skews13
Diamond Member
- Mar 18, 2017
- 9,969
- 12,837
On Tuesday, House Republicans released their budget for 2019, along with a malignant plan to force cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare this year. On Thursday, the House Budget Committee passed that budget, preparing it to go to the floor.
They would cut the deficit by $8.1 trillion over the next 10 years largely by slashing mandatory and automatic spending programs. Like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. They'd take $5.4 trillion from these programs, including $1 trillion from Medicaid and $537 billion from Medicare over the next ten years. Another $5 billion would come from other healthcare programs. They'd also cut $4 billion from Social Security.
This budget isn't binding, even if the full House passes it. That's the good news. Here's the bad: they include broad reconciliation instructions that require $302 billion in mandatory program spending cuts, "among the highest such request in two decades." The reconciliation instructions are what allows the Senate to pass legislation with a simple majority, avoiding a Democratic filibuster. This is where it gets dangerous, because it sets up a sneak attack on Medicare and Medicaid in the lame duck session, after the election.
Even if Republicans lose their majority in the election, they'll retain it until January when the new Congress is sworn in. That gives them almost two months to do untold damage to these programs. Once the election is done, they don't have anything to lose anymore. If they keep their majorities, they'll do it in victory. If they lose, they'll do it out of spite.
In our favor, they are so loudly projecting this as their plan that it makes it easier to defeat the budget now, before it goes to the full floor and certainly before it goes to the Senate. That's how we stop it. Call 202-224-3121 to tell your representative to vote against this budget.
Republican budget plan to decimate Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security advances in House
They would cut the deficit by $8.1 trillion over the next 10 years largely by slashing mandatory and automatic spending programs. Like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. They'd take $5.4 trillion from these programs, including $1 trillion from Medicaid and $537 billion from Medicare over the next ten years. Another $5 billion would come from other healthcare programs. They'd also cut $4 billion from Social Security.
This budget isn't binding, even if the full House passes it. That's the good news. Here's the bad: they include broad reconciliation instructions that require $302 billion in mandatory program spending cuts, "among the highest such request in two decades." The reconciliation instructions are what allows the Senate to pass legislation with a simple majority, avoiding a Democratic filibuster. This is where it gets dangerous, because it sets up a sneak attack on Medicare and Medicaid in the lame duck session, after the election.
Even if Republicans lose their majority in the election, they'll retain it until January when the new Congress is sworn in. That gives them almost two months to do untold damage to these programs. Once the election is done, they don't have anything to lose anymore. If they keep their majorities, they'll do it in victory. If they lose, they'll do it out of spite.
In our favor, they are so loudly projecting this as their plan that it makes it easier to defeat the budget now, before it goes to the full floor and certainly before it goes to the Senate. That's how we stop it. Call 202-224-3121 to tell your representative to vote against this budget.
Republican budget plan to decimate Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security advances in House