President Trump’s new budget is devastating to the weak and vulnerable. In his latest attack, Trump is cutting heat assistance to the poor because it’s a “lower impact program.”
The Trump budget cuts many social programs deeply. One of those programs is the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
This program helps millions of Americans around the country. 75% of the households that get assistance are elderly, disabled, or have a child.
Of course, Trump doesn’t care about helping the poor, elderly, or disabled. He wants to give tax gifts to his rich friends instead.
So Trump’s budget completely eliminates LIHEAP. This move literally leaves millions of low-income Americans out in the cold.
Trump gives a baffling reason for eliminating the program. He said, “LIHEAP is a lower-impact program and is unable to demonstrate strong performance outcomes.”
I doubt that those that live in the northern states feel that it’s lower impact. Many low-income families in these states rely on LIHEAP to make it through the winter.
Just consider the statistics from 2013. In North Dakota, 13,036 families received assistance from LIHEAP.
In Michigan alone, 623,549 families were helped by the program. And in Maine, 44,556 relied on the heating assistance they needed from LIHEAP.
The Trump administration’s elimination of this program will hit cities like Buffalo and Chicago hard. It’s not clear how Trump expects these families to make it through the next winter.
Trump doesn’t seem to think that LIHEAP has any tangible economic benefit. Since it doesn’t make money or create jobs, it must be “low-impact.”
But Trump doesn’t seem to understand that there’s more to his job in government than just creating jobs or helping his rich friends. Many of these programs are meant to help people, especially poor Americans who have few options.
This is also a low-cost program for the government. LIHEAP cost the government $3.4 billion last year, which is just a few percentage points out of the huge federal budget.
Cutting LIHEAP won’t save the government much money. But it will hurt millions of Americans around the country.
Conversely, Trump’s budget increases military spending by billions of dollars. This is money the Pentagon didn’t even request!
Trump aims to turn our country into a military state, and he’ll fund it on the backs of the poor.
He also plans to cut taxes for the richest Americans. Meanwhile, millions of Americans will struggle to avoid freezing to death.
The only hope these people have is that Trump’s oil policy and cuts to the EPA will speed up global warming. Unfortunately, this will also cause many other problems in spite of Trump’s denials about climate change.
Trump is the reverse Robin Hood. He steals from the poor and gives to the rich, and himself.
Congress still needs to approve the elimination of LIHEAP, and that’s where the northern states will fight Trump. The states have fought against cuts to LIHEAP in Congress before, and have been very successful
The northern states are going to fight the elimination of LIHEAP again, and we need to stand with them. Please spread the word about Trump’s war on the poor and elderly by sharing this story on Facebook. –Learn Progress
The Trump budget cuts many social programs deeply. One of those programs is the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
This program helps millions of Americans around the country. 75% of the households that get assistance are elderly, disabled, or have a child.
Of course, Trump doesn’t care about helping the poor, elderly, or disabled. He wants to give tax gifts to his rich friends instead.
So Trump’s budget completely eliminates LIHEAP. This move literally leaves millions of low-income Americans out in the cold.
Trump gives a baffling reason for eliminating the program. He said, “LIHEAP is a lower-impact program and is unable to demonstrate strong performance outcomes.”
I doubt that those that live in the northern states feel that it’s lower impact. Many low-income families in these states rely on LIHEAP to make it through the winter.
Just consider the statistics from 2013. In North Dakota, 13,036 families received assistance from LIHEAP.
In Michigan alone, 623,549 families were helped by the program. And in Maine, 44,556 relied on the heating assistance they needed from LIHEAP.
The Trump administration’s elimination of this program will hit cities like Buffalo and Chicago hard. It’s not clear how Trump expects these families to make it through the next winter.
Trump doesn’t seem to think that LIHEAP has any tangible economic benefit. Since it doesn’t make money or create jobs, it must be “low-impact.”
But Trump doesn’t seem to understand that there’s more to his job in government than just creating jobs or helping his rich friends. Many of these programs are meant to help people, especially poor Americans who have few options.
This is also a low-cost program for the government. LIHEAP cost the government $3.4 billion last year, which is just a few percentage points out of the huge federal budget.
Cutting LIHEAP won’t save the government much money. But it will hurt millions of Americans around the country.
Conversely, Trump’s budget increases military spending by billions of dollars. This is money the Pentagon didn’t even request!
Trump aims to turn our country into a military state, and he’ll fund it on the backs of the poor.
He also plans to cut taxes for the richest Americans. Meanwhile, millions of Americans will struggle to avoid freezing to death.
The only hope these people have is that Trump’s oil policy and cuts to the EPA will speed up global warming. Unfortunately, this will also cause many other problems in spite of Trump’s denials about climate change.
Trump is the reverse Robin Hood. He steals from the poor and gives to the rich, and himself.
Congress still needs to approve the elimination of LIHEAP, and that’s where the northern states will fight Trump. The states have fought against cuts to LIHEAP in Congress before, and have been very successful
The northern states are going to fight the elimination of LIHEAP again, and we need to stand with them. Please spread the word about Trump’s war on the poor and elderly by sharing this story on Facebook. –Learn Progress
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