At $4.75 trillion, Donald Trump’s budget for the next fiscal year is the largest ever. It also proposes to take a huge bite out of this country’s safety net. Trump’s proposal for senior citizen health care would be cut by $845 billion. From The Washington Post:
“Total spending on Medicare, the popular health care program for the elderly that in the past he had largely said he would protect, would be reduced by roughly $845 billion over 10 years. Some of those savings would be redirected to other health programs, but most would be completely cut from the budget.
“His budget would also propose a major overhaul of Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans run jointly with states, by turning more power over to states and cutting spending by $241 billion over 10 years.”
The proposal is dead on arrival in Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi labeled it as “cruel and shortsighted.”
Meanwhile, the White House is proposing an increase of $750 billion in military spending and is asking for an additional $8.6 billion for a border wall. This comes just weeks after the House rejected the idea. Here are other cuts proposed via Vox:
- $25 billion in cuts to Social Security over 10 years, including cuts to disability insurance.
- A $220 billion cut to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps, over 10 years, including mandatory work requirements. The program currently serves around 45 million people.
- A $21 billion cut to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, an already severely underfunded cash-assistance program for the nation’s poorest.
- $207 billion in cuts to the student loan program, eliminating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and cutting subsidized student loans.