This week President Trump released an immoral budget, which amounts to a wholesale attack on working families and low income communities in favor of the wealthy.
Though the proposed budget is bad enough, this week also revealed that Trump’s lieutenants share his animosity toward low income and middle class communities. Read these unsettling new reports:
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson described poverty as a “state of mind.” While it’s true poverty can exacerbate and cause trauma and other adverse health effects, he makes this bizarre claim to justify over $7 billion in cuts to HUD’s budget, harming millions who benefit from housing and community development programs.
- The New York Times published an exposé of Jared Kushner’s ruthless real estate speculation practices. Turns out he not only asks for tax breaks to build luxury condos in Jersey City, he also preys on the very low-income residents that Trump’s budget would kick off the Section 8 program.
- White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney said those who benefit from programs like food stamps and Medicaid don’t work or pay into the system, and that it’s time to put “taxpayers first.” This is a lie and a smear against millions of Americans, as most food stamp recipients who can work do. And nearly eight in ten Medicaid adults are in working families, and most work themselves.