Republican Budget Package is Fiscally Irresponsible

(Washington D.C.)- Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk) voted “NO” today on the final approval of the Republican-sponsored spending reconciliation bill which rewards the rich, harms the less fortunate and increases the deficit.
         
          “Only in George Bush’s America could a so-called “Deficit Reduction Act” actually increase the deficit,” said Napolitano. “What makes this act even more onerous is that the bill is paired with a larger reconciliation package of $56 billion in additional, unnecessary tax cuts that benefit the wealthy. That translates into less funding going to services for working families and low-income seniors in my District.”

          The budget cuts include:

• $13.4 billion in Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Republicans dropped and scaled back provisions opposed by drug companies and by the managed healthcare industry without input by the Democrats– saving these special interests $42 billion. Low-income children, seniors and people with disabilities will lose funding. The proposal reduces the price Medicaid pays for drugs and reduces Medicare payments for certain imaging services and home health care providers.
• $12 billion in student loan programs over the next five years. The bill increases interest rates and fees paid by students and parents while reducing subsidies to lenders. Combined with the skyrocketing cost of higher education, the cuts deny access to college for many students.
• $1.6 billion in child support enforcement over five years, resulting in families receiving $8.4 billion less in child support payments - condemning more children to poverty.
         
           The bill will cost California $3.1 billion over the next 4 years. The biggest cuts to our state will be a reduction of $1 billion in federal funding for student loan programs and a $290 million reduction in child support services.

           The bill passed by a 216 to 214 vote, the President is expected to sign it into law. Not a single Democrat voted in favor of the bill.

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