US Economy: Trump's federal budget to eliminate dozens of government funded Agencies and programs-by Gregory Korte

President Trump's proposed budget takes a cleaver to domestic programs, with many agencies taking percentage spending cuts in the double digits.

But for dozens of smaller agencies and programs, the cut is 100%.

Community development block grants. The Weatherization Assistance Program. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The National Endowment for the Arts. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. All would be axed if Congress adopts Trump's budget.

Also proposed for elimination are lesser-known bureaucracies like the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program, the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program and the Inter-American Foundation.

Many of those programs have constituencies in states and cities across the country — and their champions in Congress. "The president's beholden to nobody but the people who elected him, and yes, I understand that every lawmaker over there has pet projects," said Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney. "That's the nature of the beast."

Read more: Trump's federal budget would eliminate dozens of agencies and programs

European Healthcare: Chronic diseases: forcing change in EU healthcare management - Helena Spongenberg

 With a growing older population and an overall increase in chronic diseases, Europe is faced with a new kind of health problem.

It is one of slow-progressing irreversible illnesses, such as diabetes, respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular diseases.

Over one third of the European population above the age of 15 have a chronic disease and two out of three people reaching retirement age will have at least two chronic conditions, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The number is expected to grow, leading to rising health care costs, lost productivity, and lower quality of life for the patients.

Between 70 to 80 percent of healthcare budgets across the EU are currently spent on treating chronic diseases, according to the European Commission.

And of healthcare budgets in general, 97 percent are spent on treating patients both with acute and chronic conditions.

Only 3 percent is spent on prevention, with chronic diseases being among the most preventable illnesses.

Read more: EUobserver / Chronic diseases: forcing change in EU healthcare management

France rushes out €50 billion budget savings plan

France’s prime minister vowed today the country would honour its European commitments on deficit reduction and rushed out details of a plan to curb spending by €50 billion between 2015 and 2017. 

Manuel Valls, named in a government reshuffle at the end of March after heavy town hall election losses for the ruling Socialists, spelled out the curbs as pressure grew on France to explain how it would meet EU deficit-cutting targets. 

While much of the programme was already known, Mr Valls offered more detail on plans to reduce social welfare spending, including a freeze on pensions and other non-subsistence benefits until 2015, and balance the unemployment funds books. 

Mr Valls brushed off calls from business leaders this week to introduce a new, entry-level minimum wage, saying the current rate - among Europe’s highest - would stay put. 

However his move to curb spending on welfare set Valls on a collision course with unions and left-wing Socialist lawmakers who oppose the government’s embrace of supply-side policies. “The Socialist group (in parliament) discovered the government’s announcements in total silence. 

As it is, they are unacceptable, both in form and in substance,” tweeted Socialist MP Christian Paul. Mr Paul declined to say whether Socialist lawmakers, who hold a slim majority in parliament, would approve the savings plan when it is subjected to a vote in late April.

Read more: France rushes out €50 billion budget savings plan - Economic News | Ireland & World Economy Headlines |The Irish Times - Wed, Apr 16, 2014

The Netherlands: Almere cuts budget by another 7 million euro's

Almere

After cutting Almere's budget by 17 million euro's in the spring, councilman Mark Pol of the Conservative VVD announcing the proposed budget for 2014 said the City budget would be cut by another 7 million euro's.

It was also announced that the Dutch Government  had cut Almere's subsidy from the National City Council Fund by 6 million euro's and that the City would receive euro 900.000 less for school housing purposes.

All these budget cuts for Almere come in addition to budget cuts which now total 48 million since 2010.

Presently Almere has 195,000 inhabitants and 14,500 businesses. . It is also considered one of  Europe's fastest growing cities and is well on the way to become the fifth largest city in the Netherlands over the next twenty years.

These budget cuts are seen as potential dangers to Almere's future development and growth. The city is only 38 years old and is seen by many architects around the world as Europe's most modern and environmentally advanced cities

Almere-Digest

The Netherlands: Almere : some EURO 86 million appropriated money for job creating projects still on the shelf

It has been reported that in Flevoland millions of euros in 2006  investment funds, which were earmarked  for stimulating the economy there are still held back in the Province administration capital of Lelystad.

