Trump Budget Proposal Cuts Ag Spending
- by Valerie Santiago
- in Medical
- — Feb 13, 2020
In the latest proposal, the White House projects the deficit to shrink by $4.6 trillion over 10 years and assumes the economy will grow at a consistent rate of 3 percent. It did include what Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the Associated Press calls "an $844 billion mystery pot".
Make no mistake, there's no fiscal magic the president or his loyal minions can perform that can hide the fact that the federal budget deficit has ballooned during his watch, chiefly the result of tax cuts that were deeply skewed to the benefit of the nation's wealthiest citizens. "We're not touching Medicare, we want to keep Medicare, we're not touching Social Security, we're making our country stronger again, we're not decreasing Medicaid, but we're doing a lot of things that are very good, including waste and fraud".
After 2020 Democrats and others seized upon Trump's comments as further evidence that his 2016 campaign vow to protect Social Security and Medicare was a lie, the president has since claimed he is attempting to "save" the programs. The proposal is unlikely to become law, however, as Democratic lawmakers have already voiced opposition to the plan. USAID has not yet responded to questions about Predict and EPT.In July 2018, Trump also dissolved a specialized unit at the National Security Council for global pandemics, and the homeland security adviser position is now vacant.
"These cuts are a risky assault on American families", he tweeted.
More news: Court denies Apple's appeal in VirnetX patent-infringement case"The deep cuts enshrined in the budget's numbers are not consistent with modest tweaks". It cuts Medicaid by almost $1 trillion. The budget funds an extension of those cuts over a 10-year period with $1.4 trillion.
The White House budget is a messaging document, largely meant to reflect the administration's budget priorities rather than a set of policies expected to be enacted by Congress. "You can't cut $1 trillion from these programs and protect the most vulnerable", she said.
Within the overall reductions proposed are an 8% cut to education spending, a 13% cut for the interior department, a 15% cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a 26% cut to the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency.
"By proposing severe cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, President Trump's latest budget is simply a continuation of his war to rip away health care from millions", he said.
More news: Jeremy Roenick won't return to NBC Sports after suspensionTrump is seeking reductions to Medicaid, food assistance, state councils on developmental disabilities, university centers on developmental disabilities and protection and advocacy programs, said David Card at the National Disability Rights Network.
The budget calls for Medicaid work requirements for "able-bodied" adults and for "ending the financial bias that now favors able-bodied working-age adults over the truly vulnerable" in the program.
The administration defended the Medicaid cuts to reporters.
The bottom line: Trump's budget does nothing to reduce his vulnerability on health care or counter attacks that his policies - particularly on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act - would likely lead millions of people to lose coverage. "But, the level of healthcare spending cuts he is proposing would have severe consequences".
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