Donald Trump is in dangerous territory
The bill that House Republicans recently passed calls for a substantial cut in Medicaid benefits so that we can afford more tax cuts for the wealthy. Stop calling them Republicans and call them what they are: reverse Robin Hoods. They’re taking from the poor to give to the rich, though Medicaid is not just for poor people. The agency spends millions of dollars per year on nursing homes. According to Market Watch, 62% of nursing home residents are on Medicaid. Even if they were previously on Medicare, they get switched over to Medicaid if they need long-term care. You can purchase long-term care insurance, but it is incredibly expensive. As Market Watch shared, the number of people over 85 is set to double in 15 years and triple in 25 years. We’re living longer, and we need options available to us even if Republicans think we’re dispensable.
They are looking to cut $90 billion per year, which will not even begin to cover the tax cuts for fat cats, nor will it make a dent in the deficit. Republicans are going after Medicaid because it has such a large budget; however, that budget is large for several reasons. 70% of the budget goes to health insurance for children, people with disabilities, and the elderly. The rest goes to other Medicaid beneficiaries, which will likely be cut first. This percentage of Medicaid provides health insurance for the poor and unemployed and will save $175 billion per year while Trump’s “agenda” will cost $400 billion. Do the math-it’s a waste of time and resources that people in need will no longer have. In other words, Republicans are already breaking campaign promises, and they will be adding to our already oversized deficit, to which Republicans say “what deficit” if they’re making the rules.
At the same time, they will be depriving 79 million Americans of the lifeline they need to get by, as well as the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). While Steve Scalise tried pointing out that the bill doesn’t even mention Medicaid, we’re not stupid. Mike Johnson claimed that $50 billion a year in Medicaid is fraudulent, but if that’s truly the case, why haven’t they addressed the fraud and waste before? Yes, that was a rhetorical question. Even Steve Bannon doesn’t like touching Medicaid: “A lot of MAGAs on Medicaid. I’m telling you, if you don’t think so, you are dead wrong.” In this instance, Bannon is correct. Most MAGAs are not happy with Trump’s work to date.
Raw Story spoke with Sarah Longwell, a longtime Republican Party pollster. Longwell contends that many Trump voters are now seeing “buyer remorse.” One Trump voter commented: “If we had a drinking game where everyone took a drink when word ‘reverse course’ or ‘walking this back,’ we’d be drunk in 20 minutes. It’s chaos up there.” Not to beat a dead horse, but what were they expecting? It was chaos the last time Trump was in office, but now, it’s much worse. When you put chaos together with taking food from people’s mouths, it’s annihilation.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years