During his campaign, President Trump repeatedly promised not to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, which serve tens of millions of seniors, children, families and people with disabilities. But the President has broken his promise to protect those programs and has proposed cutting or eliminating other critical supports American’s in need, the budget document provides unnerving insight into the administration’s priorities. Overall, the budget would reduce spending on means-tested anti-poverty programs by $272 billion over the next 10 years.

 

Via Vox -The cuts include:

  • All $880 billion in Medicaid cuts included in the Republican health plan that has passed the House, plus $610 billion in additional cuts due to adopting an even stingier formula for increasing Medicaid funding year over year. This amounts to a total cut to Medicaid of over 47%.
  • $191 billion in cuts from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), over 10 years. That’s about a 25% cut. The administration claims it will achieve this by adding new work requirements, but it would effectively require kicking many people off the program or dramatically cutting benefit amounts.
    LEARN MORE: FOOD RESEARCH & ACTION CENTER’S REVIEW OF PRESIDENT’S PROPOSED FY 2018 BUDGET
  • $40.4 billion in cuts to the earned income tax credit and child tax credit over 10 years, programs that, along with SNAP, make up much of the US’s safety net for poor people. Trump would require parents receiving benefits to submit a Social Security number to weed out unauthorized immigrants — even those whose children are US citizens.
  • $21.6 billion in cuts to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or welfare, over 10 years. That’s a nearly 13% cut to the program, which has already been cut dramatically since the 1990s.

READ THIS: Coalition on Human Needs -TRUMP Cuts WILL Hurt NY

LEARN MORE: The Key Spending Cuts and Increases in Trump’s Budget

ACTIVATE: What can YOU do to stop the Trump Budget Cuts?

It is important to know that Congress funds the government. Also know that it is because of this, that we need to advocate against this budget to our Senators and Representatives. But even before you begin advocating you should take a few minutes to learn the policy basics on the federal budget process. Check out this awesome overview from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

 

Now that you have a better understanding on the process, it is key that we keep our focus on Congress!

KEY MESSAGES FOR YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

The Indivisibility Guide has some powerful  key messages that your MoC’s (Members of Congress) need to be hearing from you now:

  • No cuts to entitlements and programs that ensure basic living standards for families. The budget proposes to slash $800 billion from Medicaid, $72 billion from Social Security benefits for the disabled, and another $464 billion from food stamps and other core programs for working families.
  • Demand parity between defense and non-defense spending. “Non-defense spending” is where you’ll find funding for programs such as public education, repairing roads and bridges, and protecting our environment. Since 2011, increases to defense spending have been matched with increases to non-defense spending, or cuts to non-defense with cuts to defense. The Trump Budget would violate this principle by slashing non-defense spending while increasing the already huge U.S. military budget by $54 billion over the sequester cap for 2018
  • No funding for a border wall or ramped up internal immigration enforcement. The budget proposes a $1.6 billion down payment on Trump’s costly wall, something that Americans don’t want, won’t work, and will only make us less safe. Make sure that Trump doesn’t get the resources he needs for this or his mass deportation force, which will not only tear American families apart, but will also make our nation less safe.
  • Don’t weaken the future of the U.S. economy—invest in education and research, and support business innovation. The Trump budget forecasts impossibly rosy economic growth, while simultaneously cutting out major engines of future growth. (Again, tax cuts aren’t the silver bullet Republicans want them to be.) Not only would the Trump budget result in immediate and acute harms to working families and the poor—it would erode the path to the American dream and the foundation for new innovations that will power our future economy.
  • No new requirements for tax credits that help working families. The budget would require a Social Security number in order to apply for the Child Tax Credit, a critical tool to help working families with children make ends meet. This would drive many children of immigrants ineligible for a social security number into poverty. Some of these children are U.S. citizens.
  • Don’t cut or eliminate programs that protect our environment. The budget would slash the Environmental Protection Agency’s funding by 31%, including a $330 million cut for cleaning up areas polluted by hazardous waste and a complete elimination of funding to protect the Great Lakes. It also makes major cuts to Clean Air Act programs that help reduce air pollution.
    Demand “revenue-neutral” tax legislation. This means asking that any tax cuts need to be offset by closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations, which will protect funding for essential programs. Reject the magical thinking that Trump’s tax cuts will pay for themselves—they won’t.

Finally, it will take all of us working together to stop these cuts! Share what you are doing with your networks and ask them what they are doing. Only as one can we continue to help our most vulnerable American’s.