Not Meeting Needs

When I was a boy, my mom would often make me come with her when she would deliver food to older relatives. As a child the last thing I wanted to do was waste my time delivering food, especially when the houses and people often smelled funny. Of course the people were always appreciative, and I remember vaguely one great aunt of mine saying that my mom doing this was close to heaven. I know the aunt was grateful for the food, and it certainly did not hurt that my mom was an excellent cook.

My dad was always supportive, except perhaps for an occasional grimace. If my mom was not able to make dinner because time got away from her, my dad without complaint either took all five of us out to dinner or we got carry out.

My younger self never got over what a pain this was. However, as I grew older I realized the tremendous good deeds my mom performed over and over.

Here is the thing. My mom was about meeting the needs of people. While I have the most vivid memories about delivering food, she helped friends, relatives and neighbors in many, many ways thousands of times over the years. Once I could drive, I was sometimes enlisted to make deliveries if my mom was too busy, which I graciously did for the most part.

Now Pres. Trump and Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director, are unwilling to meet the most basic needs of people who require help, and it is unlikely that these cruel individuals will have a change of heart.

When you look at the proposed Federal budgets, most of the cuts are in programs for people and communities that Trump promised to help. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, these cuts include:

• “cuts to job training that helps workers upgrade their skills;
• cuts to Labor Department funding that likely would seriously weaken federal actions to ensure that factories and mines are safe, workers are paid what they have earned, and minimum-wage and other laws to protect workers are complied with;
• cuts to student aid and work-study programs that help low- and moderate-income students afford college;
• cuts to economic development funding for both cities and rural communities;
• cuts to housing assistance for hard-pressed families struggling to pay the rent; and
• the elimination of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps low-income households, including many poor seniors, pay for heat, especially in cold winter months.”

Talk about not meeting needs!

If the slashing follows the model for Rep. Paul Ryan’s failed legislation to modify our health care system, the cuts will be exceptionally draconian and harmful. Along with leaving millions more people uninsured, Ryan’s proposal also would have raised premiums for many and would have made health insurance even more unaffordable while giving tax breaks to people who did not need it, the wealthy.

It as if my mom was forced to deliver food to wealthy relatives who did not need it. My mom has passed away, but she would be outraged by the horrible budget that is being foisted by Trump and Mulvaney. Sometimes when I hear thunder in the night, I feel like my mom is expressing her disgust.