Clay Says Republican Budget is a Cruel Assault on Seniors & the Most Vulnerable

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TUESDAY, 4.1.14

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Clay Says Republican Budget is a

“Cruel Assault on Seniors & the Most Vulnerable”

Challenges GOP Budget Chairman US Rep. Paul Ryan to come to St. Louis to see the damage his budget would inflict on seniors, hard-working people

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic & International Monetary Policy, blasted the Republican Fiscal Year 2015 budget as presented today by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R) Wisconsin.  “The Republican budget that Chairman Ryan unveiled today is a cruel assault on seniors, students, the working poor and middle-class families who are struggling to regain their economic security,” said Mr. Clay, who is the Dean of Missouri’s U.S. House delegation. 

“The GOP Budget would end Medicare as we know it, slash funding for Pell Grants & Supplemental Nutrition and cripple future job growth by gutting support for scientific research and job training.”said the Congressman.  “I want to invite Chairman Ryan to come to St. Louis to see and hear from the seniors, students and hard-working people whom his budget would hurt the most.”

Lowlights of the House Republican Budget for Fiscal Year 2015

-It would end Medicare as we know it, turning it into a voucher program and risking a death spiral in traditional Medicare. Seniors on Medicare will immediately pay more for preventive health services, those with high prescription drugs costs will see prices skyrocket, and it will mean the end of the current Medicare guarantee. Millions of seniors in nursing homes will be especially hurt by the irresponsible cuts to Medicaid.

-Instead of ensuring that Americans earn a fair wage for a hard day’s work and lifting millions of people out of poverty, the House Republican approach undermines Americans working hard to support their families by slashing food stamps and Medicaid.

-The House Republican Budget would raise taxes on middle class families with children by an average of at least $2,000 in order to cut taxes for households with incomes over $1 million.

-It would force deep cuts to investments in our roads and bridges.

-It would slash federal investments in scientific research to cure diseases like Alzheimer’s.

-It would reduce access to a quality education for lower income students by cutting Pell grants and support for community colleges.

-With over 14 million Americans now covered under all portions of the Affordable Care Act, including the 7.1 million who have enrolled through the marketplace exchanges, the GOP budget would repeal the ACA, raising health care costs on families and businesses and erasing all of the patients protections now guaranteed under the law.

This budget is the Republican declaration of class warfare – it protects the wealthiest 1% at the expense of the rest of the country. It would rig the game in favor of the privileged special interests while dismantling the ladder of opportunity for everyone else; it violates the fundamental promise that every hard-working American should have a fair shot at success.

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