On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) delivered a sharp critique of the Republican budget reconciliation bill, denouncing it as a “death sentence” for millions of Americans.
What Happened: Sanders accused President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans of pushing through what he called a "disastrous" budget bill that offers a $235 billion estate tax break to the wealthiest 0.2% of Americans—those inheriting over $30 million—while leaving 99.8% of citizens with no benefit.
The bill would also slash $715 billion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, taking health insurance away from over 13.7 million people, he said. Additionally, "this legislation would provide a $420 billion tax break to large, profitable corporations that are stashing their profits in the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens and who, by the way, are replacing American workers with robots."
Programs in education, nutrition, and Planned Parenthood would also face huge cuts, he noted, "at a time when we already spend more on the military than the next nine nations combined and when everyone knows there is massive waste and fraud in the Pentagon, this bill increases defense spending by $150 billion."
Why It Matters: Sanders warned the bill "does exactly the opposite of what should be done," particularly during a time of historic wealth inequality. He pointed to data from the RAND Corporation demonstrating that the top 1% own more wealth than the bottom 93% and that $80 trillion has been redistributed from the bottom 90% to the top 1% over the past 50 years. "This legislation makes the rich and wealthy campaign contributors even richer while making life harder and more stressful for the working families of our country," he said. Sanders criticized the bill for forcing low-income Americans to pay unaffordable co-pays and gutting Medicaid funding, which he said would result in the death of "many thousands more Americans."
In his closing remarks, Sanders called the bill a stark example of a corrupt political system serving billionaire donors at the expense of everyday Americans. "At a time when children and seniors go hungry here in the wealthiest country on Earth," he said, "our job should be to make sure that all Americans have the nutrition they need to lead healthy lives—not increase the level of hunger."
Sanders is among many politicians who are opposed to the provisions of the bill. Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) raised questions about whether the bill lives up to President Trump’s promise of no taxes on Social Security during a Ways and Means Committee meeting, while other Democrats have called on GOP leaders to discard Medicaid cuts and instead address Medicare Advantage "upcoding" to tackle federal waste.
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