July 28th, 2011
Robert Greenstein of the CBPP notes a very radical departure in both the Boehner debt bill and the absurd "Cut, Cap and Balance."
"For 26 years, all budget legislation that would trigger across-the-board cuts if Congress fails to meet a fiscal target has exempted the basic low-income (or “means-tested”) entitlement programs from those cuts. The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings laws of 1985 and 1990, the deficit reduction agreement of 1990, and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 — all bipartisan pieces of legislation — included that exemption. So did last year’s “pay-as-you-go” law, which requires Congress to offset the cost of new tax cuts or increases in entitlement programs so they don’t increase the deficit. Congress has never enacted a law with an across-the-board cut mechanism that subjects core assistance for the poor to these cuts.
But in the last few weeks, House Republicans have advanced two major pieces of legislation that would do just that. Both the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act,” which the House passed last week, and the new Boehner debt-ceiling proposal drop all of the low-income exemptions that have been part of every previous across-the-board cut mechanism since 1985.
And, in an exercise in political cynicism, both of these bills add an exemption — for payments to Medicare providers – that was not part of the previous laws. This enables the bill’s authors to claim they are protecting Medicare, even as they subject those living below the poverty line to the risk of automatic cuts that would push them even deeper into poverty. (To be sure, these two measures do not protect Medicare — or Social Security — from being cut by Congress to meet the extremely austere budget targets the bills erect; they only protect those programs from being cut automatically if the targets are not adhered to.)"
Showing posts with label medicaid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicaid. Show all posts
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Assault On Hoosiers
June 22nd, 2011
Rachel Maddow examines the impact of Indiana's controversial removal of Planned Parenthood from the state's Medicaid system.
Rachel Maddow examines the impact of Indiana's controversial removal of Planned Parenthood from the state's Medicaid system.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Paul Ryan's Recipe For Misery
April 4th, 2011
As we await the full release of Rep Paul Ryan's (R-WI) "budget" proposals enough has leaked out to know that it's more of the same serve-the-rich nonsense that has been inflicted upon ordinary Americans for years. It just takes those policies and puts them into overdrive.
From TPM:
"Ryan's plan will also propose tax reforms that lower corporate and upper-income tax rates, while eliminating certain loopholes. The details of that part of his plan are unclear, but if they adhere to his Roadmap for America's Future, the GOP budget will propose to overhaul the tax code in a way that reduces the burden on the wealthy and increases it on the poor and middle classes."
As we await the full release of Rep Paul Ryan's (R-WI) "budget" proposals enough has leaked out to know that it's more of the same serve-the-rich nonsense that has been inflicted upon ordinary Americans for years. It just takes those policies and puts them into overdrive.
From TPM:
"Ryan's plan will also propose tax reforms that lower corporate and upper-income tax rates, while eliminating certain loopholes. The details of that part of his plan are unclear, but if they adhere to his Roadmap for America's Future, the GOP budget will propose to overhaul the tax code in a way that reduces the burden on the wealthy and increases it on the poor and middle classes."
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