We already know that President Trump has proposed slashing Medicare spending in his budget proposals. Now, Bess Levin reports for Vanity Fair that President Trump has told friends that he would like to gut Medicare if he is reelected. Will this be his undoing, at least among older adults who supported him in 2016?
To repeat, Trump’s plan for reducing the federal deficit is likely to be eliminating Medicare and the economic and financial security that it offers older adults, people with disabilities and their families. But, he knows better than to say so publicly right now. Trump will not campaign for reelection on gutting Medicare.
On Medicare, Trump’s views are aligned with the Republican party. So, if the Republicans hold the Senate in 2020, gutting Medicare is likely to be a major priority. The Republican Party sees gutting Medicare as an easy way to reduce the deficit while still keeping taxes low for the wealthy and the big corporations.
More likely than not, Trump will tell Americans that he has no plans to cut Medicare and Social Security. That’s what he did in 2016. Still, once elected, he put forward proposals to slash Medicare. In his 2020 budget, Trump proposed $845 billion in cuts to Medicare. And, he abandoned his plan to lower drug prices for people with Medicare.
Now, Trump wants to make good on his 2016 campaign promise to eliminate the deficit, which is projected to reach $960 billion by the end of September. He sees slashing Medicare as the way to do so. He wouldn’t think of raising taxes. He wants to keep taxes for the wealthy and corporations low. In fact, he wants to cut taxes further, by lowering the capital gains tax and reducing payroll taxes, both of which will only increase the deficit.
Social Security is also on President Trump’s chopping block. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) reports that President Trump is open to cutting Social Security as a “second-term” project.
Here’s more from Just Care:
…yep, just one more lie in his goring list.
Snopes fact check claims he never said he’d cut these programmes. Well, they are half correct, he never verbally said so, but his actions and influence on Senate Republicans (as well as his willingness to let them do what they want) say otherwise. His 2020 budget calls for cuts to all three programmes, Social Security Medicare and Medicaid, with Medicaid being hit the hardest.
Should he be reelected, Senate Republicans have vowed they would make further and deeper cuts as an offset to the deficit that they and Mr. Trump created by moving 1.7 Trillion in wealth upwards and approving the largest ever budget for the “War Department.” Furthermore Mr. Trump is unilaterally looking to reduce the Capital Gains Tax (which only the wealthy benefit from) even more which will increase the deficit further.
Here is a link to an article article from Forbes which is considered a conservative business publication detailing the Republican plan.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2019/08/23/trumps-second-term-plan-for-social-security-starve-the-beast/#517418513794
If President Trump reduces or abolishes Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, or any one of these, he may then face being impeached. Cannot believe the American public will stand for that! We should start right now to reject this by flooding our Senators/Congressmen/Women with phone calls and letters so there is no doubt in their minds that their jobs, too, are on the line.