Trump budget will slash Medicaid, food stamps programs: reports
BY BRANDON CARTER - 05/21/17 09:50 PM EDT 2,690
President Trump’s first major budget proposal will include sweeping cuts to Medicaid, federal pensions and food stamps, according to new reports.
The Washington Post reports that Trump’s budget will include $800 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next 10 years, which would cause 10 million low-income people to lose health benefits.
The White House will also give states more flexibility to impose work requirements for people taking part in various social welfare programs, according to the report.
The budget also contains $1.6 billion in funding for Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a larger $2.6 billion spending hike for border security programs.
The president’s first budget promises to balance the federal budget in 10 years, using an optimistic outlook on economic growth that projects 3 percent growth after passing huge tax cuts, according to the Post.
Trump promised repeatedly on the campaign trail to avoid cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. The budget plan, which is set to be publicly unveiled Tuesday, does not contain cuts to Medicare and Social Security, but its large cuts to Medicaid fall in line with House Republicans' desire to curtail the expansion of the program under former President Barack Obama.
Trump's budget will be released Tuesday, but the proposal is a blueprint for Congress, which appropriates the funds. The Post noted that some Republicans won’t back some of the larger cuts Trump will propose.
THE OPEN BORDERS PARTY of GEORGE SOROS, HILLARY & BILLARY CLINTON, BARACK OBAMA and DONALD TRUMP
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-jared-kushner-donald-trump-george.html
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-racist-mexican-fascist-party-of-la.html
"The Democratic Party and the media are not concerned with having a fascistic-minded president and an administration packed with corporate CEOs and generals dedicated to waging war, tearing up social programs and organizing a further redistribution of wealth to the rich. On such matters, there is far more that unites the ruling class than divides it."
“Barack Obama and his henchmen would not have been
emboldened in their ostensible machinations to undermine an
election and then a presidency if it were not for the fecklessness
of the Republican Party and the blind eye as well as the tacit
support of the mainstream media.”
Washington Post and New York Times urge pullback on calls for Trump impeachment
22 May 2017
In editorials published simultaneously for their Sunday editions, the New York Times and the Washington Post called for caution in the anti-Trump campaign they have been spearheading with claims of nefarious connections between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russian government.
The Times editorial, headlined “Watergate? We’re Not There Yet,” cites comparisons between the crisis of the Trump administration and the scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon 43 years ago, only to suggest that impeachment or forced resignation is not yet the order of the day.
After repeatedly slamming Trump as a stooge of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a threat to US national security, including the publication last week of an editorial with comparisons to Watergate, the Times now counsels the Democrats to proceed cautiously and avoid “distraction.” It advises leveraging the official investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, along with the continuing decline in Trump’s poll numbers, to “win back a majority next year in at least one house of Congress” in the 2018 mid-term elections.
The Washington Post editorial similarly suggests that the anti-Trump campaign “will require time,” both for newly appointed special counsel Robert Mueller, the former FBI director, and for the various House and Senate committees investigating alleged Russian intervention into the 2016 election.
The Post editorial, under the headline “It’s time to focus—finally—on running the country,” demands that the Democrats “talk about something other than impeachment in the coming weeks,” and that Republicans “face the task at which they have so far failed: governing responsibly.”
The Post is more explicit about the social and class policies underlying the campaign over alleged Trump-Russia connections. It demands action on health care to reduce “uncertainty among the insurers upon which the system relies.” In other words, the two big-business parties must contain their mutual mudslinging and get on with the pro-corporate austerity measures demanded by the financial elite.
Similarly, Congress must “pass a new budget and raise the debt ceiling.” It must carry through “tax reform,” which means cutting taxes for the wealthy and for corporations, while making sure that such actions “cannot result in higher deficits.” In other words, tax cuts for the rich must be paid for by slashing social programs for working people.
Last but by no means least, the editorial cites concerns about Trump’s foreign policy in relation to North Korea, Syria, the Islamic State, Iran, Russia and “other hostile powers.”
Neither newspaper attempts to square the intensity of their onslaught against the Trump administration, particularly over the past two weeks, with their current declarations in favor of caution and biding one’s time.
