Trump's promise of big Defense Dept. increases seem more and more the equivalent of a rich guy's mid-life crisis, buying a really shiny, sporty car so as to impress the neighbors, not so much because it's what he really needs.
How else to explain actually cutting budget from the Coast Guard — a key to coastal defense, drug interdiction, smuggling protection, and public safety.
But it's not the kind of "big stick" that turns on chicks, amirite?
Trump announced his military spending surge aboard the USS Gerald R Ford, a shiny new carrier that's cost almost $13 billion (so far), plus $5 billion R&D. He proposes increasing the US military's budget by $54 billion.
But he feels he has to cut $1.3 billion from the Coast Guard budget (among many, many other things)?
Not exactly good business sense.
Trump’s cutting $1 billion from the Coast Guard at a time when it’s doing more than ever
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget…
I'm pretty sure Trump thought that was the USS Gerald R. Ford Mustang Convertible, the quintessential mid-life crisis car.
Republicans love the big useless carrier groups.
+Stan Pedzick It's not clear to me that carrier groups are useless, but they are certainly not the only thing worth building.