7 Better Ways To Spend $20 Billion Than A Border Wall | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics

7 Better Ways To Spend $20 Billion Than A Border Wall

Here are some programs President Trump wants to cut that would be better uses of our money.

1285
7 Better Ways To Spend $20 Billion Than A Border Wall
Politifact

With so many things losing funding under the Trump Administration, it’s mind-blowing that money is instead being used to pay for a border wall. Here are a few more practical ways to spend these funds (up to $20 billion, according to The New York Times), than building a wall spanning 1,900 miles.

1. Healthcare for all Americans.

As I stated in my last article, I am among the countless Americans who could lose access to healthcare if a viable replacement to the Affordable Care Act is not put into motion. People with pre-existing conditions, young adults who will no longer be able to receive help from their parents until they can afford their own plans, and an overwhelming number of American citizens who are unable to pay outrageous premiums for a variety of reasons all stand to lose.

2. Cancer screenings, STI tests and treatments, sexual education programs, and the prevention of hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies yearly.

Planned Parenthood does much more than provide abortion services, and no matter what your stance on abortion, you can’t deny the value of educating young people about their reproductive health and providing tests to prevent disease and methods to treat it.

3. The arts, the humanities, and culture.

The National Endowment for the Arts and The National Endowment for the Humanities give grants to fund projects of these types across America. Fortune states: “arts and cultural production contributed more than $704 billion to the U.S. Economy — this accounts for 4.2% of the United States GDP and is greater than the contributions of the construction ($586.7 billion), transportation and, warehousing ($464.1 billion) industries.” The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is also losing funding. It is responsible for not only educational children’s programming, including Sesame Street, but also a program called Veterans Coming Home, which sheds light on what veterans’ lives look like after they return home and helps to fund services for them (Time).

4. Developmental agencies that are beneficial to America.

The Minority Business Development Agency and Economic Development Administration, which benefit American-owned businesses and communities, are losing their funding. Together, their budgets total approximately 25% of $1 billion (Time), bringing them collectively to 1.2% of the wall’s total cost.

5. Protecting victims of violence.

The Office of Violence Against Women, which costs less than half a billion dollars to run (Time), fights to reduce physical and sexual violence by assisting victims and training officers to help end violent situations. It is also on the list of organizations to which the President wishes to cut spending.

6. Trade and manufacturing.

Perhaps we should continue to fund the International Trade Administration, which increases the revenue of American companies by helping them sell their products abroad as well as domestically, and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which helps businesses become more efficient.

7. Much, much more.

There are countless ways $20 billion could be better spent than on building a wall across the entire border between two countries. Mexico is not the problem. Blaming an entire nation and its people for the actions of a few and punishing them as well as Americans, who will also suffer from the strained national relations, is completely ridiculous.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

4019
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

302826
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments