The Republican Study Committee—which includes nearly every Republican in Congress—released its latest budget proposal today. It's getting a lot of attention on Twitter because it includes cuts to Social Security even though Republicans have spent the past year angrily denying Democratic claims that they plan to cut Social Security.
But that's not what struck me. After browsing through it, it's clear that it's just a recitation of greatest hits:
- Cut the pay of federal workers and make it easier to fire them
- Reduce funding for the EPA, SEC, FTC, NLRB, OSHA, and presumably any other agency that annoys the business community
- Raise the Social Security retirement age even more
- Block grants for Medicaid
- A big pile o' deregulation proposals
- Drill baby drill
- Welfare
reformcuts - Fight waste fraud 'n abuse
- Defund the IRS
- Eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Tax cuts for businesses and the rich
- Eliminate the estate tax
- Convert SNAP into a block grant
- More defense spending
- Health Savings Accounts
- Premium support for Medicare
- Block grant SSI
- Balanced budget amendment
- Make tax increases essentially impossible
- Kill Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- Eliminate climate funding wherever it's hiding
Old timers will recognize most of these things as reliable warhorses in Paul Ryan's old budget proposals. In other words, the GOP isn't Donald Trump's party in any meaningful sense of the word. It's the same party it's been for decades, with the same old tired proposals.
POSTSCRIPT: There's some new claptrap in the budget too. Times change, after all. There's elimination of the Inflation Reduction Act, for example, and lots of anti-woke stuff. There's a whole section called "Oppose Socialistic Overregulation Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic." And a few lines about eliminating any last dregs of student loan forgiveness.
But mostly it's just the same old stuff.
It is all about Trump and all of that stuff is going to take a back seat to Trump consolidating power and taking revenge on his enemies if he becomes dictator/“president”. He doesn’t care about actual policy and never has.
Sure, but he's also not going to stop congressional Republicans from passing the things they want, if the have control of both houses.
He actually does seem to care about not cutting social security. He doesn't give a fig about deficits so is perfectly willing to fund it with borrowed dollars and leave a disaster for democrat successor. (a twofer.).
First of all, I think that a Trump “Presidency” means there won’t be a democratic successor”. He won’t say he wants to cut SS because too many of his older supporters rely on it. Once he is in power he will support privatization and sell it as something better and cheaper.
But Trump’s main agenda will be exacting revenge on his enemies and keeping non-white people out of the country and deporting those who are already here. A lot of the stuff on the Republican wish list will benefit him directly so of course he will support it. The rest is stuff he doesn’t care about but will support if the Rs want it so long as he can accept credit but not get blamed.
"But Trump’s main agenda will be exacting..."
Trump main agenda will be population suppression. That is what adores in dictators, and that what he wants to do himself. This will be his last shot at doing it, so he will do it full-throttle.
The talk about revenge and stuff is just to make it look less threatening than it actually is.
He doesn't give a fig about Social Security either and he can't run again so he doesn't care about the political consequences. If a Republican congress passes deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare, Trump will sign it.
I guess I am surprised they are willing to go on the record supporting entitlement cuts.
No, no, no...they're not going to cut "your" Social Security...they're going to SAVE it.
How about eliminating the minimum wage? I hear that's been getting a lot of buzz lately. Also ending Obamacare, how did they miss that? They must have been sleep-walking their way through this, sounds very low energy.
And sounds like this has nothing to do with voters or trump (who won't pay any attention to it), but sounds more like it's meant for the Chamber of Commerce and the Club for Growth and K Street, etc, just to show that their faithful lapdogs-- er, servants of the people-- are still on the job for them, and can they please keep depositing that campaign cash.
Well, they are loosening child labor laws...so that's a start.
Got to get those billionaire donors on board for the election.
Sounds like there are still a few redoubts left for the Reince Priebus types in the party. Meanwhile I think you see the nod to the Stephen Miller types in the title mentioning “save America.” America can only be “saved” if it is “fallen”.
Anyway will be interesting to see if Trump runs with no platform as in 2000…
And I say again, it’s the greatest failure of journalism in our time that the GOP can use the term “economic growth” and expect anyone to keep a straight face. The record clearly shows they are the party of economic ruin. But I guess everyone wants to be a millionaire or something, and voting GOP somehow feels vaguely like joining that club, if only tangentially…
"There is evidence that a substantial share of Black, Hispanic and other voters from multiracial, multiethnic backgrounds oppose some elements of the Democrats’ liberal social and cultural agenda."
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/opinion/biden-trump-black-hispanic-voters.html
This budget claptrap is, I agree, standard republican stuff. But I keep wondering if the standard democratic stuff is also made up of tired old proposals. The status quo is fine for most and neither party offers anything inspiring (unless you are a Nazi in which case the trumps are mesmerizing.)
Does this migration of black and latino conservatives to their true home in the trump party matter? I don't know. Will they be turned off by these tired old proposals? I don't think so.
The lack of change in GOP priorities is notable given the constant messaging about how the GOP has changed due to Trumps moderating/progressive/populist stances on legislative issues. This imaginary shift in tone and priorities doesnt appear to translate outside of the media and marketing copy.
That Democrats still offer and support traditional Democratic policies isnt really news.
I don't think it's that notable.
I think it's just showing that these kinds of things never really mattered that much to begin with.
Biden’s support for labor unions is a reversal from Bill Clinton and the DLC. Legislation to fight anthropogenic climate change might not be ‘inspiring’, but it ought to matter to anyone who doesn’t want their house destroyed by wildfire/hurricane/flooding/tornado. The status quo is not fine if you have young kids or grandkids.
Correction: They want premium support for Medicare ADVANTAGE, as a means to send even more money to the outfits so many of which are screwing the insured and stuffing their pockets at taxpayer expense.
Traditional Medicare? Forget it.
It is strange to think that we know most of what it takes to make a generally prosperous society, and yet the policies which will bring this about keep getting rolled back.
The Republican proposals seem to be exactly what a cruel, curmudgeonly old rich guy would want, in order to make his own position even more elevated over that of the rest of the people in society.
That is the Republican World. Now, where do we place the lever to move this?
Which parts of "cruel, curmudgeonly, old, rich, guy" can we change?
The GOP has been out of ideas for more than 40 years and they don’t seem to be in business of formulating new policies anymore so they just keep regurgitating and polishing old ideas.
Bankruptcy, simply put, is really one of two things: a dissolution of your debts or a reorganization of your assets to pay creditors some portion of the debt owed. Trump probably will not be able to eliminate a fraud debt as it is intentional.
I am a lawyer but not a bankruptcy lawyer.
What percentage of American voters understand that their votes - and not just for president - will determine whether any of those things happen?
It's not just about gratifying sadists but it's more importantly about making victims easier to victimize, because it's for their own good.
The golden oldies aren't old if you've never heard them before.
There's always a new wave of enthusiasts who don't realize, or are incapable of realizing, that anything might ever have happened before they've heard of it.
Democratic candidates, from president down to dog catcher, should be smacking their MAGA opponents daily on the GOP proposed cuts to SSI.
Tax cuts increase revenues. Why if we'd only have the courage to go to negative tax rates--we'd have more money than we'd know what to do with it!
Did I miss the National Right To Work Law???????
The only difference between the new Republican party and the old Republican party is that they now realize that there is no need to avoid explicit racism. They get voters by appealing to racism and religion, and get campaign contributions by appealing to malefactors of great wealth.
If you only have to go through Fox News, there's no need for dog whistles. A foghorn will do just fine.