Funding A War
Trump's FY2027 budget will hit Camden County where it hurts most.
As we said in the military: This Video is the BLUF: The Bottom Line Up Front. If you don’t want to read the whole article. Take a listen to the 6 minute overview and then focus specifically on the infographics below.
I spent 20 years in uniform.
I wore five different uniforms in that time — not because the mission changed, but because we had the money.
I watched chairs get replaced every two years.
Not because they were broken.
Because we had to spend the budget or lose it next year.
I watched a unit during GWOT buy all new tools and equipment they didn’t need — brand new, still in the crates — because someone up the chain said use it before we lose it.
And in my first year working requirements, I flagged a $20 million fraud, waste, and abuse issue and stopped it before it could go on further— redirecting that money to a new operations floor for 3 sectors that actually needed it.
I know what war costs.
Not just in dollars — in people.
In families.
In towns that never fully come back.
So when I saw this budget — $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon, a 42% increase — I got angry about what we are going to lose.
About Camden County.
About the people I talk to every Friday morning who are already stretched thin.
Here’s what this budget says out loud: the war comes first.
You come last.
And for an Administration that runs on America First- I’m not seeing it.
Why would we hand them GWOT-level money all over again — when I watched with my own eyes what was done with it?
Trump said it himself, on April 1st:
“We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of daycare... It’s not possible for us to take care of Medicaid, Medicare.”
That’s his policy statement. And every line of this budget backs it up.
$1.5 trillion for the Pentagon. A 42% increase. And here’s how they plan to pay for it.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CAMDEN COUNTY
Rural hospitals.
We already have 55% of Missouri’s rural hospitals operating at a loss.
Twelve have closed since 2014.
The Medicaid cuts alone cost Missouri an estimated $23 billion over the next decade — and now add $5 billion cut from public health programs, $5 billion from medical research, and $356 million from emergency preparedness. Lake Regional Health System serves this county do you think they are going to benefit from any federal dollars coming in when the cities are right there?
Your heating bill.
LIHEAP — the program that helped low-income seniors and families pay for heat and air conditioning — is completely eliminated with this budget.
$4 billion. Gone.
The weatherization program that saved families $372 a year on utilities?
Also gone. Meanwhile Ameren keeps raising rates.
Your kids’ school.
$8.5 billion cut from public education.
Rural schools funding eliminated.
Vocational training eliminated.
Before- and after-school programs gutted.
Camdenton R-III is already working with tight margins.
Broadband.
The $2.2 billion cut to NTIA — the agency managing BEAD — means the internet access Camden County was promised gets pushed further away.
The EDA, which funded rural economic development grants, is gone entirely.
Your roads and water.
$15.2 billion cut from roads and bridges.
$2.5 billion cut from clean water infrastructure.
The west side of the Lake already needs water and sewer work. This makes that harder, not easier.
Your business.
Rural small business loans — eliminated.
Community development block grants — eliminated.
Small business development programs — eliminated.
The infrastructure that helps local entrepreneurs start and grow: gutted.
NOAA. Weather forecasting cut by $1.6 billion out of an already fleeced budget. For Tornado Alley- this is a travesty.
THE BOTTOM LINE
This is not about left or right. This is about math.
You cannot add $445 billion to the Pentagon and take it away from rural hospitals, schools, energy assistance, broadband, roads, and job programs — and tell us we’re better off.
I served so that others could live a comfortable life back at home.
So seniors didn’t have to choose between their heating bill and groceries so that the defense budget can hit $1.5 trillion.
So kids in my home state could go to schools and learn how to be better so we didn’t have to go through another GWOT timeline…
Washington is making their choice.
District 123 deserves a representative who will fight back for us here in Missouri.
“Put People First. Always.”
WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW
If this made you angry — good.
► Share this article. Send it to someone who needs to see it — your neighbor, your family, your Facebook feed.
► Talk about it. At the boat dock. At the hardware store. At the kitchen table.
