Read the full column (CAPAF)
The latest House Republican budget plan asks low-income and middle-class Americans to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction while simultaneously delivering massive tax breaks to the richest 1 percent and preserving huge giveaways to Big Oil. It’s a recipe for repeating the mistakes of the Bush administration, during which middle-class incomes stagnated and only the privileged few enjoyed enormous gains.
Each component of the new House Republican budget threatens the middle class while doing nothing to add jobs or grow our economy. It ends the guarantee of decent insurance for senior citizens, breaking Medicare’s bedrock promise. It slashes investments in education, infrastructure, and basic research, all of which are key drivers of economic growth and mobility. And it cuts taxes for those at the top, asking the middle class to pick up the tab. It’s a budget designed to benefit the top 1 percent at everyone else’s expense.
The House Republican budget released today by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) purports to boost economic growth by cutting taxes and government spending. Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. Pull back the curtain.
When you do you’ll see a budget that will increase child hunger and cost jobs by cutting off critical nutrition assistance. You’ll see a blueprint that undermines family economic security by reducing access to health care and support for those providing for elderly loved ones. You’ll see a fiscal framework that insists on keeping elevated levels of nonwar defense spending at the expense of caring for our veterans who are returning home. And you’ll see class warfare—a budget that enriches the wealthiest individuals and corporations with wasteful tax breaks at the expense of the middle class and most vulnerable.
Read the full column (CAPAF)