Talking points on President Trump’s 2021
Budget
The
President’s budget is the most complete articulation of his vision for
the country — it would push millions of less fortunate Americans into or
deeper into poverty, widen inequality and racial disparities, and increase the
ranks of the uninsured.
We
should take this budget seriously. It’s a roadmap to the types of actions that the
Trump Administration will take this year and the more radical changes they
would pursue if the President is re-elected and a future Congress were open to
such policies.
1. The Trump health plan would likely cause millions of people to
lose coverage, while also ending protections for millions of people with
pre-existing health conditions. This would make it harder for people to see a
doctor when they’re sick or pay for medication they need to stay healthy.
o
The centerpiece of the budget is deep
cuts to health coverage programs: $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and Affordable
Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits over 10 years, with cuts growing deeper over
time.
2. The budget harshly cuts programs that help low-income families put
food on the table, pay rent, and meet other basic needs.
o
The budget targets
benefits and services for households of modest means for deep cuts, even as the
President has supported tax cuts that deliver large benefits to the wealthy.
3. The budget also reneges on the President’s budget deal with
Congress by proposing cuts in key domestic programs, such as funding for
education, scientific research, national parks and forests, housing assistance,
and environmental protection.
o The budget violates last year’s bipartisan
budget agreement between Congress and the President by proposing cuts to domestic programs funded through annual appropriations
in 2021 and even deeper cuts in later years.
4. The promise of
America should be for everyone — not just the wealthy few. Yet the budget’s
combination of tax cuts and program changes would widen income inequality and
racial disparities.
o
The Trump budget
calls for permanently extending the 2017 tax law’s large tax cuts for the
wealthy, even as it proposes cuts in health care and basic assistance for those
of limited means. This means the budget would concentrate more wealth and
income at the top and further entrench barriers to economic opportunity that contribute
to inequality, including across racial and ethnic lines.