Consequently many projects did not get off the ground. This is the conclusion of a Court of Auditors report on the investment program Flevoland-Almere (IFA).

The IFA, which has a term of ten to fifteen years to administer Government funds, specially aimed at the 'unique urban climate of Almere' designed to develop and market the economic position of Almere in the North Wing of the Randstad. 

The idea was also to encourage entrepreneurs and residents to come up with appealing ideas for Almere. For example social, cultural and economic focused  projects.

The Suburban Court of Auditors and the Court of Auditors also examined individually and later  in cooperation with the municipality of Almere the recommendations of  previous evaluations, which for example included tighter control mechanisms.

But despite all this, the earmarked money is still  on the shelf "somewhere". Originally the Province of Flevoland and Almere agreed  that EUR 100 million would be made available in three tranches.  This has now shrunk to around EURO 89 million.

Once these funds are released it will require to have hands-on projects available which can be put into immediate action. Unfortunately these projects are still on the drawing board and don't seem to have been thought through in any detail yet.


Almere=Digest .

Drones versus aircraft carrier: Is the Aircraft Carrier Obsolete?

US Predator Drone Launching Missile

In a further sign that budgets across the globe are beginning to bite, news reports in recent weeks have once again highlighted the challenges associated with operating a modern fleet of aircraft carriers. 

The challenging global economic situation shows few signs of lessening, and across the world there are reports of further cuts in equipment, hulls and operations. In Spain for instance the veteran carrier Principe De Asturias (PDA) has finally been paid off after some 25 years service as part of budget cuts. 

It is perhaps ironic to consider that she was originally conceived in the early 1980s as a cheap ‘Sea Control Ship’ solution originally looked at by the US Navy to provide cheaper carriers. Intended to put ASW helicopters to sea as a replacement for the Delado, she represented the closest any nation has perhaps come to a truly ‘austere’ carrier, with minimal support facilities for the airwing. 

Optimized in the first for ASW, with a very limited fixed wing capability using the Harrier (although never to the same level of development as the UK with the mixed FA2 / GR7 airwing), the PDA was an example in the 1980s of how smaller‘harrier carriers’ could be built for emerging middle tier navies, providing them with airpower at relatively small cost. In reality she remained the sole of her class built around the world , with the closest other example being a Thai vessel optimized for EEZ protection and to act as a Royal Yacht. This is not to say that naval aviation does not have a future – it emphatically does. 

However in an era of tight budgets, it is easier to see the construction of multi-role ships such as Juan Carlos being the preferred setting for most navies, as they represent a more versatile platform which is cheaper to run. 

As nations increasingly focus on influencing the littoral environment, LPHs / LPDs seem to be the new generation of capital platform. Able to be built relatively cheaply, but providing wide flexibility, they are not ‘proper’ aircraft carriers, but they do provide a deck, hangar space, command facilities and the ability to put troops ashore. The authors personal prediction is that while carriers may be on a slow decline, the broader global market for this sort of platform may boom.
 
Lead author Ian Easton, of the Project 2049 Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank says, "China's fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, could be technologically superior to those in the American arsenal and might have the ability to "swarm" in attacking an American aircraft carrier". 

According to a new analysis of the country's drone program program, China first started publicly flying drones in October, 2009, during its National Day parade. Since then, it had stockpiled at least 280 UAVs as of 2011 that could be used for "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, precision strike missions and electronic warfare missions," according to the report, released by the Project 2049 Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank. "Since then, the country has likely manufactured many more", Ian Easton says.

"Chinese UAV technology is a woefully understudied topic," he says, adding that there's reason to believe that China has either already surpassed U.S. prowess in unmanned air technology or will soon do so. "They're certainly far more advanced than I expected them to be. You get the impression they're doing very advanced, cutting-edge research."

Like in many other industries, Easton says "there's no question" China has likely caught up to the U.S. with a cyber warfare campaign to steal technological secrets —the country has UAVs "that look exactly like the US Predator or the Global Hawk. According to Easton, who studied more than 100 Chinese-language military technology journals, official government reports and news reports out of Taiwan, the Chinese see drones as a platform to wage war at the "highest level of conflict." Chinese documents suggest that the country's People's Liberation Army "envisions attacking U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups with swarms of multi-mission UAVs."

