The administration wants massive cuts to public services, but his base depends on an engaged federal government, IPS economic inequality expert Chuck Collins tells Rising Up with Sonali.
ORIGINALLY IN RISING UP WITH SONALI
There is a disconnect between Trump’s support base and the fact that many of his proposed cuts will hit them the hardest. “People take government for granted, ” he said. “They don’t see what they get for their tax dollars. The irony is that the states that tend to send elected officials that want to shrink government actually tend to be the most states that get the most back from their federal tax dollars.”
Collins went on to say that the budget is “setting out the vision and priorities for limited government, and it’s a compilation of some of the more extreme ideas we’ve heard about.”
“I don’t think Trump has a sense of just how much rural America depends on an engaged federal government to help the quality of life for people in those communities,” Collins explained.
Additionally, there is no tax or revenue plan that lines up with this budget, Collins explained. “Trump wants to lower corporate taxes, eliminate the estate tax and Alternative Minimum tax, and shift the obligations to low and middle income working people, at the same time that they’re losing services,” he said.
Yet, Collins doesn’t think the proposed budget plan will pass as is. “The good news is that people are going to wake up and see what’s at risk here, there’s going to be a pushback,” Collins said. “Picking rural communities and low-income voters as the people who are going to carry the burden of these budget cuts is a huge political mistake.”
When asked about the Democrats’ potential response to the proposed budget plan, Collins said that it will be “the social movements and pressure on the streets that will encourage Democrats to stand up and not allow this to happen.”
