Republicans Plan Tax Cuts While Targeting Medicaid and Food Aid

The new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, a Democrat from Oregon named Ron Wyden, had something to say about the Republican plans. He believes that their idea to cut Medicaid and federal food assistance to pay for tax breaks for the rich is exactly what we can expect from the new Republican leaders, including President-elect Donald Trump. Trump promised to be a champion for working-class people during his campaign but now they feel differently. Wyden thinks that keeping these promises will cause real trouble for many working families. He says that the rich want their tax cuts and don't care about anyone else. The Republican Party is really focused on new tax cuts as they take control of the government. They want to use a special process called reconciliation to quickly pass tax laws before some old ones expire. Trump also wants to reduce corporate taxes, even though most working-class people don't benefit from big company profits. These tax cuts could add a lot to the national debt, so the Republicans are looking for ways to save money elsewhere. One idea is to change how Medicaid is funded, which could lead to serious cuts. This would be bad for poor people and families who rely on Medicaid for healthcare. An expert from Georgetown University says that if Medicaid becomes a block grant, states will have to either increase taxes or cut other important things like education. Or, they might make deep cuts to Medicaid which would hurt millions of poor children, parents, disabled people, and seniors. The Republicans also want to make changes to food aid programs. Senate Warren from Massachusetts says that the Democratic Party should fight against these cuts. She thinks that Trump wants to take away healthcare from poor people and make food more expensive for them. Senator Ed Markey from the same state agrees, saying it's wrong to make healthcare and food more expensive for people just to give tax cuts to big companies.