Why the Republican Budget Won’t Work

The House Republican budget contains serious contradictions, protects the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the most vulnerable and includes drastic, yet undefined spending cuts. Here’s a closer look at some of the many reasons the Republican budget won’t work:

Repeals the Affordable Care Act

• Despite the fact that the Affordable Care Act was upheld by the Supreme Court, the Republican budget repeals it, even though many Republicans admit it won’t happen.
• While Republicans repeal the ACA, they cynically keep $716 billion in Medicare savings that come from this law – the same savings Rep. Ryan criticized last Fall.
• Republicans also keep all the revenue from health care reform, amounting to $1 trillion over ten years. [Budget Committee Democrats, 3/12]

The Tax Plan Does Not Add Up

• The Republican budget purports to be revenue neutral, but reduces the top tax rate from 39.6% to 25%, while also repealing the AMT and other taxes. 
• To cut taxes for the wealthy without adding to the deficit, Republicans would have to eliminate $5.7 trillion in tax preferences for the middle class – yet the Republican budget does not identify a single tax preference they will end. [Tax Policy Center, 3/15] 
• This tax increase on the middle class included in the Republican budget could amount to, on average, $3,000 per family. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/17]

Relies on Unspecified $962 billion in “Other Mandatory” Cuts

• The Republican budget leaves many questions unanswered with unspecified cuts and magic asterisks.
• It includes $962 billion in unspecified cuts to “other mandatory” spending, without explaining where those cuts come from, or what policies are used to implement them.
• According to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities President Robert Greenstein, 70% of programs in the “other mandatory” section of the budget are “programs for the needy and disadvantaged.”

Drastic Non-Defense Discretionary Spending Cuts

• Non-defense discretionary spending – which includes funding for a wide range of agencies and programs, including the National Institutes of Health, air traffic controllers, food safety inspectors, and Head Start – is cut by hundreds of billions of dollars.
• Non-defense discretionary spending is cut by more than $1 trillion below Budget Control Act caps, which already reduced spending to its lowest level as a share of GDP since 1962. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/12]
• The sequester already threatens our domestic programs and risks 750,000 jobs according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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