Federal cuts disrupt repairs to iconic U.S. trails

Scale and Nature of the Cuts

• Commenters note Brookings data showing current federal cuts are only a tiny fraction of the budget, arguing this is an ideological purge rather than a serious efficiency or deficit move.
• Several point out that big-ticket items (military, Medicare/Medicaid, tax breaks for the wealthy) are largely untouched, so these cuts won’t meaningfully reduce deficits.

Military vs Domestic Spending

• Strong thread on how much more is spent on the military than on things like trails, foreign aid, or park maintenance.
• Some argue the U.S. could cut $300B+ from defense (citing failed or delayed programs, bloated IT and ship modernization projects) without hurting readiness; others insist near-peer threats like China require more spending, not less.
• There’s debate over whether the U.S. really has a decisive technological edge and how quickly it might erode.

Trails, Public Goods, and Volunteer Work

• Multiple posts stress that trail budgets were already “razor thin” and heavily dependent on volunteers; major repairs after fires/hurricanes may simply not happen.
• People highlight that trails support tourism, mental and physical health, and even fire access, making them a very high‑value use of relatively little money.
• Some propose more nonprofits/user funding; others respond that this is exactly what taxes and a federal government are for.

Privatization and Anti‑Government Ideology

• Several see the pattern—trail cuts, IRS cuts, foreign aid cuts—as part of a broader effort to convince people “government doesn’t work,” paving the way for privatization and future attacks on Medicare/Medicaid.
• Concern that starving agencies like NPS and IRS actually reduces efficiency and revenue, while creating political cover to sell off public assets.

Debt, Deficits, and Macroeconomy

• One camp frames the U.S. as “rocketing towards bankruptcy” due to debt service costs; others counter that a sovereign issuer doesn’t go “bankrupt” in the household sense.
• Some argue the real danger is recession or depression from collapsing demand via cuts, tariffs, and benefit reductions.

Unions, Federal Workforce, and Strikes

• Commenters note federal unions’ bargaining rights are being curtailed and strikes are illegal, limiting worker leverage as cuts proceed.
• There’s a sense that the coming years will reveal how much quietly essential work those laid‑off employees actually did.