The Trump Budget

Meet the new MAGA “populist nationalism”:

“For example, the budget would cut $554 billion from Medicare spending over 10 years.

Medicare is the federal program that provides health benefits to older Americans, and more than 55 million people used the program last year …

The proposal also would make changes to Medicaid, the health program for lower-income Americans that is funded by the federal government and states. It would create a “market-based health-care grant” that could fund programs in addition to the traditional Medicaid program, a change that would lower Medicaid spending by about $250 billion over 10 years.

One program that would face the biggest reduction is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is a version of food stamps run by the Agriculture Department. The White House proposes cutting $214 billion from the program over 10 years, although Congress often fights about changing SNAP and rarely has enacted changes. …”

In substance, it happens to be virtually identical to what used to be known as … drumroll … mainstream conservatism. Huge tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Entitlement cuts for the poor and working class. Welfare as far as the eye can see for the Pentagon and Israel.

“This budget proposes taking away food assistance from millions of low-income Americans — and on the heels of a tax cut that favored the wealthy and corporations,” said Stacy Dean, president for food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “It doesn’t reflect the right values.” …

On health care for low-income Americans, Trump’s budget calls for cutting federal Medicaid funding by $250 billion over the next 10 years, as the administration envisions passing a law “modeled closely” on a Senate Republican proposal that failed last fall to repeal the Affordable Care Act. …”

The Trump budget is morally bankrupt and bad economic policy. It pays for his tax breaks for the rich and large corporations by slashing Medicaid by $1.3 trillion, cutting Medicare by $554 billion and slicing $10 billion from the Social Security Disability Insurance Program.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 12, 2018

If you were wondering how Trump plans to pay for his tax cuts for billionaires and corporations, now you know: with $1.8 trillion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 12, 2018

This will go nowhere in Congress.

It is, however, instructive. If the Republicans had the votes in Congress, they would simply be doing more things for their donors like entitlement reform. It further shreds the image that Steve Bannon cultivated of Donald Trump as a “populist nationalist.” The mask is off now.