For those liberals who fear what a Donald Trump presidency will look like, Thursday brought no comfort—only horrifying confirmation. According to The Hill, Trump's administration is preparing to slash basically every program Democrats covet from the budget—including, but not limited to, energy-efficiency programs, initiatives geared toward preventing domestic violence, and civil rights programs. Also on the chopping block? The National Endowment for the Arts (N.E.A.) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (N.E.H.) would be eliminated entirely, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (C.P.B.)—which, in part, funds PBS—would be privatized.

Mind you, the cuts for the arts would do almost nothing to fix the budget deficit: according to Deadline, the total cost for the N.E.A., N.E.H., and C.P.B.—$741 million—make up a measly .016 percent of the total U.S. budget which is ($4.6 trillion). Sure, every dollar counts when you're trying to save a few bucks—but given how untenable Trump's savings goals appear to be, these proposed cuts feel more like a vindictive slap in the face to liberals than effective budget measures. The bright side? As The Hill notes, "The budget offices of the various departments will have the chance to review the proposals, offer feedback and appeal for changes before the president's budget goes to Congress." Ultimately, it'll be up to Congress whether these cuts happen or not.

If the arts funding cuts—particularly the proposed privatization of the C.P.B.—sound familiar, it might be because Mitt Romney found himself in hot water for proposing something similar just a few years ago. Remember the presidential debate in which Big Bird improbably became the star of the show? That happened because Romney proposed cutting off taxpayer money to PBS—which, at the time, was home to Sesame Street and its beloved yellow fowl. Now, of course, Big Bird and the gang have flown the coop to HBO in their own controversial maneuver—leaving the arts and humanities without as compelling a mascot for votes to rally behind as Trump and the G.O.P. stand over the federal budget, axes ready.

Before Trump, there was another president who tried to cut funding to the C.P.B.: Richard Nixon. Back when Nixon threatened to slice the C.P.B.'s budget in half—prompting Fred Rogers to mount a stirring defense of what he and others were doing with their meager budgets. (It worked.) And the endowments have faced threats from the G.O.P. before, too—from Ronald Reagan, whom Deadline notes wanted to eliminate the N.E.A. entirely, though he ended up cutting its budget down to half its original size instead.

This issue is about much more than PBS—as worthy of protection as that organization is. With these cuts and budget shifts, NPR—also funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—is equally imperiled. As the Huffington Post notes, "The NEH has supported the creation of 16 Pulitzer Prize-winning books and Ken Burns's iconic documentary The Civil War." And if cultural value isn't something the G.O.P. is willing to consider worthy of taxpayer dollars, it's also worth pointing out—as Huffington Post does—that the N.E.A. helped get the fledgling Sundance Film Festival started. If you want to talk about millions of dollars worth of economic stimulation, check out last year's sales, which included awards darling Manchester by the Sea.

Considering how little Trump's arts cuts would save, it's hard to imagine they would make up for what they would cost us.

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