The situation could shift quickly, but the editorials from the Times and the Post reflect a broader pullback from immediate calls for impeachment and references to Watergate from within the media and political establishment. In recent days, prominent congressional Democrats such as Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, and Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, have called talk of impeachment premature.
These developments underscore the fact that there is no democratic or progressive content to the opposition to Trump from within the political establishment and the capitalist state. The Democratic Party and the media are
not concerned with having a fascistic-minded
president and an administration packed with
corporate CEOs and generals dedicated to
waging war, tearing up social programs and
organizing a further redistribution of wealth
to the rich. On such matters, there is far more
that unites the ruling class than divides it.
What are the considerations driving the warnings about proceeding too rashly on the question of impeachment?
First, the central concern of Trump’s opponents within the ruling class since his inauguration has always been to force a shift in policy, particularly foreign policy. On the US war in Syria, the maintenance of the NATO alliance and, above all, aggression toward Russia, Trump was deemed to be not on message by the dominant factions of the military and intelligence apparatus.
The president has already sought to appease such concerns by ordering a missile strike on Syria, followed last week by a US bombing raid on a pro-Syrian government militia and approval of a Pentagon plan to escalate the US intervention in Syria, Iraq and northern Africa.
There are related concerns that a perpetual crisis at the center of the American state and a protracted impeachment process pose a threat to the international standing of the United States and the overall interests of American imperialism.
Second, there are the concerns outlined by the Post that a full-scale impeachment crisis will derail the administration’s program of corporate tax cuts, deregulation and the gutting of social programs upon which Wall Street has been banking and is determined to see pushed through. This was the message sent by the financial markets in last week’s huge one-day selloff. That the message was received was indicated by the announcement the same day of the appointment of a special counsel to take the political faction fight in hand.
Third, there are fears that a full-scale constitutional crisis and fratricidal struggle within the ruling class can create an opening for an independent intervention by the working class. Under conditions of mass disaffection from both political parties, rising social anger and a general discrediting of all official institutions of power, the destabilization of the political system has potentially revolutionary implications.
The appointment of Mueller, who headed the FBI for 12 years, under both Bush and Obama, puts the Trump administration under the effective receivership of the intelligence agencies, with the constant threat that if he steps too far out of line, he could quickly be faced with criminal charges. References to the formation of some sort of caretaker regime have begun appearing in the press. A Post op-ed column by Dana Millbank devoted to celebrating the anti-Russian campaign as a heroic journalistic exploit, while acknowledging that it was made possible by systematic leaking from the military-intelligence apparatus, concludes by describing Mueller as “a regent, if you will, to protect against future abuses.”
All of this underscores the completely reactionary character of both factions of the ruling class, whatever turn the crisis might take in the days and weeks to come. It demonstrates the political dead end of subordinating the struggle against the Trump administration to the Democrats, whose opposition to Trump is entirely different from and hostile to the concerns and interests of millions of workers. They must intervene on the basis of their own, socialist, program and perspective.
Patrick Martin
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THE SINS OF THEIR FATHERS:
THEIR GLOBAL LOOTING of the POOR
THE OPEN BORDERS PARTY of GEORGE SOROS, HILLARY & BILLARY CLINTON, BARACK OBAMA and DONALD TRUMP
DONALD TRUMP, HIS PARASITIC FAMILY,
HIS GOLDMAN SACHS REGIME and GOD
FATHER, GEORGE SOROS… .global looters of
the poor!
HIS GOLDMAN SACHS REGIME and GOD
FATHER, GEORGE SOROS… .global looters of
the poor!
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-jared-kushner-donald-trump-george.html
THE OBAMA DOCTRINE:
DESTROY AMERICA TO BUILD A MUSLIM-STYLE
DICTATORSHIP WHERE LA RAZA MEXICANS VOTE HIM
PRESIDENT FOR LIFE
"He is intent on maximizing the damage he inflicted on the country during the two terms of his faux presidency, having now set up shop in Washington to pursue a post-presidency agenda advancing a left-wing insurgency, civil unrest, racial conflict and the destabilizing activities of a shadow."
