Trumps Budget: Guns and Butter.

The budget of the swindler, right wing capitalist and idiot Trump.

Sean O'Torain.

The authors of this Blog have since its inception explained that US capitalism was in an economic, political and military crisis. We also explained that part of this was that US capitalism could no longer, as we put it, afford guns and butter. By this we meant that it could no longer afford to keep its military forces at the level it has been keeping them for the past century and at the same time keep its own working class at the living standard it has experienced for the past half century. We explained that Reagan had begun to address this issue with the attack on the PATCO workers and since then the US capitalist class have been on an offensive against the working class. That is they have been attempting to keep the guns but at the same time cut the butter. This has been happening for the past decades. But we see it most dramatically in the proposed budget of Trump.

This budget is proposing to increase military spending by $54 billion (New York Times March 16th.) and to offset this with cuts in domestic programs and international diplomacy and environmental research and protection by a similar amount. This budget is unlikely to be passed as the anger of the US working and middle classes is already erupting. But it is a sign of the thinking of US capitalism and they will come back to this approach time after time. However as the US capitalist class moves again and again to attack the working class, to cut the butter, this will provoke a mass movement of opposition. The authors of this Blog have raised many times the old saying that sometimes the revolution needs the whip of the counter revolution. We already see this as Trumps policies, the whip of the counter revolution, have already evoked the women's marches and the town hall meetings all over the country against politicians who support his attacks. Already we see the divisions in the Republican party and the sputtering of the Democratic Party who want to appear as if they oppose Trump while at the same time supporting his capitalist system.

When we look at this budget we must not be fooled by the lies and the propaganda and the formulations used. For example the terms the Defense Department, The Secretary of so-called Defense. These are just lies. There is no Defense Department. There is the Department of Invasion and Occupation. Think of all the countries that US capitalism has invaded and occupied and they are still fighting in. US capitalism has 800 military bases round the world. Are these to defend the US. Of course not. Who is going to attack the US? There are an estimated 300 million guns in civilian hands in the US, who is going to invade the US? The US Invasion and Occupation Department exists to defend the interests, wealth and profits of US capitalism. Look at what Major General Smedley Butler said. He was the most decorated marine in US history. He said: "War is a racket. I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism." This is accurate. Trump in his budget wants to increase US military spending to allow US capitalism to have a better chance to hold onto its world dominance. Trump in his budget wants to increase the spending on the military to defend the interests of as Smedley Butler said "Big Business, Wall Street, the Bankers." Take away from the US working class to defend the interests of the US capitalist class, this is the reality of their propaganda about defense.

US capitalism's military policies of invasion and occupation cause more suffering and instability around the world than any other force. But not only that. US capitalism has been trying to hold on to its number one position in the world by going increasingly into debt. At present US capitalism has $20 trillion in national debt. They have only been able to go into this amount of debt because of their economic and military dominance. But this is coming to an end. So now they have no choice but to go after its own working class. While increasing its military spending it is cutting just about every other sector which is related to the living standards of the working and middle class people of the USA. The environment, health care, education, women rights, meals on wheels, the elderly and sick, the rights of minorities, all are to be cut while the military spending is to increase. These proposed cuts are extremely vicious but even with them, even if they were to be put through they would still not cut into the $20 trillion national debt. As far as US capitalism is concerned they are only the beginning.

It is not complicated. We all know that as families and individuals we have to live. And this involves for the majority of the US population going into debt. We also all know that at some stage this debt has to be paid back or defaulted on. US capitalism is trying to put off the evil day when it has to either default on or pay off its debt. Trumps budget is trying to stop the debt from getting larger but it does not cut the already existing debt. The reason it does not go further is fear of the opposition this will evoke. Fear of the movement of the working class this will evoke. But irregardless of this Trump and US capitalism will come back again and again to try and cut the debt on the backs of the working class. If they cannot do this they will be faced with default and a US and world economic crisis such as never been experienced before.

It is these harsh economic realities that explain the other aspects of the Trump regime. His racism, his sexism, his anti immigrant polices. These are aimed at dividing the working class so he and the US capitalist class can push through their attacks. Those workers who voted for Trump made a bad mistake. To be even more direct they acted stupidly, acted against their own interests. They voted for a degenerate racist and sexist capitalist politician who will rant on about these issues to divide the working class and allow the class he is part of to push through their anti working class policies. Trump is not a fascist, yet. but he has all the makings of becoming one unless he is stopped. Trying to mobilize the sections of the middle class who are ruined by the crisis of capitalism and will be be ruined even more in the coming economic collapse to come, and mobilize also the backward thinking sections of the working class who think it is workers of other races or gender who are to blame for their plight as opposed to the US capitalist class and their system.

We must be clear. As US capitalism pushes towards its all out assault on the working class it will increasingly turn to the methods of divide and rule such as Trump uses. At some stage if not stopped it will move towards outright fascist methods. That is organizing an armed force directed to attack minorities but in reality to divide and attack the working class as a whole. The working class in this country must waken up to this fact and begin to organize to confront and defeat this threat. A united working class movement organized and with the necessary resources to confront this threat.

The union leaders will not organize this force. Their pro capitalist ideas and policies lead them to go along with the attacks on the working class. They can see no alternative to capitalism so they go along with it, including its attacks on the working class, its own members. See the leaders of the building trades meeting and drinking with the Predator in Chief Trump. It was nauseating. But more important than that. It was a warning that these leaders are not prepared to lead. They have no knowledge of history they think that capitalism is the only system. They do not deserve the name of leaders.

Look at their role with the women's marches. These were a tremendous example of the mood now developing to fight Trump and the offensive against workers and women's and all minorities rights. They were "organized" "spontaneously" by groups of women and youth mainly through the internet. But where were the union leaders. They never lifted a finger to build these. They could have mobilized their 14 million members to help build the marches, and with heads and banners high participated in the marches. This would have transformed these marches in terms of size and also class composition. It would also have transformed the Union membership, activating the existing membership and at the same time drawing millions of new members into union membership. Of course the union leaders do not want this. An activated and increased and fighting union membership would soon question the bureaucratic control of the union leadership over the membership and question and oppose the huge salaries and perks these leaders have. The union leadership will not lead the fight at this time. A rank and file fighting organization must be build in the ranks of the unions, in the workplaces, in the working class communities, in the schools and colleges to confront the danger and the attacks of US capitalism. This is the way to prepare for the huge attacks that are to come. The way to bring down Trump and all the other Trumps in both capitalist Parties is to build a mass fighting movement of the working class and a mass workers political party based on ending capitalism and establishing democratic socialism in the US and world wide.