Middleboro Review et al

    Was Donald Trump sitting in a gilded chair at Mar-a-Lago gleefully rubbing his hands together when he came up with his immoral budget plan?  Cue the evil laugh. At least we can stop wondering how Trump and the GOP are going to pay for those tax cuts for the ultra-rich and giant corporations. This budget proposes burning our social safety net to the ground in ways we've never seen before. What are some of the lowlights? Trump's budget  punishes  so many. Hardworking families struggling to get by. Sick people fighting for their lives. Senior citizens. Children. This budget  literally  takes food from babies – slashing $200 million from SNAP, our anti-hunger program that helps struggling families put food on the table. And goes back on Trump's campaign promise to protect Medicare and Medicaid. It's immoral and cruel. My message to Paul Ryan and the House Republicans is simple:  No way! Anyone who embraces this agenda is he...

Trump budget highlights disconnect between populist rhetoric and plutocrat reality Trump's spending proposal backtracks on his 'balance the budget' campaign cry   BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve THE BIG IDEA: President Trump campaigned like a populist, but the  budget  he proposed Monday underscores the degree to which he’s governing as a plutocrat. Many of  his proposals are dead on arrival  in Congress, but  the blueprint nonetheless speaks volumes about the president’s values – and contradicts many promises he made as a candidate. “This is a messaging document,” Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney told reporters at the White House. Here are eight messages that the White House sends with its wish list: 1. Touching third rails he said he wouldn’t: As a candidate, Trump repeatedly said he would never cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Now he proposes cutting Medicare by $554 billion a...