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Burr, Tillis Vote To Cut Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, Pell Grants To Finance Tax Cuts To Wealthy

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Raleigh, NC – Sens. Tillis and Burr already voted for the budget last week that cuts vital funding for programs helping the most vulnerable people in North Carolina and slashes Medicaid and Medicare funding as the opioid crisis in NC grows in order to give giant tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest among us.

Tillis
NC Senators Thom Tillis (l) and Richard Burr

Almost all of North Carolina’s Republican Congressional delegation – including vulnerable Reps. Holding, Pittenger, Budd, and Hudson – just voted for the budget, proving once again that North Carolina Congressional Republicans are trying to rig the system against working-class North Carolinians.
 
The budget calls for nearly $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid as the opioid crisis worsens every day, impacting millions of North Carolinians:

The budget also cuts vital education and meals assistance funding from those who need it most to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy:

  • The budget calls for deep cuts to programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps more than 1.5 million North Carolinians stay out of poverty and keep healthy food on the table
  • More than 352,000 North Carolinians who rely on Social Security Disability Insurance are at risk.
  • Nationwide, the Senate budget cuts close to $200 billion from services like Pell Grants and student loan assistance over the next decade.

Passing this budget will be the first step in a troubling overhaul of the U.S. tax system that will benefit the wealthiest few at the expense of the everyday American. Republicans are working in secret to write this tax legislation because they know how damaging and unpopular their proposals will be to middle class families. Under the GOP tax plan:

  • 15 percent of North Carolina households would face a tax hike if the GOP tax plan was in effect in 2018.
  • The richest one percent of North Carolina residents would receive 58 percentof the state’s total tax cuts in 2018. These households are projected to earn at least $512,000 next year and would see an average tax cut of more than $50,000 in 2018.
  • In stark contrast, middle-class North Carolinians would only receive 8 percent of the state’s total tax cuts. These households would only get anaverage tax cut of $360 in 2018.

To make matters worse, the Republican tax cuts aren’t paid for. The Senate budget would increase the budget deficit by at least $1.5 trillion, forcing even deeper cuts to programs that help American families.
 
“Today, Congressional Republicans voted for an irresponsible budget that will harm millions of people across North Carolina and rig the system even more against hardworking and middle-class families,” said NCDP Chair Wayne Goodwin. “This budget slashes Medicare and Medicaid funding, robs money from programs that help low-income people put food on the table to give tax cuts to the wealthy, and sets the stage for even more tax cuts that rigs the system for the wealthy and corporations. All that and it promises to blow a $1 trillion hole in the deficit. It is high time our representatives in DC stop looking out for themselves and start looking out for the state they call home.”

Source: ncdemocraticparty.org

Photo: Courtesy of Watauga Watch