Republicans now want to balance the federal budget after passing $1 trillion tax cut

[applegrove]

REBEKAH ENTRALGO at Think Progress

https://thinkprogress.org/republicans-balanced-budget-trillion-dollar-legislation-377ba99dac70/

"SNIP.......

Congressional Republicans are planning to push a balanced budget amendment when they return from recess in April, Politico reported on Wednesday. The vote comes directly after many of those same Republicans voted to pass two massively expensive measures, a $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill and a $1 trillion dollar tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthiest Americans.

The attempt at a balanced budget amendment is mostly a shiny gimmick meant to gin up support for Republicans as they approach the 2018 midterm elections. The tax bill is largely unpopular with Americans and very few have actually seen any change in their paychecks, contrary to what President Donald Trump and other Republicans promised.

“It’s almost election season, and it would be helpful if GOP lawmakers could go home and be able to say they voted to support balancing the federal budget, even though they voted boosted discretionary spending by a ton, and have not touched entitlement spending, which, they have said for years, is the driver of U.S. budget deficits,” Politico’s Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, and Daniel Lippman wrote.

Also in the works is a plan for a second round of tax legislation to make tax cuts for individuals permanent. Republicans came under fire during negotiations for providing corporations with a permanent tax cut while individuals and families only received temporary ones, and making individual cuts permanent might help stem the backlash in the lead up to midterms.

......SNIP"

[Matthew28]

1. And they

want to do it on the heads of the poor.

The rich can have everything but the poor need to just die as far as they're concern.

Evil freaking party

[riversedge]

2. It is only an election ploy for Repugs. They could not care less about America at this point.

[still_one]

3. Let's not kid each other, we all know what they want to do, destroy Social Security and Medicare

They are the scum of the earth. Hurting the most vulnerable folks in our society, and they really need to be voted out with extreme predjudice

[kentuck]

4. Unbelievable!

That they would have the gall to trick their voters with such contradictions. First they increased the debt as much as they possibly could with their taxcuts, which mostly went to the very wealthy.

Now, they have the shiny gall to present the idea of a balanced budget!

The very idea!

[Vinca]

5. Time to starve Grandma.

[RandomAccess]

6. Oh, they want to make it an AMENDMENT, so it can't be overriden

as easily as legislation. Bastids.

[ooky]

7. Who would be stupid enough to actually believe that

after the last two bills they've passed?

[beachbum bob]

8. this is a ploy to grab social security and medicare tax money AND

disable the govt even more...all out of the Hertigage Foundation play book and is no secret

I think this a great thing for democrats for midterm elections.

make about social security and medicare and see how the over 65 crowd will vote and I''ll give a hint, won't be for republicans. Thats a demographic that saves republicans and be karma its the one that sinks them along with their grandkids standing firm with Parkland

[eShirl]

9. They can start by repealing the tax cut.

[earthshine]

10. They want balancing the budget to be a requirement in place before Dems get back into majority. nt

[hedda_foil]

11. Odds are they hope to pass this so when Dems take over in January 2019, their hands will be tied.