“...[F]or where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” so goes the bible verse from Matthew Chapter 6, verse 21.

With President Trump's 2020 budget finally revealed this week, the world can see where the heart of the U.S. is: In wars of choice, bombing, occupying other countries, drone warfare, nuclear weaponry development, sanctions against other nations backed up by force of arms, bullying of most of the globe. And, all of this can be threatened because of the power of the American armed forces, the most powerful the world has ever seen.

Fully 57 percent of the federal budget of $1.3 trillion, $718 billion has been earmarked by Trump for the military and defense purposes. All of the rest of government will run on the leftovers from the military-industrial complex and its enablers in industries in various states and, let us not forget, all of the members of Congress who bow before the god of earthly might and the campaign money that comes to them from those destructive sources. The rest of government will have to make do with $543 billion, down from $597 billion budgeted in 2019, a nine percent decrease, according to the National Priorities Project (NPP). At this time, the Republicans in Congress are in a period of time in which debt and deficits don't mean anything. They save that for when Democrats are in power.

There are deficits in Trump's budget, to be sure, as usual, but to ease off a little on deficits, he has decided that there are certain people who can be sacrificed further and their programs will be cut to make up for the shortfall. That would include education, housing and urban development, and agriculture, to name a few. And, what's more important than nutritious food?

Let's face it. The country is being ravaged, at least in cutting of social programs that Republicans like to describe as “entitlements,” such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps. The welfare of the American people, as described in the U.S. Constitution, has been thrown into the bed of the pickup truck by Trump and his destructive administration, and they've left the tailgate down.

The NPP report on the Trump budget had this to say: “An additional $9 billion in the military budget is listed under “emergency requirements,” which may provide funds to build the border wall that President Trump is showing no signs of dropping as a political football. Reports from administration sources indicate that the president’s budget includes $8.6 billion to fund construction of a border wall, in addition to $3.6 billion to repay military construction funds he has attempted to seize to construct a wall.”

It has been clear, even back when he first proposed it, that few want such an idiotic and environmentally, socially, and economically destructive wall that will not work and for which there is no reason to build, since immigration from the south peaked about 10 years ago. There may be an increase now in the number of those seeking asylum, but it is largely because of the U.S. disruption of the countries in Central and South America, by overturning democratically elected leaders and installing right-wing strong men or dictators who will do the bidding of U.S. corporations. This is what is happening in Venezuela at this moment.

As always, the question remains: What good is it for the American people if the U.S. achieves its goal of ruling the world if they are bereft of the means to live a decent life?

We have seen that happen in other countries, other empires, when conquering the world as a goal was the aim of the rich and powerful and it does not usually end well. The remnants of those empires exist today, but they no longer have even a hint of their previous “glory.”

The U.S. is headed down that path now, with the rich and powerful and the corporations extracting more and more of the nation's and the society's substance to make more war and continue to prepare for war, even if the result of those wars would be devastating to the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Donald Trump presented himself to working class and middle class voters as someone who would champion their health and welfare. They fell for it and voted for him in sufficient numbers that he won the White House, despite his low character and fragile personality. They fell for it, even though, if any people around them acted as the narcissistic braggart he was known to be, acted as he has all his life, they would flee their presence. The American electorate can be fooled, just as anyone can be fooled and they believed the most accomplished carnival barker and con-man that the country has seen since P.T. Barnum.

He has played to his base in most things that he has done and he depends on the so-called Fox News for advice on what he should do next and how he should do it. That news program has been given a pass for its nonsense, with few exceptions, because it is viewed as entertainment, rather than news. He has praised Fox as the real news, while calling the legitimate free press “fake news.” What can you expect from someone who hugs the flag in a very public place and smiles his smirky smile, thus displaying his patriotism. There isn't a shred of patriotism in Trump, or he would not be punishing the most vulnerable in his cruel 2020 budget.

There is no accounting for the support that he gets from a sizable portion of the electorate, since there are few families that will not be hurt, if not crushed, by his slashing of money for Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and Social Security, to name a few programs that he has targeted. If allowed, he would eliminate social programs that benefit 325 million people, in favor of increasing a defense and military budget that already is bloated beyond imagination and only provides benefits and riches for the 1 percent. It's what will spell the further rapid decline of the U.S. So forget a credible housing program, forget maintaining roads and bridges, forget a decent education for all, and forget reining in the powerful monopolies that make up Corporate America.

The country has been headed in this direction for generations, but Trump, a malignant narcissist and pathological liar, has taken the decline to warp speed. As we have said here in the past, Trump is not the cause of the deadly problems facing the American people, he is a symptom. That is to say that every step should be taken to remove his power to do more irreparable damage to the people and their environment. Both major parties are responsible for the nation's condition, but Democrats have to move immediately, in conjunction with Republicans who have some integrity and good character, if any can be found.

The treasure of America is, indeed, where its heart is: In the making of endless war. The time for the people to act is now.