BARACK OBAMA: BUILDING HIS RETURN TO POWER PARTY WITH ILLEGALS!
FUNDER AND LEADER OF THE MEXICAN FASCIST PARTY of LA RAZA “The Race”
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-racist-mexican-fascist-party-of-la.html
During Obama’s 8 year bankster regime, he openly operated and funded the Mexican fascist racist party of LA RAZA “The Race” from the White House under La Raza VP Cecilia Munoz…. Google Obama and LA RAZA!
BARACK OBAMA PLANS A THIRD TERM: HIS CRONY BANKSTERS, LA RAZA, MUSLIMS AND THOSE MUSLIM DICTATORSHIPS HE FUNDED ARE BEHIND HIM…. Along with George Soros!
THE OBAMA COUP TO BE DICTATOR:
THE ARMY OF ILLEGALS TO BRING AMERICA DOWN AND FORM THE OBAMA MUSLIM-STYLE DICTATORSHIP THAT WILL BE OPEN BORDERS AND PRO LA RAZA FASCIST SUPREMACY.
Daniel Greenfield, the award-winning Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, believes (OBAMA'S POLITICAL PARTY) “OFA will be far more dangerous in the wild than the Clinton Foundation ever was.”
“Barack Obama and his henchmen would not have been
emboldened in their ostensible machinations to undermine an
election and then a presidency if it were not for the fecklessness of
the Republican Party and the blind eye as well as the tacit
support of the mainstream media.”
Under the Obama administration, more Americans have found themselves consigned to economic ghettos, living in neighborhoods where more than 40 percent subsist below the poverty level.
THE LEGACY OF BARACK OBAMA:
Final Death of the American White Middle Class
Under the Obama administration, more Americans have found themselves consigned to economic ghettos, living in neighborhoods where more than 40 percent subsist below the poverty level.
*
Millions more now live in “high poverty” districts of 20-40 percent poverty, according to recently released report by the Brookings Institution.
THE OBAMA BOOK DEAL: Sixty-five million dollars—or even $267.5 million—is a small price to pay for the contribution the former president made to enriching the already fabulously rich, defending the American ruling elite’s geopolitical interests around the world and continuing the assault on the wages, benefits and living standards of the working class.
THE SWAMP DWELLERS:
GLOBAL LOOTING of the POOR
TRUMP, KUSHNER and FAMILY, BILL, HILLARY & CHELSEA CLINTON, MICHELLE AND “HOPE & CHANGE” PSYCHOPATH MUSLIM BARACK OBAMA!
Will they finish off America as they serve themselves and the super rich???
HOW TO DESTROY AMERICA:
THE OBAMA DOCTRINE OF UNLEASHING MEXICAN CRIMINALS ACROSS AMERICA FROM BORDER to OPEN BORDER
http://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2017/03/has-mexico-and-barack-obama-destroyed.html
Trump calls for $1.7 trillion in social cuts
23 May 2017
The Trump
administration will unveil a fiscal year 2018 budget today that includes $1.7
trillion in cuts to major social programs. The plan marks a new stage in a
bipartisan social counterrevolution aimed at eviscerating what remains of
programs to fight poverty and hunger and provide health care for millions of
workers.
The
unveiling of the budget underscores the reactionary character of the Democrats’
response to a gangster government headed by a fascistic-minded billionaire and
composed of Wall Street bankers, far-right ideologues and generals. The
Democratic Party has chosen to base its opposition to Trump not on his assault
on working and poor people, his attacks on democratic rights, or his reckless
militarism, but on his supposed “softness” toward Russia.
In the
political warfare in Washington, the Democrats are aligned with those sections
of the intelligence apparatus and the “deep state” that are determined to
compel Trump to abandon any notion of easing relations, and instead continue
the Obama administration’s policy of escalating confrontation with Russia. As
the Democrats and the so-called “liberal” media pursue their anti-Russia
campaign, the Trump administration continues to advance its brutal domestic
agenda.
Trump’s
budget is the opening shot in a stage-managed tussle between the two big
business parties over social cuts that will end with the most massive attack on
core social programs in US history.
