The Republicans are coming for your money again

| 7:30 pm EDT May 23, 2021
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The 152-member House Republican Study Committee (HRSC) has released its 2022 alternative fiscal budget. It shows the GOP is having difficulty moving away from its entitlement-cutting mindset or squaring it with its newer populist faction.

As usual, the GOP would rather cut and paste something together rather than do any real work. The HRSC Budget is essentially an update of former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s 2008 “Roadmap for America’s Future,” which is libertarian-inspired. It seeks to balance the budget through spending cuts alone (meaning no changes ever to Trump’s 2017 tax cuts — mostly for the rich and corporations, so they would never pay their fair share). This results in radical reductions of all federal expenditures, most notably Social Security and Medicare.

For example, the age to receive Medicare and full SS benefits would go up to 69, keeping aging Americans in the work force much longer than most want or may even be able to do. Also, those who work the longest and pay into Social Security the most would receive the biggest cuts in benefits.

Medicare would be totally transformed into an optional “fed plan” or private insurance, with most retirees paying more for healthcare, cutting SS benefits even further. Cuts in Medicaid and Obamacare would be worse.

January’s EPPC-YouGov poll shows 67% of Trump voters want SS benefits to stay the same — even if payroll taxes must increase. The GOP apparently ignored this, just doesn’t care what voters want, and/or figures they can get by lying about it until it’s too late.

The proposed budget gives a glimpse into what the future would be in a Republican-controlled House and Senate, although it would likely be much worse than what they are willing to show while they’re out of power. (I had difficulty even finding the proposed budget, which was well-hidden on the HRSC’s website, and most articles about it are by conservative media outlets and foundations who they no doubt coordinated with, putting a rosy spin on it). We simply cannot let the GOP get control of our government again anytime soon, or things will no doubt be put in even worse shape than what President Biden inherited.