A disabled pilot opens a prepared meal at his home in Portland, Oregon, July 12, 2010. Meals on Wheels, a program that Donald Trump plans to cut, has been the subject of many peer-reviewed studies in the medical literature, most of which show that the program improves the quality of people’s diets, increases their nutrient intake and reduces their food insecurity and nutritional risk. (Photo: Leah Nash / The New York Times)
Since election night 2016, the streets of the US have rung with resistance. People all over the country have woken up with the conviction that they must do something to fight inequality in all its forms. But many are wondering what it is they can do. In this ongoing “Interviews for Resistance” series, experienced organizers, troublemakers and thinkers share their insights on what works, what doesn’t, what has changed and what is still the same. Today’s interview is the 22nd in the series. Click here for the most recent interview before this one.
Today, to shed light on Trump’s recently proposed budget, we bring you a conversation with Mark Price, a labor economist at the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Sarah Jaffe: Let’s talk about the basics of the budgeting process. Trump released his draft budget, which was horrifying, but most of us aren’t that familiar with the process.
Mark Price: The president’s obligation is to put forward proposals for the full scale of the actual budget, including nondefense discretionary spending, which is about a third. Then, it also includes typically mandatory spending priorities — Medicare, Social Security and food stamps, for instance, are in that category. The president has put forward a proposal for just the nondefense discretionary spending, about a third of the budget, and what his spending priorities are in those areas.
Obviously, a lot of people reacted…