PG91: Budget, Healthcare, Travel Ban, Taxes, Wiretapping

Mike and Jay lead off with a discussion of President Trump’s first budget. The so-called ‘skinny budget’ (referring to any incoming president’s first budget, which tends to be shorter on details than their later budget proposals) calls for big defense and security increases and correspondingly big cuts. Jay is hoping that it’s simply another instance of Trump’s negotiating style (start out extreme and then make a deal for what you actually wanted) but he’s pleased that many programs will be required to justify their existence. Mike is less enthusiastic, and thinks that maybe it’s defense spending that needs to be justified. They both agree that the United States has huge looming problems with mandatory spending (which accounts for over 70 percent of the federal budget) that aren’t being addressed.

After that, the Guys talk about the American Health Care Act that House Republicans are trying to get through Congress. This week’s disastrous CBO score makes an already difficult legislative job for the GOP even harder, and neither Mike nor Jay expect the current version of the bill to be what ends up being enacted into law.

Next is discussion of the federal court rulings against President Trump’s revised travel ban. Mike thinks it’s entirely likely that it runs afoul of the Constitution’s prohibition against establishment of religion, while Jay disagrees, feeling that the courts should consider only what the order says, and not other remarks about Muslim bans previously made by Donald Trump and some of his top advisors.

Following that, it’s a look at the underwhelming revelations from two leaked pages of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax return, the continuing story of the president’s ‘wiretapping’ claims, and Mike and Jay’s thoughts on the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates.

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