US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7526

House Republicans just voted to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in health care for the poor as part of their Obamacare replacement. Now, they’re weighing a plan to take the scalpel to programs that provide meals to needy kids and housing and education assistance for low-income families.

President Donald Trump’s refusal to overhaul Social Security and Medicare — and his pricey wish-list for infrastructure, a border wall and tax cuts — is sending House budget writers scouring for pennies in politically sensitive places: safety-net programs for the most vulnerable.

Under enormous internal pressure to quickly balance the budget, Republicans are considering slashing more than $400 billion in spending through a process to evade Democratic filibusters in the Senate, multiple sources told POLITICO.

The proposal, which would be part of the House Budget Committee's fiscal 2018 budget, won't specify which programs would get the ax; instead it will instruct committees to figure out what to cut to reach the savings. But among the programs most likely on the chopping block, the sources say, are food stamps, welfare, income assistance for the disabled and perhaps even veterans benefits.

If enacted, such a plan to curb safety-net programs — all while juicing the Pentagon’s budget and slicing corporate tax rates — would amount to the biggest shift in federal spending priorities in decades.

Atop that, GOP budget writers will also likely include Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) proposal to essentially privatize Medicare in their fiscal 2018 budget, despite Trump’s unwavering rejection of the idea. While that proposal is more symbolic and won’t become law under this budget, it’s just another thorny issue that will have Democrats again accusing Republicans of “pushing Granny off the cliff.”

“The Budget Committee is trying to force the entire conference and committees of jurisdiction to focus on ways to bring down this deficit,” said senior budget panel member Rep. Tom Cole. Republicans have long sought to tackle the nearly $20 trillion debt, but Trump has tied their hands by ruling out cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

The Oklahoma Republican, however, acknowledged that mandatory spending reductions could become “very tough issues” — though he declined to name which programs would see major cuts: “These are hard for anybody, no matter where you’re at on the political spectrum.”

While budget writers are well aware of the sensitive nature of their proposal, they feel they have no choice if they want to balance the budget in a decade, which they’ve proposed for years, and give Trump what he wants.

Enraged by Democrats claiming victory after last month’s government funding agreement, White House officials in recent weeks have pressed Hill Republicans to include more Trump priorities in the fiscal 2018 blueprint.

House Budget Republicans hope to incorporate those wishes and are expected, for example, to budget for Trump’s infrastructure plan. Tax reform instructions will also be included in the budget, paving the way for both chambers to use the powerful budget reconciliation process to push a partisan tax bill through Congress on simple majority votes, as well as the $400 billion in mandatory cuts.

On May 15 2017 06:14 Plansix wrote:

Clappers going to do what he thinks is best for the county. And use whatever language he thinks is accurate to what is happening. Sorry, your boy is a terrible leader.

On May 15 2017 06:56 Nevuk wrote:
It is all really an argument to make the house much larger and allow it to be attended remotely.

Also, I can't wait until Trump causes a diplomatic incident by sending a famous chefs steak back to be cooked until its so well done it bounces off the plate and then smothering it in ketchup. I foresee this happening in France

On May 15 2017 05:53 xDaunt wrote:

Clapper can go fuck himself. What does he think Trump was elected to do? And saying something like "our institutions are under attack" is needlessly vague and inflammatory.

On May 15 2017 08:08 Gahlo wrote:

Sounds like they learned from watching Republicans the last decade or so.

On May 15 2017 08:03 Danglars wrote:

So what you're saying is he absolutely knows his audience. They demand vague accusations and inflammatory rhetoric. Clapper, like other ex-Obama guys and Obama-holdover-leakers, is serving up the buffet.

On May 15 2017 09:11 LegalLord wrote:
It's amazing how quickly long-time critics of intelligence are willing to throw that all away simply because they're willing to speak against Trump now. And how, seeing how bad what the Republicans did in Congress was, can't even consider how bad an idea it would be to repeat the exact same form of partisan hackery now that Democrats are the opposition.

On May 15 2017 05:53 xDaunt wrote:

Clapper can go fuck himself. What does he think Trump was elected to do? And saying something like "our institutions are under attack" is needlessly vague and inflammatory.

On May 15 2017 05:53 xDaunt wrote:

Clapper can go fuck himself. What does he think Trump was elected to do? And saying something like "our institutions are under attack" is needlessly vague and inflammatory.

On May 15 2017 09:29 xDaunt wrote:
I'm ready for Trump to launch a full blown inquisition of the administrative state. Part of it must include clearing out the dead wood in his administration. I'm inclined to think that some of the establishment types (like Priebus) are part of the problem. What Trump has in place clearly isn't working for him, so he needs to clear the board and start over. The sooner he commits to this, the better.