Of the many budget cuts in domestic programs proposed by sociopathic narcissist Donald "Rump" Trump none may be more deadly than the cuts proposed for lead poisoning prevention. The catastrophic, Rethuglican-engineered disaster in Flint, Michigan, where mindless politically-driven "cost saving" exposed tens of thousands of mainly minority residents to high lead concentrations is fresh in memories. Now, that disaster times hundreds is on the horizon if Rump's war on health through budget slashing succeeds.
Reuters has been looking at lead levels in cities across the country, which are now facing cuts in programs to eradicate lead poisoning hazards. In their alarming finding, some 3,300 cities have childhood lead poisoning levels at least double those identified in Flint. Rump is proposing cuts of $4.7 billion in HUD and EPA programs aimed at identifying and eliminating lead poisoning hazards:
"Cuts would be felt across the country. The Trump administration would eliminate a $27 million program that trains private contractors on lead removal, and a $21 million program that funds lead abatement projects in Alaska, Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma and California. It would kill a program that provided funds to a Rhode Island nonprofit to upgrade housing, and end a $970 million affordable-housing program that has fixed up dilapidated homes in hundreds of U.S. cities, including Flint."It's another example of the social Darwinist mentality of right-wing Rethuglicans, who are concerned neither with the immediate effects on elevated lead levels in children nor with the long-term impacts of treating them for neurological diseases and brain damage years from now. They want the money for tax cuts for their wealthy contributors, for more superfluous military weaponry, and a foolish "wall" that Mexico will never pay for.