While the American military has mainly used drones for reconnaissance in the Middle East and Northern Africa and precision strikes against small groups of insurgents or terrorists, Chinese reports suggest that they plan to use the drones in the event of a conventional war.  America.

China envisions attacks "with initial waves of decoy drones" followed by swarms of strike drones that would often be shot down during their mission. "When the Chinese look at UAVs, they see tremendous capabilities for high-end conflict. We've been using them for low-intensity situations," Easton says. "The Chinese have done an overwhelming number of studies discussing using UAVs as having the capabilities of hitting U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups. That's what they're probably planning to do. 

The very stark reality of all this is that most navies seems to be stepping gracefully away from the Carrier game – it is hard to see the British Royal Navy in 2050 investing in new carriers, or the USN being able to afford one for one replacements for their CVN’s.

"Although the process will be slow, the increasingly likely outcome is that within 30 years the bulk of those carriers left in service around the world will be operated by nations whose strategic interests are not always in alignment with those of the West. The era of Western carrier dominance is nearly over, as costs rise. But, the era of carrier proliferation is not here either, with costs for a ‘proper’ carrier remaining too significant for all but the richest of nations.

EU-Digest

Op-Ed Europe: EU budget sets the wrong priorities

The EU heads of state and government have finally agreed on a seven-year budget for the 27-member bloc but Deutsche Welle Christoph Hasselbach  in his Op-Ed says that by seeking to please everyone, the budget has set the wrong priorities.

It was a difficult birth. After two summits and several grueling late night meetings, the EU's leaders emerged with a seven-year budget and blackened rings under their eyes. But despite all the work, the product is disappointing. In order to stave off numerous veto threats, three major groups of countries and interests had to be satisfied.

First, the rich countries of the north insisted on cuts to the entire budget. British Prime Minister David Cameron, just as during the summit last November, refused to give in - he's under too much domestic pressure. And now, for the first time, the EU budget will be smaller than it was the previous year.

Secondly, the countries with important agricultural sectors - above all France - wanted to keep their farm subsidies. And thirdly, there were the states of Southern and Eastern Europe, who were fighting to keep EU development money for poorer regions.

Some countries were represented in more than one of these groups, like Germany. While Chancellor Angela Merkel was demanding budget austerity, the minister of agriculture was pushing for German farmers to keep their subsidies with as few changes as possible.

And then, more and more countries began demanding a discount on their membership fees. Britain certainly fought to keep its "eternal" discount.

Read more: Opinion: EU budget sets the wrong priorities | Europe | DW.DE | 08.02.2013

Europe budget talks heading for collapse

A special summit of the European Union leaders in Brussels to reach a deal on its next seven-year budget appeared heading for a collapse after their negotiations got bogged down on Thursday night in a dispute over plans to boost the budget. 

Summit host, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, adjourned the meeting till mid-day on Friday. This is after day-long bilateral discussions among the E.U. leaders, a series of meetings with the E.U. executive and a joint meeting failed to bridge the deep divisions between those demanding significant spending cuts and those supporting the plans to increase the budget. 

The European Commission in its draft budget had proposed a 5 per cent hike to more than €1.09 trillion ($1.35 trillion) for the period from 2014 to 2020. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is among the leaders seeking a reduction in the draft budget, expressed doubts whether an agreement can be reached at the two-day summit.

She indicated that another summit may be needed, possibly at the end of this year or early next year, to clinch a final deal.

Read more: The Hindu : News / International : Europe budget talks heading for collapse

Europe sets modest goals for space - by Edwin Cartlidge

Europe’s space chiefs are hailing the two-day meeting at which research ministers hammered out Europe’s priorities in space as a success, despite them getting less money than they had hoped. At the 20–21 November meeting in Naples, Italy, the ministers agreed to give the European Space Agency (ESA) €10.1 billion (US$13 billion) over the next several years, somewhat less than the total €12 billion cost of the project proposals considered at the meeting.

