5/23/2017
The level of cuts to medicaid surprised even most Republicans when Trump’s new budget proposal was released today. Medicaid provides coverage for more than 70 million Americans, primarily low income seniors, children, adults and people with disabilities.
Flaws in common accounting practices were immediately exposed in the budget, and it isn’t exactly clear what the total amount of the cuts will be as the budget counts cuts twice in some places. The budget lists a savings in medicaid of $839 billion over 10 years from changes in the system (block grants). It also lists savings of $1.25 trillion on line 666 from the elimination of Obamacare. Many advocacy groups claim that even the lesser number will result in tragic cuts to healthcare for the people who need it most.
During his campaign, Trump made many claims that he would not touch Medicare, Social Security or Medicaid, including during at his announcement as a candidate The Announcement (minute 43:45)
I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2015
Trump’s budget director Mick Mulvaney called the budget compassionate for the taxpayers, and that they would “no longer measure compassion by the number of programs or the number of people on those programs, but by the number of people we help get off of those programs.” The budget also reduces spending on food stamps and school lunch programs by $192 billion, so the Trump Administration must think that increasing hunger is somehow compassionate.
Other changes to the budget were not surprising as they included the following:
Military Spending Up 10.1%
Department Homeland Security Up 6.8% (The Wall)
Department of Veterans Affairs Up 5.8%
Environmental Protection Agency Down 31.4%
Department of State and foreign aid Down 29.1%
Department of Labor Down 19.8%
Corps of Engineers Down 16.3%
Department of Education Down 13.5%
HUD Down 13.2%
Department of Transportation Down 12.7%
Department of Interior Down 10.9% (National Parks and forests)
The budget also proposes the elimination of dozens of programs and agencies that are intended to increase the health, education and welfare of citizens in multiple ways. The full list and the reasoning behind the cuts can be found here Budget cuts and reforms
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