G
Guns Guns Guns
Guest
Republicans are using cuts to food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels to protect the Pentagon from a wave of budget cuts come January.
Totaling a little more than $300 billion over a decade, the new cuts are aimed less at tackling $1 trillion-plus government deficits and more at preventing cuts to troop levels and military modernization.
GOP spending cuts come from programs directly benefiting the poor, such as Medicaid, food stamps, the Social Services Block Grant, and a child tax credit claimed by working immigrants.
Federal workers would have to contribute an additional 5 percent of their salaries toward their pensions, while people whose incomes rise after receiving coverage subsidies under the new health care law would lose some or all of their benefits.
The automatic spending cuts, known as a sequester, would strike a 2 percentage point cut from Medicare payments to health care providers.
The cuts will be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate this year.
But they're likely just a sample of what's in store next year from Republicans if Mitt Romney wins the White House and the GOP takes back the Senate.
Romney promises much tougher cuts to domestic programs and an even bigger boost in the Pentagon's budget, while the House GOP budget promises sharp cuts to Medicaid and a dramatic overhaul of Medicare for future beneficiaries.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/w..._boosts_pentagon_cuts_social_programs/?page=2