It's been said that budgets are moral documents, in that they tell you what the values and priorities are of those proposing them. If that's the case (it is), look at a few more items from the Malignant Fascist's dream budget proposal, submitted last week, and the bill House Republicans have been working on:
House Democrats are making a long-shot attempt to stop Republicans from downsizing federal safety net programs including Medicaid to offset the costs of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and tax cuts.
The Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, on Tuesday announced that his lawmakers are circulating a petition which, should a majority of the chamber sign on to it, would force a vote on legislation preventing cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap).
Known as a discharge petition, the effort faces long odds in the GOP-led chamber. Republican leaders have recently moved to stop such petitions, and while several Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about some of the cuts being considered to pay for Trump’s agenda, they still generally support it.
“House Republicans are determined to jam a reckless and extreme budget down the throats of the American people that will enact the largest cut to Medicaid and the largest cut to Snap in American history,” Jeffries told reporters. [snip]
Trump has called on Congress’s Republican majorities to send him what he has dubbed “one big, beautiful bill”, which is expected to extend tax cuts enacted during his first term, pay for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and potentially address other campaign promises, such as ending the taxation of tips, overtime and social security payments.
The GOP plans to pass the bill using Congress’s reconciliation procedure, which requires only simple majorities in both the House and Senate.
Some Republicans have blanched at the possibility of deep cuts to Medicaid and Snap. Under a budget framework that applies to the House, the former program could lose as much as $880bn, while the latter could lose $220bn, both major cuts that are expected to have far-reaching effects.
Democrats are hoping to seize on their discontent to attract the small number of Republican signatures needed for their petition to succeed... (our emphasis)
Afflicting the afflicted in exchange for tax cuts for the rich, money for disappearing immigrants, etc. Sounds like standard Republican orthodoxy, with more than a little Malignant Fascist terror and cruelty thrown in.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended President Trump’s immigration policies and plans for deep cuts at her agency in her first appearance before lawmakers since being confirmed.
Noem, appearing before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, was grilled by House Democrats over planned cuts for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Trump’s skinny budget proposes $646 million in cuts to FEMA it argues fund “equity” in disaster response and also proposes shuttering the disinformation offices and programs at CISA.
“The president has indicated he wants to eliminate FEMA as it exists today, and to have states have more control over their emergency management response. He wants to empower local governments and support them and how they respond to their people,” Noem said amid questioning from lawmakers... (our emphasis)
Well, first of all, the President is a moron. Let the red states in tornado alley and along the hurricane- prone Gulf of Mexico and Florida coast pay for their own disaster recovery? It's tempting, but we need a national response to disasters.
Veterans and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday protested the Trump administration’s planned cuts for the Department of Veterans Affairs that include slashing some 80,000 jobs, which many worry will affect the massive agency’s delivery of medical care and benefits.
The group rallied outside the U.S. Capitol shortly after VA Secretary Doug Collins finished lengthy questioning before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, where he defended the cuts as necessary to improve the department’s efficiency.
Holding signs that read “Veterans Healthcare Not For Sale,” a crowd of former service members joined by senators and representatives decried that argument as “nonsensical,” as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, put it.
“We’re not going to allow veterans to be betrayed by this administration,” Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said. “I’ve just come from a hearing with the VA secretary, and to say it was a disappointment is a huge understatement. That hearing was a disgrace.”
Jose Vasquez, executive director of Common Defense, the advocacy group that organized the press conference, said, “They call this efficiency, but we call it betrayal.”
Vasquez, an Army veteran who recently received care from the VA in New York for a cancerous tumor on his pancreas, said, “Millions of veterans depend on VA every day — survivors of cancer, toxic exposure, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress.”
He contends the agency’s workers, many of whom are veterans, have been the target of a “non-stop smear campaign.”
“Why? Simple. Because a small group of greedy billionaires would rather get tax cuts than pay for the true cost of war,” Vasquez... (our emphasis)
The more you look at their budgets, the more it becomes obvious what their immoral values and priorities are. (Topline numbers on the Malignant Fascist's proposed budget here.)
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