Doyle Responds to Trump Budget

May 23, 2017
Press Release
Washington, DC – Congressman Doyle (D-PA-14) issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget, which was released today.
“President Trump calls his budget “A New Foundation for American Greatness.  It’d be more accurate to call it a budget that undermines the foundations of American greatness. President Trump’s budget would gut the federal investments in education, science, and infrastructure that promote economic growth. It would slash safety net programs and the programs that make life better for millions of hard-working Americans. On top of all that, it would do nothing to create jobs and raise wages.
“This budget abandons the federal government’s longstanding role of setting a level playing field and increasing opportunity for all Americans. In Donald Trump’s world, you give rich people tax cuts and you tell states, cities, counties, and hard-working Americans that they’re on their own – and that produces more economic growth.  In reality, it produces less economic growth – and less opportunity for millions of Americans. What it does produce more of is poverty, inequality, sickness, suffering, and hopelessness. 
“The Trump budget would make massive cuts in safety net programs. Those cuts would devastate poor older Americans, children, and the disabled. In the long run, that would increase costs for all of us.
“The Trump budget would also make deep, devastating cuts in investments like infrastructure, education, and scientific and biomedical research. That would slow economic growth and stifle innovation and small business startups.
“Pittsburgh would be especially hard-hit by the Trump budget. Pittsburghers would have to pay more to provide water and sewer service, health care, education, affordable housing, transportation, economic development, job training, and care for the poor, disabled, and elderly.  In addition, cuts in federal support for scientific and biomedical research would mean Pittsburgh would lose talented researchers – just when we’ve become a world leader in high-tech and we’re becoming pre-eminent in “eds and meds.” Those sectors are the drivers of Pittsburgh’s economy today, and the Trump cuts would stop them cold.
“This budget is DOA on the Hill, but it gives us a clear statement of President Trump’s priorities, and they’re despicable.”