‘Welfare, not warfare’: Thousands protest in London against austerity cuts

from PressTV

Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to protest government spending cuts and welfare reforms, voicing outrage over rising military budgets amid deepening social inequality. 

The demonstration—organized by the People’s Assembly—began at Portland Place and made its way to Whitehall, with crowds chanting and holding placards reading “Tax the Rich,” “Nurses Not Nukes,” and “Welfare Not Warfare.”

Trade unionists, campaigners, and activists from across the UK joined the protest under the slogan “No to Austerity 2.0,” calling on the Labour government to abandon austerity policies and invest in public services instead of warfare.

Campaigners condemned Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s economic agenda, accusing his cabinet of hiding behind so-called fiscal rules while enacting cuts that deepen poverty, erode social protections, and widen inequality...

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How much has Elon Musk's Doge cut from US government spending?

from the BBC

 

... In October, Mr Musk pledged to cut "at least $2 trillion" from the federal government budget. He subsequently halved this target and on 10 April talked about making savings of $150bn from "cutting fraud and waste" by the end of the next financial year in 2026.

The US federal budget for the last financial year was $6.75tn.

Doge publishes a running total of its estimated savings on its website - which stood at $160bn the last time the site was updated on 20 April.

However, less than 40% of this figure is broken down into individual savings.

We downloaded the data from the Doge website on 23 April and added up the total claimed savings from contracts, grants and leases.

Our analysis found only about half of these itemised savings had a link to a document or other form of evidence...

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House Republicans Work to Hold Together in Vote on Spending Bill

from the NYT

Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump were working on Tuesday to tamp down Republican defections ahead of a vote on a bill to fund the government through Sept. 30 and avert a shutdown at the end of the week.

A vote was expected on Tuesday afternoon on the legislation that would keep last year’s spending levels largely flat, but would increase spending for the military by $6 billion. It would slightly decrease spending overall, because it would not include funds for any projects in lawmakers’ districts or states. And it would force a cut of more than $1 billion from the District of Columbia’s budget for the rest of the fiscal year.

House Democratic leaders are pressing their members to oppose the legislation, arguing that it would provide too much discretion to the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-led effort to drastically reduce federal spending. They have also claimed they cannot support it because it does not protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — although those programs are not funded through the appropriations process.

If all Democrats are present and unite to voting against the bill, House G.O.P. leaders can afford only one Republican defection. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky has already said he would vote no, even as Mr. Trump savages him for opposing the measure and threatens to recruit an opponent to challenge him in the next election.

“Unless I get a lobotomy Monday that causes me to forget what I’ve witnessed the past 12 years, I’ll be a NO on the CR this week,” Mr. Massie wrote on social media, using the shorthand for a continuing resolution to keep funding the government at current spending levels. “It amazes me that my colleagues and many of the public fall for the lie that we will fight another day.”...

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"Complete Chaos": Medicaid, Meals on Wheels & More on Chopping Block as Trump Freezes Trillions

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