America’s most renown scientist, Neil DeGrasse, a man never devoid of words, went on Twitter to speak out against Donald Trump’s draconian budget.
Neil deGrasse used Donald Trump’s phraseology to point out the aspects of the budget that does nothing to make America great again but instead dumb it down.
Neil deGrasse Tyson Tweets
The fastest way to Make a America Weak Again: Cut science funds to our agencies that support it.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
According to Vox,
The top-line numbers of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal should give the nation’s scientists shivers. The administration doesn’t seem to think science should be a priority at all. The blueprint released today is preliminary. The administration still needs to draft a full budget, which we won’t see until May. And ultimately, it’s up to Congress to decide who gets what. But what’s important about this budget proposal is that it tells the public and Congress where the president’s concerns lie. And they don’t appear to be issues like climate change, disease treatment and prevention, or basic research funding for universities.
The fastest way to Make America Sick Again: Cut funding to the National Institutes of Health
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
According to Verge,
We get big returns on investment from publicly funded research. Every dollar spent by the National Institutes of Health typically generates $2.21 in additional economic output within 12 months, according to a 2010 article in Nature. Think of the internet, which was invented in part thanks to Defense Department scientists and engineers in the 1960s. Today, e-commerce sales are estimated to be a $394.9 billion business.
The fastest way to Make America Stupid: Cut funds to programs that support education.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
According to The Atlantic,
Although President Trump stayed mum on his plans for the U.S. Department of Education, one policy has been clear: Trump plans to cut nonmilitary spending. The administration’s new “America First” budget, released Thursday, follows through on this promise by slashing funds for the Education Department by 13.5 percent, or $9.2 billion. To start, Trump’s budget plan would remove $2.4 billion in grants for teacher training and $1.2 billion in funding for summer- and after-school programs. It also curtails or eliminates funding for around 20 departmental programs “that are not effective, that duplicate other efforts, or that do not serve national needs.” In addition to eliminating Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), which offer need-based aid to around 1.6 million low-income undergraduates each year, the Trump administration wants to “significantly” reduce Federal Work-Study. The budget proposal also calls for around $200 million in cuts to federal TRIO programs, which benefit low-income, first-generation, and disabled students, and GEAR UP, a program that helps prepare low-income middle and high-school students for college.
The fastest way to thwart Earth's life-support systems for us all: Turn EPA into EDA — the Environmental Destruction Agency.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
According to the New York Times,
President Trump’s budget blueprint for the coming fiscal year would slash the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent and cut State Department spending by a similar amount in a brash upending of the government’s priorities, according to congressional staff members familiar with the plan. … The E.P.A. is, arguably, the hardest-hit agency under Mr. Trump’s budget proposal: He wants to cut spending by nearly a third — $2.6 billion from its current level of $8.2 billion, according to a person who had been briefed on the proposal but was not authorized to speak publicly about it. That would take the budget down to about $5.7 billion, its lowest level in 40 years, adjusted for inflation. In an initial draft, the White House had proposed cutting about $2 billion from the agency’s budget, taking it down to just over $6 billion, according to an aide familiar with the plan. The E.P.A. administrator, Scott Pruitt, who has himself spoken out against some of the core missions of the agency he leads, went to the White House to request a smaller cut after the White House budget office first presented him its preferred spending level. He pressed for about $7 billion, according to the person. Instead, the White House slashed his budget down even further, to about $5.7 billion. Mr. Trump’s proposed cuts to the E.P.A. are a magnitude greater even than those envisioned by congressional Republicans, many of whom forcefully oppose the agency’s regulatory agenda. Last year, the House spending subcommittee that controls the E.P.A.’s budget proposed funding the agency at $8 billion, cutting just $291 million from President Barack Obama’s request.
The fastest way to melt glaciers & flood the World's coastal cities: Ignore scientists and do nothing to stem the rise of CO2
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
We can all imagine a land that provides no support for Art. But is that a place you’d want to Live? To Visit? To Play?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
The very best way to support and feed your delusions: Surround yourself with people whose world views match yours exactly.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
We all want to Make America Great Again. But that won't happen until we first Make America Smart Again.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 19, 2017
It is sad that America must live under an administration for four years that will do material long-term damage to our country, an administration purposely dumbing down its population. This affects our international standing and our long term economic well being.