Military Matters February 28, 2017
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.trackback
US spending on overseas aid is expected to bear the brunt of dramatic cuts as part of Donald Trump’s plan to increase defence spending by $54bn in his upcoming budget.
And this is intriguing. From the ‘white nationalist’ camp inside the administration the following.
Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, said last week that one of key priorities of the White House was the “deconstruction of the administrative state”.
Given how partial and thin the US is in terms of federal provision what does that imply for the future? And what of the obvious contradictions and ever more evidently crocodile tears shed for the ‘white’ working class by those such as Bannon?
Advertisements
Where the administration is https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/02/13/ten-questions-and-answers-about-americas-big-government/
bjg
LikeLike
Fascinating article that. Especially about the ‘proxy federal state’.
For example they ask:
And furthermore the ‘administrative state’ is already falling apart in the US:
SSA = Social Security Administration.
LikeLike
The evisceration of the EPA and possibly various national park services is terrifying. I remember watching Ghostbusters as a kid back in the 1980s and being puzzled by the character of Walter Peck and the EPA. Why was it so bad?
The US has such a weird, almost un-Western view of environmental protection, more in common with Russia or even China.
LikeLike
Yeah, its very curious, and wasn’t the EPA established by Nixon
LikeLike
I stand to be corrected but I was told that Nixon offered something like Obamacare (or on the same lines0 but Ted Kennedy refused to back it out of pique.The republicans are far more tom the right than Nixon’s lot. The centre of gravity has shifted. Closer to home compare Macmillan to May. Oh and then conservative politicians remembered the depression and WW2 and were aware of a Socialist alternative. No such fears now.
On a general note. This is a serious lurch to the right. He is a conviction politician. eg bilateral deals, and if they don’t work out then they will be ended with 30 days notice.
LikeLike
Certain sections of the American political elite hold that view. I would point to the Alt US park service as a sign of resistance as well as the myriad of conservation groups that view public lands and the environment as a true common wealth. This goes beyond the typical Sierra Clubbers to groups like Trout Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the group I’m a member of, Back Country Hunters and Anglers as groups very much motivated and actively fighting against the movement to divest in federally controlled lands as well as the deregulation of environmental protections already in place.
LikeLike
There is some change in what Trump is proposing, but also much continuity.
‘Under Bill Clinton, the federal government began handing out contracts to for-profit prisons, allowed private companies to determine who was eligible for welfare benefits, and even toyed with the idea of investing Social Security in the stock market….
If the new president and his cabinet picks have their way, some of the biggest and most central functions of the federal government—education, housing, infrastructure, health care for veterans and the elderly—could wind up being managed by for-profit corporations”
corporations.newrepublic.com/article/140275/trumps-big-agenda
LikeLike
https://newrepublic.com/article/140275/trumps-big-agenda
LikeLike