To the Journal editor:

We, the People, ask: Are President Trump’s proposed budget cuts just?

To answer this question, We give illustrative proposed budget cuts, and state, justify, and apply justice.

Illustrative proposed budget cuts include:

1. Cutting the Environmental Protection Agency 26%. EPA’s mission includes detecting environmental crimes.

2. Cutting the United States Agency for international Development 21%. USAID’s mission includes foreign aid for developing countries to help stop climate change.

3. Cutting the Department of Housing and Urban Development 15%. HUD’s mission includes aid for the homeless.

4. Cutting the Department of Health and Human Services 9%. HHS’s mission includes providing Medicaid.

5. Cutting the Department of Education 8%. DOED’s mission includes giving student loans. (Tankersley, Jim. “Trump to propose $4.8 trillion budget.” The New York Times , February 9, 2020.)

Are these proposed budget cuts just?

What is justice?

Justice is revealed in our U.S. history when We progressed from justice for the few wealthy white men through our many revolutionary rights movements when We created and progressed justice for all.

Our revolutionary rights movements include our Progressive Era (income tax rights), New Deal (worker rights), civil rights, environmental rights, and feminist rights movements.

All includes all hourly workers, all salaried workers, all retired workers, all students, all disabled, all individuals in all races, all individuals in all sexes, and all species.

Based on justice for all, President Trump’s proposed budget cuts are unjust.

To raise funds to progress justice for all and to prevent deficit spending, We propose:

1. Progressing taxes that are progressive (having the lowest rate for our lowest income earners and increasing to the highest rate for our highest income earners; basing taxes on ability to pay) and redistributive (spreading incomes more equally by taxing our wealthy 1% and redistributing the funds to our lowest 80%).

2. Progressing our income tax rate for our wealthy 1% from 37% to 80% (80% was our average highest income tax rate from 1950 to 1980. Saez, Emmanuel. Triumph of injustice, 2019).

3. Progressing our gift, inheritance, and wealth taxes for our wealthy 1%.

4. No tax increases for our lowest 80%.

We the People declare:

President Trump’s proposed budget cuts are unjust.

Raise money to prevent President Trump’s proposed budget cuts and also to prevent deficit spending by increasing progressive and redistributive taxes on our wealthy 1%.

Justice for all!

GORDON PETERSON

Marquette

Editor’s note: This letter writer should not be confused with Gordon J. Peterson, a retired funeral director who worked many years for Swanson-Lundquist Funeral Home in Marquette.