Seniors and other vulnerable Americans will be hurt if the just-released GOP tax scheme is enacted.  National Committee president Max Richtman told a hearing room full of Senators – including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-WA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) – that the Republicans’ budget and tax legislation must be defeated.

“The Republican budget and tax plans allow [Congress] to slash programs critical to older Americans and people with disabilities – all to pay for massive tax cuts for the very wealthy and profitable corporations.” – Max Richtman, 11/1/17

We analyzed the harm that the GOP proposals would wreak on older Americans in a post last week, entitled GOP Budget Resolution a “Lump of Coal” for Seniors, Middle Class.  Among the more heinous measures, Republicans seek to cut nearly $500 billion from Medicare, $1.3 trillion from Medicaid, more than $600 billion from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and will likely slash billions from other programs that seniors rely on for financial and health security.

Richtman told the Senators that Medicare beneficiaries “cannot afford to pay more for less coverage” – particularly when half of them have incomes of less than $26,200 a year and spend 25 percent of their Social Security check to pay for Medicare premiums and cost-sharing. “And they cannot afford cuts to Medicare such as those assumed in the House budget – turning Medicare into a voucher program and raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67,” he explained.

What’s more, the tax plan will increase the national debt and compel Republicans to cut seniors’ earned benefits more aggressively in the future – even though Social Security and Medicare Part A are self-financed and do not contribute to federal budget deficits.

 “By increasing the federal budget deficit by at least $1.5 trillion, this measure would leave Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid vulnerable to benefit cuts to make up the difference.” – Max Richtman, 11/1/17

Under the tax bill supported by President Trump and congressional Republicans, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates the top one percent of Americans would receive 80 percent of the tax cuts. For the top one percent, the average annual tax cut would be over $200,000 by 2027.

The bottom 80 percent of Americans would receive 13 percent of the tax cuts. In fact, 115 million households earning less than $75,000 a year would receive a tax cut of just $190 on average. But ultimately, most Americans would lose much more in program cuts than they would gain from tax cuts.

Richtman implored Congress to resist this reckless legislation:

“The National Committee urges all Senators and Representatives to oppose legislation to enact these ‘Robin Hood-in-Reverse’ budget and tax proposals and instead work together to protect the retirement and health security commitments made to generations of Americans.” – Max Richtman, 11/1/17