Before we get into why the vote earlier today for the ruinous Ryan budget was so godawful, let’s first list the Virginia Hall of Shame – the Virginia Republicans who voted for this monstrosity.
Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes, Bob Goodlatte, Robert Hurt, Scott Rigell, Rob Wittman, Frank Wolf
Now, why was this vote so horrendous?
*According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “some 69 percent of the cuts in House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s new budget would come from programs that serve people of limited means.” For instance, “Under the Ryan plan, at least 40 million low- and moderate-income people – that’s 1 in 8 Americans – would become uninsured by 2024.”
*As if that’s not bad enough, the “Ryan budget cuts SNAP (formerly food stamps) by $137 billion over the next decade.”
*The Ryan/Republican budget also “cuts Pell Grants for low- and moderate-income students by up to $125 billion” and “cuts an additional $385 billion – beyond its SNAP cuts – from the budget category containing many mandatory programs for low – and moderate-income Americans, such as Supplemental Security Income for the elderly and disabled, the school lunch and child nutrition programs, and the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits for lower-income working families.”
*In addition, the Ryan/Republican budget would “cut Medicare spending by $356 billion over the 2013 – 2023 period compared to CBPP’s current-policy baseline” and “replace Medicare’s guarantee of health coverage with a flat premium-support payment, or voucher.”
*Finally, can we say “war on women?” According to the National Women’s Law Center, this budget would: “Put families at risk for losing coverage;” “Prevent low-income women from receiving the services they need;” “Put coverage for the most vulnerable women at risk;” “Roll back coverage for women currently insured by Medicaid;” “Threaten older women’s economic well-being;” “Allow insurance companies to discriminate against women;” “Cause millions of women to lose [health care] coverage;” etc.
Next time you hear a Republican try to claim that the “war on women” is a figment of Democrats’ imaginations, just point them to the National Women’s Law Center – and laugh at them. As for Republicans being anything other than the party of the rich and privileged, the near-unanimous GOP adoption of this Ayn Randian fever dream of a budget settles that argument. Oh, and note how even supposed “moderate” Republicans like Frank Wolf voted for this war on working people and women? Hmmmm…perhaps the Washington Post and others who claimed for years that Wolf really was a “moderate” were not quite right about that?
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