First tax cuts, now program cuts?

The money has to come from somewhere. $1.5 trillion dollars worth. That is how much the federal deficit is expected to increase a a result of congressional passage of that massive tax overhaul. The so-called deficit hawks like Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan passed this legislation despite its effect on the deficit. They slashed corporate tax rates, cut taxes for the rich and reduced taxes slightly for the rest of us, they will now turn their attention to reducing federal spending. That means cutting spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare programs. Even less help for the little people. Speaker Ryan is pushing for reducing federal spending on both federal health care and anti-poverty programs when the next Congress convenes. But a majority of the public, and key members of Ryan’s own party, don’t want to trim spending on these programs. A poll by the Kaiser Foundation finds only 12 percent of American adults want to see the federal government decrease spending for Medicaid. Congress created the ballooning deficit by cutting taxes for their rich buddies, and now want to reduce the deficit by reducing spending on the poor. That is not good public policy, only further proof the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer.