Cutbacks in two countries

Yes, you have guessed right. One of the two countries is the United States of America where cutbacks or reduction in spending and increase in tariffs is the order of the day promulgated by President Donald Trump who appears to consider himself king; his porohithaya Elon Musk dictating terms to him. His aim is to make America great again (MAGA) but his maga or path is actually making the rich in the US richer and making life more difficult for the ordinary US citizen with housing and food increasing in prices.

- By NAN

I feel I must explain what cut backs and cutbacks mean. The two word phrase is used as a verb while the one word is a noun.

Among several cutbacks “President Trump has signaled that next set of agencies on the chopping block, as his administration looks to cut down the size of the federal government agencies that serve wide ranging roles in the government, from addressing homelessness to funding libraries. One of these is the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS) that funds grants to libraries and museums across the country. The group EveryLibrary - a nonprofit that has advocated for public library funding and fought against book bans - decried the looming cuts to the agency, arguing that IMLS is statutorily required to send federal funds to state libraries based on an Act passed by Congress.”

The present president is so very different to previous presidents like Jimmy Carter who initiated the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services (WHCLIS) which took place in Washington DC in November1979. It was such a boost to libraries and spread of information and improvement of education all round as noted by a delegate to the 1979 and 1991 conferences in the White House: “a strengthened and increasingly dynamic role for citizen-trustees in guiding library development; the emergence of citizen leadership across the nation, spearheading a new synergy within the library profession: the concept of partnership-building as a means to advance the library agenda; and the use of information as the power to promote increased productivity, economic growth and enhanced quality of life for all citizens.”