Fact: Trump Introduced Budget Each Year in Office to Cut Social Security & Medicare
Wonder what he'll do this time around, now that he's really angry over losing money?
I was intrigued to find out the details of VP Kamala Harris’ post, so I did a deep dive to find out just what Trump had in fact proposed when he held the seat of the highest office in the land. And what I found was quite troubling…
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in DC, VP Harris is right that the former President was for sharp cuts in SSI, Medicaid and Medicare. According to the “Center,” it conducted an in-depth analysis of Trump proposals that would have carried over from his term ending in January 2021, ten years forward. Those proposals included cuts to the services to the nation’s most vulnerable - cutting aid to the sick, the needy by cutting SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, Law Enforcement (and yes, defunding the police), Education and Infrastructure while protecting the upper earners, who pay no more in social security tax whether they make $168,600 (which is the social security tax cap - FICA for 2024) or thousands more. Obviously this tax cap scheme enriches those in the upper financial strata - while doing a disservice to everyone below.
Just think, the average teacher, policeman or civil service worker, pays a greater percentage of their earnings toward social security retirement (FICA) than those at the top - yet those at the top are in charge of whether or not social security will be cut. From all appearances, it would seem that those advocating for cuts to social security, do not represent the interests of the average worker, and really have no skin in the game.
Here are some excerpts from the Center’s findings:
Budget Abandons Bipartisan Agreement on NDD Spending
The [former] President’s [2021] budget calls for major cuts in non-defense [discretionary] programs funded through annual appropriations. This budget category, often called NDD funding, supports aid to education, environmental protection, low-income housing, scientific research, infrastructure, public health, national parks, justice and law enforcement, job training, and many other important services and investments.
And then there is this:
The [former President’s] budget also envisions ever-deeper cuts in years after 2021, with the overall cut in NDD funding reaching 38 percent in inflation-adjusted terms by 2030. Measured relative to the size of the economy as projected by the Administration, NDD spending in 2030 will have fallen to a level well below the lowest on record back to 1962 — and likely back to the late 1920s, we estimate.
Social Security Lifeline and its Precarious Path
The Lifeline for many hardworking Seniors who paid into the System with every paycheck, are kept on the fence as to whether the money they paid into the system over the course of their lifetime, will be there for them when they need it.
According to the Senate Budget Committee looking back in time to the Trump 2020 budget, it found:
At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, Trump’s budget pays for his huge tax break to the top one percent by cutting $1.5 trillion from Medicaid, $845 billion from Medicare and $25 billion from Social Security. Make no mistake about it: Trump’s budget is a massive transfer of wealth from working class families to the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations in America.
These are the 2020 Budget Committee’s findings:
1. The Trump Budget Takes Away Health Insurance from Tens of Millions of Americans (including the Affordable Care Act);
2. The Trump Budget Takes Food from the Poor and Low-Income Families (including SNAP (supplemental nutrition assistance);
3. The Trump Budget Slashes Public Health and Programs for People with Disabilities & Illnesses (Social Security Disability Insurance & Supplemental Security Income-SSI);
4. The Trump Budget Slashes Education Spending (after school, head start, special Ed);
5. The Trump Budget Makes College More Expensive (Eliminating the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), eliminates the Direct Subsidized Loan program, cuts income-driven loan repayment programs, eliminates the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program; [proving he really loves the poorly educated];
6. The Trump Budget Slashes Income Security Programs (eliminates the Housing Trust Fund; eliminates the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP);
7. The Trump Budget Cuts Needed Infrastructure Investments [even though American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation’s infrastructure a D+ rating]
The Trump Budget calls for a $199 billion federal investment in infrastructure projects. However, this is financed with a $286 billion cut to other infrastructure investments and vital transportation programs – a net $87 billion cut to these essential investments.
The Trump Budget cuts $146 billion to the Highway Trust Fund beginning in 2021; [We now have the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill thanks to Biden-11/15/2021];
8. The Trump Budget Cuts Domestic Spending by Over $1 Trillion - After Passing a Massive Tax Break for the Wealthy and a Huge Increase for the Pentagon; (In December of 2017, Trump signed into law a tax cut bill that will increase the deficit by nearly $2 trillion, when accounting for interest. In his budget, President Trump also proposes a massive increase in military spending, while slashing domestic spending.)
Where We Are Now
Yes, we may all be experiencing hard times with post-pandemic inflation and still some scarcity of goods, but we have to be grateful there are jobs, and the wages are better than ever. So yes, there is still plenty to complain about - issues we’d like to see resolved - but look how bad it could have been. Remember this when you enter the voting booth to look at the bigger picture. Nothing’s perfect, no president is perfect, no policy is perfect - but in reflection, looking at the option we already had - I believe the choice is crystal clear.
Note: Non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs comprise domestic and international programs outside of national defense that Congress funds on an annual basis.
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