Around midway through March of this year, President Trump’s first budget plan came out for 2018, titled America First budget. Now when it comes to placing more money in another department, the money has to come from somewhere else.

In the proposed plan, there is a decrease in funds in vital areas such as environmental protection agency (EPA), department of housing and urban, health and human services, along with many more. This will go towards increasing funds to defense by $54 billion, according to Trump’s budget blueprint. However, should we really increasing it further? To put it simply- no.

The proposed departments he plans on taking funds away are therefore getting necessities taken away. For instance, once again according to his budget blueprint, when it comes to EPA he is deducting funds by 31%. This would lead to elimination towards 20% of the department’s workforce. Not only that, but this would completely cease international climate-change programs. Newsflash, climate change isn’t at all a chinese hoax. It is a real issue that we need to deal with, especially before it’s too late. Diminishing spending in this division would not only further create an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, but ignorance as well.

Another department (of many) affected by the budget plan is the department of housing and urban development. It will experience a 13% decrease. The reduction will greatly affect those in poverty. They are ones in need and taking this away will only damage them further. This will get rid of the $3 billion Community Development Block Grant program. The CDBG program provides funds for great organizations such as Meals on Wheels.

Meals on Wheels provides food for people who are unable to provide their own meals. When talking with NPR about the budget plan, Dan Pruett, Meals on Wheels president, stated; “I would say that the number of people having to go to nursing home care or some alternate type of care that’s more expensive — that’s very real so we save the taxpayers money, no question about it.” Although the budget plan may be called America First  they aren’t really putting us first when cutting departments that affect so many people that were already in a vulnerable state to begin with.

We already have the largest defense budget in the world. Not only that, but the United States has more funds dedicated towards defense than the seven countries behind us combined as it is. So overall, we should not be putting an additional $54 billion towards defense since it by all means unnecessary.