Republicans Plan Deadly Cuts to Government as L.A. Fires Spread
House Republicans have begun devising plans to slash health care and environmental protections as wildfires engulf Los Angeles County.
The GOP is aiming to cut $5.7 trillion from the budget over the next 10 years, and is considering cuts to important government services like welfare, climate protections, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act to get there. They then want to use that money to pay for Trump’s draconian immigration plans and tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, according to Politico.
These potential cuts are “not intended to serve as a proposal, but instead as a menu of potential spending reductions for members to consider,” one GOP source told Politico. But the specific policies on the list, such as Joe Biden’s beta version of the Green New Deal, electric vehicle tax credits, the Affordable Care Act, and even food stamps, seem like cruelly ironic things to cut while the country experiences yet another horrifying climate disaster.
“The Republican ‘menu’ cuts food and health care for low income people to put more money in the pockets of the rich,” said Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff to Representative Don Beyer. “Even the item names are dystopian: $490B Medicare cut= ‘Strengthen Medicare For Seniors.’ Cutting food for low income people= ‘Ending Cradle-To-Grave Dependence.”
The viability of these cuts remains to be seen, as Republicans have already experienced infighting over budget reconciliation. Speaker Mike Johnson has thus far agreed to $2.5 trillion in cuts.