Are These this Administration’s Priorities? You Gotta Be Kidding Me! By Maria Grant

After giving a mortifyingly incoherent word salad speech at the United Nations last week, President Trump went to the Ryder Cup in Farmingdale, New York. What did that little junket cost taxpayers? An estimated $17 million, which included the cost of Air Force One, flights for accompanying cargo, motorcade vehicles, Secret Service, local police, perimeter planning, hotel rooms, security checkpoints, and more. 

His trip to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament earlier in the month is estimated to have cost taxpayers at least $8 million and caused long lines, a delay in the game, and many attendees who paid plenty for their tickets missed the beginning of the tournament. 

The DidTrumpGolfToday.com website estimates that, so far in his second term, the president has spent $84 million on the links at taxpayers’ expense. 

Add to that Trump’s attendance at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, multiple UFC events, a LIV golf tournament, the FIFA World Cup Final, a Tigers Yankees baseball game, and the Army Navy football game. 

Then let’s consider the absurd and ostentatious military parade estimated to cost $55 million, the unnecessary ICE and National Guard deployments in D.C., California, and soon to be Oregon.

Next, the cost of the revenge and retribution indictment of James Comey, and soon-to-be indictments of Letitia James, John Bolton, and Adam Schiff, which will cost taxpayers tons for months of labor to prepare for trials which experts say have no basis for prosecution. 

And wait, here’s a good idea. Let’s round up all the Generals from around the world, at a cost conservatively estimated to be a few million, and bring them to some kind of Come-to-Jesus meeting in Virginia for who knows what purpose. And what happens to our national security when no one’s minding the store? And then let’s let everyone in the world know that this is happening.

And who knows who’s really paying for this ridiculously large White House ballroom with estimated costs that could amount to more than $200 million?

Now consider what else is happening while this rampant patently immoral spending spree spirals out of control. Massive cuts to foreign aid, medical and scientific research, public health and disease prevention, health insurance for low-income Americans and children, enforcement of clean air and water regulations, Medicaid, weather forecasting, national park services, and more. 

Let’s not pretend that any of this is normal, makes sense, or is fiscally responsible. Any CEO who spent money like a drunken sailor and slashed programs without even a pretense of due diligence would be ousted by the company’s Board of Directors.

Then there is the question of when in God’s name does this President have the time to study issues and do the deep dive into possible solutions to problems. Here’s the answer. NEVER. 

Couple that with the most incompetent band of cabinet leaders in modern history. And then there is the endless grift after grift going on with the entire Trump family and many of its associates.

So, I know I’ve been writing a lot about costs here. But let’s consider those other costs that are difficult to measure.

The costs to patients who were in the middle of clinical trials when funding was cut, and the trials were cancelled. 

The costs to victims of hurricanes and floods when no FEMA money is available to restore drinking water or clear roads. 

The costs to low-income single mothers whose children no longer have access to breakfast and lunch programs. 

The costs to hikers who experience catastrophes and there are no longer Park Rangers available to rescue them.

The costs to the more than 275,000 workers who have lost their jobs due to Federal workforce cuts and who no longer have healthcare coverage for themselves and their families.

This president and his crackerjack team are not thinking about these people. These people are not on their radar screen. 

Harry Truman once said, “Selfishness and greed, individual or national, cause most of our torment.”

Just think about how much the more than $400 million of wasted money I’ve written about in the above paragraphs could have helped people in need, our environment, healthcare research and so much more. 

 Clearly these are troubled times. Generosity of spirit has left the building. Let’s recognize the current priorities of this administration for what they are. Selfish and greedy.

Maria Grant, who formerly was principal-in-charge of a federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm, now focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.