- Close to four trillion added to the national debt.
- 8.6 million people losing health insurance coverage mostly through Medicaid cuts and adjustments.
- Increasing the number of potentially starving children by cutting them off from SNAP.
- Making student loans harsher to pay back.
- Cutting clean energy tax credits and investments (which will also hurt Red States)like those from the Inflation Reduction Act while leaving those for fossil fuels.
- Tax cuts that permanently help the rich but only temporarily (like the tax cut on tips) on the poor, child tax credit, and elderly which would expire in 2029.
- A federal private school voucher welfare for the wealthy tax credit program.
This budget, despite its temporary provisions to reduce income (but not payroll) taxes on tips and overtime, car loan interest, and a slightly expanded tax credit for qualifying individuals and families is another example of MAGA Republican Snake Oil that will not move the country forward, make our international competitors stronger, and pull people down.
Focusing on the health care cuts, Arizona’s Democratic Congressional Delegation (Representative Yassamin Ansari, Representative Greg Stanton, Senator Mark Kelly, and Senator Ruben Gallego) issued a joint statement condemning the MAGA Budget and Tax Proposal, writing:
“This Republican plan rips health care away from Arizonans who rely on it to survive, including kids, families with disabled children, and seniors in nursing homes. This is exactly what Republicans claimed they weren’t doing, and yet here they are moving forward with this dangerous plan.
“Medicaid isn’t just a budget line. All across Arizona, we’ve heard from parents who won’t be able to pay for the pediatrician, seniors who won’t be able to fill prescriptions or stay in their nursing home, and health centers and hospitals at risk of shutting down.
“We refuse to stand by while Republicans burn down our health care system just to hand out tax breaks to billionaires. We stand with Arizonans and will keep fighting back against these reckless cuts.”
Representative Ansari and Senator Kelly also issued separate posts.
Representative Yassamin Ansari posted:
On social media, Senator Kelly posted:
With regard to the federal private school voucher scheme called “Qualified Elementary and Secondary Education Scholarships,” Arizona Save Our Schools Arizona Beth Lewis issued a statement on how the national MAGA Republicans were repeating the mistakes of MAGA Arizona legislators and Doug Ducey when they created the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts three years ago, writing:
“Arizona students deserve a well-resourced neighborhood public school, regardless of their family’s income or zip code — but if Congress passes a federal voucher scheme, they will further jeopardize public education in our state. Out-of-state special interests have already forced a $1 billion private school voucher program into our state — now, they’re trying to pass a federal voucher plan that will double down on the decimation of our schools.”
“This dangerous voucher proposal threatens to use taxpayer dollars to support millionaires, billionaires, and their corporate backers through unregulated “scholarship-granting organizations.” These organizations would have complete discretion over the criteria and amounts for students receiving school vouchers. This federal voucher program undermines state rights and represents a massive tax giveaway to the wealthy, which could lead to major funding losses for public schools in Arizona.”
“If the Trump Tax Reconciliation bill passes in its current form, it could lead to severe cuts in classrooms, resulting in mass layoffs of educators, reductions in after-school enrichment programs, cuts to free and reduced lunch and breakfast initiatives, and school closures.”
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