On the @POTUS 2017 Budget: Reflections from @thebudgetguy & other thoughts....

Our team has been following the debate in Washington as the President's Budget was just announced. The proposed cuts are devastating and the impacts profound on all Ordinary Faces.    What was striking us was a Recent headline on CNN on how according to the Trump Budget, 2+2=7.   Below is an excerpt of the discussions on this that underscores the profound challenges laid out by the proposed budget:  

Collender: This is not serious at all; it's just a Trump campaign document pretending to be a president's budget. Submitting a budget that is likely ... or even possibly ... going to be adopted and implemented by Congress apparently wasn't the administration's primary goal. Communicating to the ultra-hard right wing of the Republican Party -- the Trump base -- seems to be its only real purpose.

Every president's budget to some extent is part political statement. But the just-released Trump budget takes this to a new and previously unprecedented level with ideology completely overwhelming governing.

The best way to think of it is as a Trump campaign rally on paper.

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Cillizza: The early readout is that the budget is a win for the wealthy and a loss for the poor. Oversimplification? Why or why not?

Collender: Not an oversimplification at all. Big tax cuts for the wealthy combined with deep spending cuts for the poor and the middle class are the perfect way to describe this budget.

OMB Director Mick Mulvaney used different terms, of course, when talking about his opus, but there is no doubt what he was saying. If he and President Trump get their way, taxpayers (i.e. the wealthy and relatively wealthy) are no longer going to pay for things for non-taxpayers (i.e. the poor and working poor).

One area of profound concern for us was the total elimination of the Corporation for National Service. Our founder told us what he did when he added his voice to help underscore the great work being done and how the elimination of the Corporation for National Service will have a devastating impact on all ordinary faces and efforts to help spread the word:    

Today, the White House released a full budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2018, an expanded version of the Administration's "skinny budget," which was released earlier this year. The Administration's full budget proposal provides the funds necessary to shut down the Corporation for National and Community Service over the course of the next year. If enacted, this budget would eliminate federal support for national service programs and have a devastating impact on the communities they serve every day. Click here to read our full statement on the White House budget proposal. The fate of national service is in the hands of Congress.  Here are two ways you can help right now: 1. Send a Tweet or share a post on Facebook about the President's proposal. 2. Send an e-mail to your representatives urging them to protect national service programs in your community. This is a critical moment and we're counting on you. Thanks for staying with us in this fight.  Yours in Service, AnnMaura Connolly President Voices for National Service