Trump's Cruel Budget, Labor Dept Says Job Growth Better Under Obama, & NH Set to Shake Up Race

Trump's Budget: Every president's budget is just a list of aspirations with little chance of being adopted, but they do show the administration's priorities. Trump's budget prioritizes the "wall," weapons spending and more tax cuts, and reduces agricultural assistance funding, food stamps, student aid programs, Medicaid, Social Security Disability, and guts the Environmental Protection Agency.

New York Times: "The president’s plan includes about $2 trillion in cuts to safety net programs and student loan initiatives. Those reductions encompass new work requirements for Medicaid, federal housing assistance and food stamp recipients, which are estimated to cut nearly $300 billion in spending from the programs. The budget would also cut spending on federal disability insurance benefits by $70 billion and on student loan programs by $170 billion."

"Foreign aid, public broadcasting and environmental programs also get cut under Mr. Trump’s proposal. He wants to spend more money on areas like restricting immigration, including an additional $2 billion for his wall along the southern border, and more money to develop state-of-the-art weapons."

Job Growth Better Under Obama: Donald Trump will never admit it, but according to his own Labor Department, job growth during the last three years of the Obama administration was better than the first three years of his administration.

Forbes: ..."Trump’s boasts about how many jobs he has added don’t include that he has generated 6.5 million jobs under his Presidency vs. the 8.1 million, or 1.5 million more that Obama did under the same time-frame. On average Obama created 43,000 more jobs per month than Trump."

New Hampshire Primary: Voters in New Hampshire may scramble the race for the Democratic nomination. Sen. Bernie Sanders will likely win on his home turf [neighboring state], but that won't be the big story. Here are the five story lines that will most impact the race going forward.

1. Will Pete Buttigieg continue to surge as the moderate to replace Joe Biden, or was Iowa his "high-water" mark? Will concerns about his age and lack of experience in national politics blunt his continued rise?

2. Can Sen. Elizabeth Warren reboot her campaign in relatively friendly New Hampshire or will her slide continue?

3. Is "Klomentum" real? Recent polls show increased support for Sen Amy Klobuchar, but can she pass Biden and Warren and capture the bronze in New Hampshire?

4. Joe Biden won't win, but he needs to show some resilience after his poor showing in Iowa. He has been more energetic and feisty this week while campaigning. Will it make a difference?

5. How will the results impact the national surge of former New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg?

#news #2020election #economics

By: Don Lam & Curated Content