1960s And 1970s

Horrible Tragedy: Gutting Of So Many Federal Commitments And Agencies!

Ronald 7 Comments

Six months have passed since the second Trump Presidency began, and it is now perfectly clear that Donald Trump has waged total war on the federal government, both commitments of long duration, and of agencies and departments of long standing.

The Republican Party in Congress, and the Supreme Court six member majority, are complicit in these horrendous actions.

USAID (US Agency For International Development), which provided life saving aid to millions of poor people, including particularly children, around the world, has been destroyed.

PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Program For Aids Relief), the major accomplishment of former President George W. Bush, which saved at least 26 million lives in Africa from the AIDS epidemic, has been gutted.

The Department of Education, created under President Jimmy Carter after being part of a combined agency under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a commitment to federal engagement in education standards and support, has been cut dramatically.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), created under President Jimmy Carter, had been on the chopping block until the recent Texas Flood Disaster, but still is in danger of being eliminated, as the federal government is moving toward leaving weather and natural disasters to the states to handle on their own.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, created under Republican President Richard Nixon, are both crucial agencies facing massive cuts in personnel and ability to do their work to protect Americans.

Public funding of NPR and PBS, one tenth of one percent of the federal budget, is being cut completely.

Medicaid and SNAP (Food Stamps), both coming about under President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, are suffering massive cuts, which will affect, in particular, rural states, but overall, the disabled, the elderly, and poor children, a total travesty!

Tens of thousands of federal employees in a multitude of agencies have lost their jobs, and with it, the federal goverment loses their generations of expertise on all kinds of issues of national security, health care, environmental protections, and so many other roles the federal government has engaged in since the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the Great Society, and commitments by Presidents of both parties in the past 50 years since the 1970s.

Millennials Surpass Baby Boomers In Numbers, And Are Solidly Anti Trump In Various Polls

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Millennials (those born from around 1978 to the early 2000s) have become the largest number of people in the population, surpassing Baby Boomers (those born from 1946 to 1964) in numbers, and indications are clear that they are solidly anti Trump in various polls.

The Baby Boomers were considered liberals and anti Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, and yet now, many of them are among the most conservative in the nation, particularly in rural areas, where they tend to be heavily non college educated and alienated from racial and ethnic minorities.

But even the college educated Baby Boomers tend to be, as a group, much more oriented toward preservation of their Social Security and Medicare benefits, and less concerned about what happens to the younger generations, other their own families and friends.

This is a disconcerting situation, but adds to the general statement that when young, one tends to be more liberal and progressive, and when older, one becomes more conservative and right wing, and “territorial” in their views.

In the urban areas, Baby Boomers, much more diverse in religion, race, and ethnicity, are more likely to remain liberal and progressive.

It is time for the Millennials to speak up and get involved in the political system, as they will inherit the tragic circumstances of Donald Trump, and it will be up to them to return America to the social commitments and values of the younger Baby Boomers of the 1960s and 1970s.