Glen McAdoo: Spending left and right

If your bills are already exceeding your income it wouldn’t be a good time to have your wages cut by two percent, five percent, or any amount, would it?

After President Trump agreed with the Democrats to raise the debt limit for three months, Congress reluctantly passed a bill doing just that. If the federal income was not exceeded by its expenditures this would not be necessary. The debt limit should probably be done away with. It’s useless anyway.

The far right extremist have expressed their displeasure because President Trump dare talk with the Democratic leadership, let alone reach an agreement with those nasty folks. He agreed with Schumer and Pelosi on extending the debt limit for three months so we can pay our bills and provide hurricane relief. Now, he has reached agreement with the Democrats on approving DACA in exchange for major border security improvements. The right wing went right through the roof.

Ann Coulter said, “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to impeach the president.” The name calling was nasty and universal on right wing radio. Russ Limbaugh was especially nasty. For years the Republicans have made it a “law” not to work with the Democrats. It didn’t matter if it was the right thing to do; if the Democrats were for it, especially President Obama, the Republicans were against it.

The Republicans didn’t want to extend the debt limit unless they could cut spending on programs they hate, like food stamps, and children’s healthcare. They didn’t want to approve DACA (the dreamers program) unless the Democrats would agree to much more, including funding the worst idea in recent history, that dumb old wall.

Frankly I don’t know why Trump’s supporters are so anxious to have us pay for that wall. It wasn’t that long ago Trump repeated at every rally that Mexico was going to pay for the wall, (that’ll be the day). That’s what they should be angry about.

Trump just did what everyone on Capitol Hill should be doing, working together. The repeal and replace Trumpcare is a good example of how the Republicans work. It was designed behind closed doors and voted on without a single hearing on the Senate floor. It was this process that prompted John McCain to cast the deciding “no” vote. The Graham/Cassidy version is worse and was put together without any Democratic input. At this time I don’t know how it will fair, but McCain won’t support it for the same reasons as before. Still, I’m very nervous.

The very far left also won’t compromise, even for the good of the country. Hence, about 10 percent of Bernie Sanders’ supporters wouldn’t support Hillary. There are some things the Democrats would never, and should never, compromise on; a woman’s right to choose, women’s rights, LGBT rights, civil rights, global warming, tax cuts for the most wealthy, and a healthcare system that works for everybody. They should compromise on the military budget, infrastructure, and reforming a screwed up tax system. Come on everybody, let’s work together on these things at least.

I wished I could say what the Republicans are willing to work on with the Democrats. As long as Ryan and Mitch McConnell are in charge, it won’t happen. The far right just won’t work with the Democrats. I believe the more moderate Republicans want to work with the Democrats on healthcare, the environment, a fair and impartial justice system, the budget, and tax reform. Of course that would drive Trump supporters nuts.

His supporters want that stupid wall and tough talk with North Korea, even if it leads to a nuclear holocaust. They believe white Christians are the most discriminated against, and they think global warming is a hoax. I think they want to eliminate federal income taxes. There’s no accounting for what some folks think.

This country has a huge military budget, which gets bigger and bigger every year. Medicare and Medicaid are very expensive, but seniors, the very poor, and the disabled couldn’t live without these programs. What we can, and should live without, is Trump’s stupid wall. It’ll cost billions.

Trump’s proposed budget has been labeled “mean” and “cruel” to the poor and less fortunate. It also contains cuts in disaster relief. And yet, despite sticking it to the poor, Trump’s budget will still exceed revenues by billions and billions. It’s a terrible time to cut federal revenues. So what does Trump propose to do about the deficit? He wants to cut federal revenues by giving huge tax cuts to those whose income exceeds $250 thousand a year. What’s new?

Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@honewave.net.