largely as a result of glancing just now at this tweet:

x A list of some of the federal agencies that would be eliminated under the Trump budget pic.twitter.com/2YHW2iCdrk Ã¢ÂÂ Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) March 16, 2017

If it is not something that can turn a profit for Trump and his buddies, get rid of it and privatize whatever you can.

There is no historical awareness of many of these agencies. Most of them are small. But Trump and company will brag about how manhy “unnecessary” agencies they got rid of. And the people will suffer.

Take just one the elimination of which will fall disproportionally upon his voters, even in some states he lost.

The Appalachian Regional Commission. Let me share the first three paragraphs of the Wikipedia article on it:

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal-state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established ARC to bring the region into socioeconomic parity with the rest of the nation. The Appalachian Region, as defined by Congress, includes all of West Virginia and portions of 12 other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. ARC serves 420 counties that encompass roughly 205,000 square miles, with a population of more than 25 million people. The Appalachian Regional Commission has 14 members: the governors of the 13 Appalachian states and a federal co-chair, who is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. A professional staff carries out the work of the Commission.

As for the United States Institute of Peace, getting rid of it, like gutting State Department programs, will result in an increase in suffering around the world, may result in more deaths even of Americans as a result of increased conflict and increased terrorism. But of course, think of the discovery of Oskar Shindler as he expressed to his wife Emily in the Spielberg film Schindler’s list. What he needed to make money was war.

Pardon me, but I am very cynical this morning. It is hard not to be.