New data show increased deficits from McConnell tax plan; as many as 2.5 million Hoosiers will pay for Rep. Braun’s new tax windfall
INDIANAPOLIS – The bill is coming due for the McConnell tax plan that the wealthiest Americans have benefitted from, new data show this week, and Mitch McConnell and Rep. Braun stand ready to pay for it with cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
New data released yesterday from members of the Joint Economic Committee reaffirms the damage done by the McConnell tax plan, which has added $1 trillion to coming deficits to fund windfalls for the wealthiest Americans like Rep. Braun. The analysis also makes clear Republicans are ready to gut critical programs Hoosier seniors rely on in order to foot the bill for the McConnell plan’s new tax breaks. It writes, “the Republican budget aims to slash the same amount [as the new deficits created by the tax plan] from Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security” as well as other crucial health care programs.
Earlier this week, Mitch McConnell echoed the report’s findings, telling Bloomberg that he’s counting on people like Rep. Braun to enact deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid next year to offset the rising deficits brought about by the giveaways in his tax bill should they win. His comments are consistent with cuts other Republican leaders have called for in the wake of the McConnell tax plan’s passage.
If Rep. Braun were to win in November, he’d almost certainly help McConnell with any attempt to cut Medicare and Social Security. Since his February GOP debates, Rep. Braun has made clear he believes cuts to Medicare and Social Security should be on the table, and has repeatedly called for “hard decisions” on Social Security and Medicare benefits. At an AARP tele-town hall this September, Rep. Braun expressed interest in reducing Social Security and Medicare benefits by raising the retirement age.
“Rep. Braun supported the McConnell tax plan because it took money out of middle class Hoosiers’ pockets and put it in his own, and now he’s willing to cut Social Security and Medicare because he doesn’t understand how crucial those programs are to older Hoosiers,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “He’d happily march in lockstep with Mitch McConnell to destroy the programs that millions of Hoosiers are counting on for a dignified retirement.”
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