The level of funding is a significant achievement given current economic difficulties, says Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s director-general. He adds that he is pleased that ministers managed to strike deals on a number of thorny issues, including how to replace the Ariane 5 satellite-launching rocket and how to fund Europe’s contribution to the International Space Station (ISS).
“It was a very difficult meeting,” he says. “There was a lot of stress, a lot of discussions. But we can say it was a big success. Space is no longer about expenses, it is an investment.”

The ministers from ESA's member countries, which currently number 20, meet every few years to set funding levels for all of the agency's activities. All member states have to contribute towards the mandatory activities, centred on the scientific programme, which develops space-based telescopes and other scientific instruments, and they can then choose which of the other areas, such as telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation or launcher development, they participate in. With flat funding of about €500 million per year for 2013–17, the scientific programme takes a cut in real terms, although it is not yet clear which missions will be affected as a result.

Read more: Europe sets modest goals for space : Nature News & Comment

Swiss army prepares for euro zone unrest - by Matt Clinch

With anti-austerity protests across Europe resulting in civil unrest on the streets of Athens and Madrid, Switzerland -- the European country famed for its neutrality -- is taking unusual precautions.

It launched the military exercise “Stabilo Due” in September to respond to the current instability in Europe and to test the speed at which its army can be dispatched. The country is not a member of the union or among the 17 countries that share the euro.

Swiss newspaper Der Sonntag reported recently that the exercise centered around a risk map created in 2010, where army staff detailed the threat of internal unrest between warring factions as well as the possibility of refugees from Greece, Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal.

According to the minister, some European countries - under pressure to save - didn't renew their armies as they could no longer afford the upkeep of modern systems.
He said that the situation could amplify dramatically, with countries that couldn't defend themselves facing the possibility of “blackmail.” In the paper, he also asked how long the crisis could be calmed with money alone.

Der Sonntag newspaper also reported that army chief André Blattmann is set to submit a proposal in December to utilize four battalions of military police. This will consist of 1,600 soldiers guarding strategic points in the country including the airport, industrial plants, and the international organizations in Geneva.

Read more: Swiss army prepares for euro zone unrest - World News

Greece cuts deal will 'be sealed by next week' -says country's finance minister

Greece is under pressure to drum up the nearly €12 billion in cuts for the next two years to appease its lenders, who have put the latest tranche of aid to avert a Greek bankruptcy on hold.

The austerity package will be ready next week to be presented to the Troika, Greece's finance minister Yannis Stournaras said.

"There is political agreement on the package," Mr Stournaras said after leaders of the three parties in Greece's ruling coalition huddled together to discuss the plan. "The package will be sealed next week and presented to the troika."

EU officials have already acknowledged the country is way off-track in meeting the terms of its bailout, but European leaders are eager to avoid letting it slide to a chaotic default and euro zone exit that drags down much bigger economies like Spain and Italy.

Read more: Greece cuts deal will 'be sealed by next week' - country's finance minister - RTÉ News

Netherlands: Some 20.000 Dutch students protest Government education funding cuts while Afghanistan training ( Military) mission is approved

Dutch university students threw eggs and bottles at police as they took to the streets of The Hague in their thousands on Friday to protest against cuts in the education budget, police said.

"Riot and mounted police had to take action to restore order," police spokesman Wim Hoonhout told AFP, saying dozens of students who loitered in groups after an organised picket, had clashed with police. "They threw eggs, bottles and firecrackers," he said, adding there were no injuries in the unrest that lasted for about two hours.

Some demonstrators had also dropped a smoke bomb. Twenty-five arrests were made for vandalism, public violence and maltreatment of bystanders, said a police statement. The students were voicing their anger with government budget cuts.

What is most amazing is that the Netherlands Government of Mark Rutte on the one hand wants to cut the educational budget by euro 370 million and on the other hand is willing to finance a so called  military supported "training mission" to Afghanistan at euro 468 million a year. The Association of Universities of the Netherlands has said it expected the budget cuts to cost the jobs of 2,500 university professors and lecturers next year. 

EU-Digest