Why is sound always the first thing cut from a project?

You know what sound does. It carries feeling a picture cannot reach on its own. So when it gets cut first, it stings twice, because you see exactly what is being lost while no one else does. Here is the hard truth: people cut what they cannot hear until it is gone. Sound works best when it is invisible, and that invisibility is why it is undervalued. Your resentment is really grief for good work that never gets its due. You will not win this by arguing the whole industry. But you can make one person hear it. Next project, build a short before-and-after and play it for the person deciding. Let them feel the difference in their own body. That is more persuasive than any budget line.