programs—the F-35A, Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B), and KC-46A—are preserved. The USAF is now the oldest and smallest in its history, and as the demand for air power continues to increase, the problem of capacity limiting capability will continue to grow. Unlike some of the other services, the Air Force did not grow during the post-9/11 buildup Rather, it got smaller as older aircraft were retired and replacement programs, such as the F-35, experienced successive delays in bringing new aircraft into the fleet....
So, Trump is returning all the spending to the military negotiated under the Republican cuts, but, abandon the ACA. The increase (not the military budget) of military spending is three times the annual military budget of Canada.
The USA is now an official banana republic. Cut Medicare, sure. Cut Medicaid, sure. Cut food stamps, sure. But, cut defense spending that is already multiple times that of any other country on Earth, never.
March 16, 2017
By Kuang Keng Juek Ser
President Donald Trump (click here) proposed drastic cuts in spending on the arts, science, foreign aid and environmental protection Thursday, in a security-focused budget blueprint that could struggle to pass Congress.
Translating hardline campaign promises into dollar-and-cent commitments, the Republican leader proposed scrapping dozens of programs like public broadcasting and climate funding, while boosting Pentagon spending by $52 billion.
Trump, in the preface to the spending proposal, described it as "a budget that puts America first," and that makes safety and security the "number one priority — because without safety, there can be no prosperity."
The State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency would be the biggest losers, seeing their funding reduced by around one-third.
Defense would be the biggest winner, with a $52 billion increase that amounts to more than three times Canada's total military expenditures in 2015. Trump's budget, if passed, would reverse an eight-year downward trend in military spending under Barack Obama....
How many generals in this administration? How many? Everyone remember SEQUESTRATION?You know the Budget Control Act of 2011 after the Republicans gained seats in the US House and Senate?
Remember?
Remember the crash of 2008? The global economic collapse? The collapse that plummeted USA tax revenues while the Recovery Act was necessary to help put the USA economy back on track, which it did.
Well, Trump doesn't like to be hemmed in by past Republican budgets.
March 16, 2017
By Annie Lowry
Six years ago, (click here) in the first act of a budgetary drama, a group of aggrieved legislators hung a daft gun over the mantle. Now, in its third act, it is set to fire.
The gun is the arcane fiscal tool called sequestration, and it now poses a mortal threat to President Trump’s budgetary agenda, announced in greater—if hardly great—detail today. One might think that Trump’s proposal would be easily pass through the Republican Congress, as it expands the security budget and winnows much of the rest of the government. Many Republicans are defense hawks seeking more money to fight ISIS and modernize the armed forces. Many others are budget hawks bent on cutting Washington down to size.
Yet the proposal is dead on arrival. To appropriate funding as the White House wants, Trump would need to repeal or subvert sequestration. To do that, he would need to overcome the threat of a Senate filibuster. To do that, he would need to woo some number of Democrats. To do that, he would need to overhaul his budget figures. And in doing that, Trump would almost certainly lose too many Republican votes to pass his budget....
Trump's Senate has passed a $1.5 trillion DEFICIT. Not a $1.5 trillion budget, but, a budget that will add $1.5 trillion to the National Deficit and Debt.
The Obama Recovery Act cost $831 billion over ten years between 2009 and 2019.
October 19, 2017
By Lisa Mascaro
Senate Republicans (click here) overcame internal divisions late Thursday to approve a 2018 budget that will increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years to allow for President Trump’s proposed tax cuts.
Passage of the GOP’s budget blueprint is a largely symbolic exercise, but it sets the stage for smoother passage of Trump’s upcoming tax cuts. It will include special instructions that allow for passage of a tax plan by a simple majority, without threat of a Senate filibuster to block it....
Trump's Senate has passed a $1.5 trillion DEFICIT. Not a $1.5 trillion budget, but, a budget that will add $1.5 trillion to the National Deficit and Debt.
The Obama Recovery Act cost $831 billion over ten years between 2009 and 2019.
October 19, 2017
By Lisa Mascaro
Senate Republicans (click here) overcame internal divisions late Thursday to approve a 2018 budget that will increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years to allow for President Trump’s proposed tax cuts.
Passage of the GOP’s budget blueprint is a largely symbolic exercise, but it sets the stage for smoother passage of Trump’s upcoming tax cuts. It will include special instructions that allow for passage of a tax plan by a simple majority, without threat of a Senate filibuster to block it....
