Trump calls for big budget shifts

      President Trump at press time was preparing to ask Congress for huge cuts in programs for the poor, medical research and federal employee retirements while hiking spending for the military and allowing for major tax cuts.

      The plan reportedly includes $800 billion to be cut from Medicaid--to support the House GOP healthcare bill--and more than $192 billion to be cut from food stamps.

      Federal retiree benefits, postal service, farm aid, student loans and payments to the disabled also would be slashed.

      Scientific and medical research would take a big hit. The National Institutes of Health budget would drop from $32 billion to $26 billion. The National Science Foundation would get an 11% cut. The EPA is slated for a 32% cut.

      On the spending side the plan has a 10% boost for the military, and more money for border security and NASA. There is $200 billion to encourage state and local governments to increase spending on roads, bridges, airports and other infrastructure.

      There also would be an impact on tax revenues as a result of major tax reductions in the plan.

      While Trump says the plan would balance the budget, that is based in part on an assumption of 3% economic growth. That is much higher than the Congressional Budget Office’s projection of 1.9% growth, according to Reuters.

Trump calls for big budget shifts

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