Opinion: Trump’s austerity will test the generosity of all Kansans, but especially conservatives
- Eric Thomas, Kansas Reflector
- Apr 18
- 5 min read
Opinion
By Eric Thomas, columnist, Kansas Reflector
Do you believe that private citizens, rather than the overreaching, intrusive federal government, should be the safety net for fellow Kansans?
Do you think that our best museums should operate not with the aid of taxpayer money, but instead from the revenue created by large private donations?
Do you think that ambitious science should be funded through millions of small donations from everyday Americans who will rationally donate each year?
Do you worry that the federal government will create socialized medicine by being involved — at all — in American health care?
“Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes,” a conservative MAGA voter with a worldview might answer. “A lean and unsympathetic federal government is the best kind of federal government. Washington should focus on national defense plus a small handful of vital services. Slashing the welfare state and silly federal grants is long overdue, whether you live in Burlington, Vermont, or Burlington, Kansas. We private citizens will support our local folks in need. We are charitable, so get the government out of the way!”
If this is your thinking, then this is your moment. Unfortunately.
Following the cuts in federal funding triggered by the Trump administration, this is your moment to live up to your politics. Because you, dear conservative Kansan, are obliged to rescue your dear neighbor. It’s time to open your checkbook and start donating.
State and local journalists have documented many times over the past few weeks how the federal funding cuts have plunged local support systems into crisis.
The Kansas News Service explained how Kansans would struggle to enroll in Medicaid and marketplace insurance plans after the cancellation of federal funding. The number of uninsured Kansans will likely grow. Other Kansans may become susceptible to fraud.
The Beacon detailed how the cancellation of $12 billion in federal grants to states would jeopardize “public health basics like vaccines for children, infectious disease tracking, community health work and funding for mental health and addiction treatment.”
Another federal cut will force child-care providers to restart paying fees, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. A federal program vanished that temporarily saved providers the expense.
“The decision by the Trump administration to defund this initiative means that we have no choice but to reinstate the child care licensing and background check fees effective immediately,” wrote Janet Stanek, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, in an April 3 letter.
One of the leading tourist attractions in the Kansas City metro area, the National World War I Museum and Memorial, must pause a project while funds are in limbo. One of the more popular features of the museum’s website — digitized records from the war — might remain unfinished due to cuts, KCTV reports.
Fox 4 reported how cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture will affect food banks throughout the country, including Harvesters, which serves 17 counties in Kansas.
A different food and agriculture nonprofit is suing the Trump administration. Cultivate KC, which serves both Missouri and Kansas residents, had funds frozen for two conservation grants.
“We’re really hoping that it doesn’t get to the point where we see food systems nonprofits suffering to the point where they have to close their doors,” Cultivate KC executive director Brien Darby told KCUR.
This flurry of local journalism suggests that these specific stories are the tip of an iceberg, the size and shape of which is becoming clear as it rises to the surface. We should wonder what other local projects are capsizing and what nonprofits are rocking in the waves surrounding the metaphorical federal iceberg.
Conveniently for Trump voters, museums and nonprofits will be easy to reach with donations. So, they can do that today.
But what about the child care providers? And the federal workers who enrolled folks in insurance? And the Haskell University employees who temporarily lost their jobs? Will your supposedly robust desire to donate be generous enough to reach each of them?
Of course, Kansas conservatives will never backfill the funds that were cruelly and thoughtlessly excised from vital agencies and nonprofits by federal cuts. For most Trump loyalists, their generosity was more ideological and rhetorical than practical and likely.
Instead, these funding cuts will persuade Kansans like me, who did not vote for Trump’s slash-and-burn approach, to step up our contributions. If we can, we should. These are vital services for Kansans who need help.
Looking ahead (but not to minimize the damage that MAGA politics have done to Kansas already), there are likely greater and more numerous crises in store for regional nonprofits.
Many economists put the likelihood of a recession near 50% following the financial gridlock and commercial confusion of Trump’s tariffs last week. While we might focus on nationwide indicators like the stock market indices, consumer confidence and retirement plans, every economic downturn forces tens of thousands of people to seek support. In this way, the tariffs will punish working Kansans and send them scrambling.
“The speed and chaos surrounding President Trump’s policy rollout have created extraordinary global economic disruption; nobody alive has ever witnessed self-induced volatility on this scale,” wrote Ian Bremmer, the founder of the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm, according to the New York Times.
Cancelled orders from abroad may soon leave workers unemployed in small Kansas towns. Frozen shipments from China may mean a fledgling heartland startup goes belly up.
All of this, while Trump’s 2017 tax cuts might not just be extended, but become permanent, if Republican plans succeed. Seeking fiscal restraint, fellow Republicans are demanding deep spending cuts — perhaps to more social services.
The passage of such legislation would be a grim pile-up: austerity on top of recession on top of austerity.
How will Kansans support fellow Kansans in such an atmosphere?
Our charitable nonprofits and federal safety nets — so recently hobbled — will be both vital and threadbare. We should work now to repair and embolden them, before their shelves and accounts are empty.
The politics of the moment point to us, whether MAGA, moderate or liberal. Urgent donations to nonprofits is the logical next step, regardless of ideology or voting record.
Eric Thomas teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
This article was republished with permission from the Kansas Reflector. The Kansas Reflector is a non-profit online news organization serving Kansas. For more information on the organization, go to its website at www.kansasreflector.com.
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