The budget
includes a cut of $800 billion over a decade in Medicaid, the health insurance
program for low-income people jointly administered by the federal government
and the states. More than 74 million Americans, or one in five, are currently
enrolled in Medicaid, including pregnant women, children and seniors with
disabilities.
Like the
American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed earlier this month by the
Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Trump’s budget plan would put
an end to Medicaid as a guaranteed benefit based on need, replacing it with per
capita funding or block grants to the states.
The AHCA
would also end the expansion of Medicaid benefits under Obamacare and allow
states to impose work requirements for beneficiaries. The Congressional Budget
Office estimated that an earlier version of the Republican plan would result in
10 million people being stripped of Medicaid benefits.
Trump’s
budget would also cut $193 billion over a decade from the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, a 25
percent reduction to be achieved in part by limiting eligibility and imposing
work requirements.
Welfare
benefits, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, would be cut by $21
billion. Spending on the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which
benefit mainly low- and middle-income families, would be reduced by $40
billion.
The budget
reportedly includes changes in funding for Social Security’s Supplemental
Security Income program, which provides cash benefits to the poor and disabled.
While
gutting social programs, Trump proposes to sharply reduce taxes for the
wealthy. In addition to slashing income tax rates for the rich, he is proposing
to dramatically cut estate, capital gains and business tax rates. At the same
time, he is demanding a huge increase in military spending.
While
Democrats will make rhetorical criticisms of the Trump budget, the fact is that
the administration is escalating a decades-long assault on the working class
overseen by both big business parties.
The outcome
can be seen in the reality of social life in America:
Poverty
More than 13
percent—some 43.1 million Americans—were living in poverty in 2015. Of these,
19.4 million were living in extreme poverty, which means their family’s cash
income was less than half of the poverty line, or about $10,000 a year for a
family of four. The poverty rate for children under 18 was 19.7 percent.
These are the official poverty rates, based on
absurdly low income baselines. In reality, at least half of the population is
living in or on the edge of poverty. These are precisely the people targeted by
Trump’s proposed cuts to Medicaid, welfare and food stamps.
Hunger
Almost one
in eight US households, 15.8 million, were food insecure in 2015, meaning they
had difficulty providing enough food for all their members. Five percent of
households had very low food security, meaning the food intake of household
members was cut. Three million households were unable to provide adequate,
nutritious food for their children.
Lack of health care
In 2016
under Obamacare, 28.6 million people of all ages, or about 9 percent of the US
population, remained uninsured. Many of those insured under plans purchased
from private insurers on the Obamacare exchanges were unable to use their
insurance because of prohibitively high deductibles and co-pays. Many who gained
insurance under Obamacare did so as a result of the expansion of Medicaid.
Trump plans to reverse this, throwing millions of people back into the ranks of
the uninsured.
A bipartisan assault
In the wake
of Trump’s budget proposal, the Democrats have responded with their standard
empty rhetoric. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer—one of Congress’ biggest
recipients of Wall Street campaign money—decried Trump’s “hard-right policies
that benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the middle-class.” Just three
weeks ago, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were hailing the
passage of a bipartisan fiscal 2017 budget that cut food stamps by $2.4
billion, slashed funding for education and the environment, and added billions
more for the military and border control.
Obamacare
paved the way for the present assault on Medicaid and the coming attacks on
Medicare and Social Security by further subordinating health care to the profit
demands of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries and imposing higher
costs for reduced benefits on millions of workers.
Nothing less
than a mass movement of the working class will prevent the destruction of
Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, food stamps, public education and every
other social gain won by the working class. But this movement must be
completely independent of the Democratic Party, the historic graveyard of
social protest in America. That includes left-talking demagogues like Bernie
Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
It is not a
matter of appealing to or seeking to pressure the Democrats or any other
section of the political establishment. They are all in the pocket of Wall
Street.
The working
class needs its own program to secure its basic social rights—a decent-paying
job, education, health care, a secure retirement. These rights are not
compatible with a capitalist system that is lurching inexorably toward world
war and dictatorship.
Workers and
youth must intervene in this crisis with a socialist and revolutionary program
geared to the needs of the vast majority, not the interests of an obscenely
rich and corrupt financial oligarchy.
Kate Randall
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