Tales from Trump's Washington: To pay for his wall, President proposes cuts to Coast Guard, TSA

In yet another disturbing development in President Donald Trump's star-crossed Administration (as if there weren't enough of those already), it appears that the nation's smallest armed service - the U.S. Coast Guard - and other government agencies involved in law enforcement and emergency response are going to take a billion dollar hit if the President's new budget is approved.

To pay for the infamous "wall" on the U.S.-Mexico border that Mexico definitely will not pay for, the White House is considering massive cuts to various federal agencies. According to various sources, including ABC News and the military-oriented website DoD Buzz, the President's budget blueprint "outlines a $1.3 billion overall cut to the Coast Guard’s budget, equivalent to 14 percent of the agency’s funding last year. The draft would cut funding for Maritime Security Response Teams and scuttled a contract for a new cutter for the Coast Guard fleet."

Per DOD Buzz, which is hardly a liberally-leaning source, such a cutback is receiving flak from several Republican members of Congress, as well as one of the nation's leading veterans' organizations. 

“We cannot defend our homeland and continue critical security missions without the U.S. Coast Guard. It is as simple as that,” Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a New Jersey Republican and member of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, said in a statement.

“Whomever is advising President Trump that the service could do more with even less is detached from the facts and reality on the ground,” he said.

Adding to the chorus of protests over this alarming proposal is the influential Military Officers Association of America, which would also not be a hotbed for liberals. Per DoD Buzz:

In a statement Wednesday, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, president of the 390,000-member Military Officers Association of America, said, “We believe a billion-dollar reduction from the USCG budget will significantly reduce the capabilities of our nation’s armed maritime security force, which handles critical domestic safety, drug interdiction and rescue operations.”

If the President's budget proposal is approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, the nation will be made less - not more - secure. 

As both ABC News and DoD Buzz report, the Coast Guard is not the only federal agency that will be affected by Mr. Trump's expensive border wall project.

ABC News reporter Benjamin Siegel writes:

The Trump administration is considering cuts to the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, Secret Service and FEMA -- including cuts to several notable national security and emergency response initiatives -- to help fund the president’s border wall and deportation effort....

TSA would lose more than $500 million in funding, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency would face an approximately $370 million cut, reducing grant funding for emergency preparedness and countering violent extremism (a program to help states and communities prepare for and prevent extremist threats).

Overall, the Department of Homeland Security would see a $2.7 billion increase in its budget from 2016, to $43.8 billion, under the proposal.

At A Certain Point of View, we see this as another sign that Mr. Trump and his Administration are better off running reality shows rather than making policy in one of the world's leading powers. And, for what it's worth, cutting the budgets of various agencies tasked to keep the homeland safe in order to pay for a gigantic boondoggle is a travesty. 

It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Or, as reader John Sheehan puts it, "It's more like robbing Peter, then throwing it away."   

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-admin-weighing-cuts-coast-guard-tsa-fund/story?id=46004877

https://www.dodbuzz.com/2017/03/08/opposition-grows-coast-guard-budget-cuts/