► Come find me at Coffee Talk — Vinta-lit-ious Bookstore, Camdenton, every Friday morning 10:30-12 Noon.
► Call your elected officials in D.C. (For us, that’s Mark Alford)
► Follow along: Elect Cody Hutcheson District 123 on Substack and @HutchforMO on Facebook.
Bibliography: For The Readers!
All facts, figures, and statistics in this article are sourced from the following primary documents, congressional analyses, and credentialed reporting.
FEDERAL BUDGET DOCUMENTS
Trump Administration FY2027 Budget Request (Official White House Document, April 2026) whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/budget_fy2027.pdf
House Budget Committee Democrats — “Trump’s 2027 Budget Puts America Last” (April 2026) democrats-budget.house.gov
House Appropriations Committee Democrats — “Trump and Vought Propose Budget Worsening Cost-of-Living Crisis” (April 2026) democrats-appropriations.house.gov
Senate Appropriations Committee — Senator Murray Statement on FY2027 Budget (April 2026) appropriations.senate.gov
National Association of Counties — “White House Releases Budget Request for FY2027” (April 2026) naco.org
NADO — “President Trump Releases FY27 Budget Request” (April 2026) nado.org
Nextgov/FCW — “Trump’s FY27 Budget Makes Both Boosts and Cuts to Tech Operations” (April 2026) nextgov.com
HEALTHCARE, MEDICAID & RURAL HOSPITALS
Families USA — “President Trump’s 2027 Budget Proposes Even More Steep Cuts to Health Care” (April 2026) familiesusa.org
Georgetown University Center for Children and Families — “States Are Beginning to Grapple with Federal Medicaid Cuts” (March 2026) ccf.georgetown.edu
NBC News — “Rural Hospitals Brace for Painful Choices After Trump’s Medicaid and Obamacare Cuts” (July 2025) nbcnews.com
Newsweek — “What New Trump Budget Says About Social Security, Medicare and VA Benefits” (April 2026) newsweek.com
MISSOURI-SPECIFIC SOURCES
KCUR — “Missouri Wins $216 Million Federal Grant to Close Rural Health Gap, But Medicaid Cuts Loom” (January 2026) kcur.org
KBIA — “Federal Rural Health Funding Arrives as Missouri Faces Medicaid Cuts” (January 2026) kbia.org
The Beacon — “How Federal Medicaid Changes Will Affect MO HealthNet” (July 2025) thebeaconnews.org
The Beacon — “As Missouri Stares Down Medicaid Cuts, It Seeks Federal Rural Health Funding” (December 2025) thebeaconnews.org
Missouri Independent — “Federal Spending Bill Could Be ‘Devastating’ for Missouri Medicaid Patients, Rural Hospitals” (June 2025) missouriindependent.com
My Ozarks Online — “Rural Hospitals in Missouri Struggle to Turn a Profit. Medicaid Cuts Could Force Some to Close” (August 2025) myozarksonline.com
Empower Missouri — “Deep Federal Medicaid Cuts Will Eliminate Coverage, Increase Health Care Costs, and Jeopardize Rural Health” empowermissouri.org
BROADBAND & BEAD
Capital B News — “Broadband Program Changes Stir Uncertainty for Rural Black Communities” (March 2025) capitalbnews.org
Public Knowledge — “4 Ways the Trump Administration Has Sabotaged America’s Broadband Future” publicknowledge.org
Broadband Breakfast — “USDA, NTIA Receive Budget Cuts in Fiscal Year 2026” (October 2025) broadbandbreakfast.com
Light Reading — “2025 in Review: The BEAD Goes On” (December 2025) lightreading.com
EDUCATION
Education Week — “Trump Again Proposes Major Education Cuts in New Budget Proposal” (April 2026) edweek.org
Note: All sources accessed April 2026. Budget figures are from the proposed FY2027 Presidential Budget Request and are subject to congressional action. Proposed budgets do not become law until passed by Congress.