Trump budget hard on 'forgotten' rural American supporters
Trump budget hard on 'forgotten' rural American supporters
Heidi M Przybyla , USA TODAY Published 4:33 p.m. ET May 23, 2017
WASHINGTON — Sen. Al Franken, the former comedian from Minnesota, had a not-so-funny response to President Trump’s first budget that relies on deep cuts to the nation's health care and safety-net programs: “This piece of legislation is cruel,” said Franken, who co-chairs the Senate rural health caucus.
It could be particularly punishing for the rural, working-class voters who overwhelmingly supported Trump, according to a USA TODAY review.
The White House budget unveiled Tuesday would slash Medicaid by more than $800 billion over the next decade. It also takes aim at programs used disproportionately by people without college degrees, who voted for Trump by six points, including food assistance, crop subsidies and education and job training.
During his 2016 campaign, Trump promised to prioritize the “forgotten men and women” of America. Many of them are manual laborers who eventually rely on Social Security disability insurance, which Trump slashes despite a campaign promise not to touch the program. It could also force the closure of a number of rural hospitals, which overwhelmingly rely on Medicaid and serve many of the oldest and sickest working-class Americans. Hospitals in such rural areas, which supported Trump by 28 points, are already under duress from an opioid epidemic. Other cuts include to retiree benefits and tax credits for the working poor and families with children.
“The irony of the Trump budget is that it hurts many of the people who supported him most,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Senate Democrat, calling it “a comic book-villain-bad budget.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/05/23/trump-budget-hard-forgotten-rural-american-supporters/102065680/
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