When one of America’s former biggest punchlines, Sarah Palin, calls something a “joke” and “the definition of insanity”, you know you’ve got a budget that probably needs reworking. But former Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan doesn’t think so, opting instead drastically affect the poor and working class.
If Paul Ryan has his way, almost $1 trillion in cuts would be made to food stamps and other programs over 10 years. He explained by saying, “By cutting wasteful spending, strengthening key priorities and laying the foundation for a stronger economy, we have shown the American people there’s a better way forward.”
It puzzles this writer deeply to understand just what the “better way forward” can be if even more of the population can’t feed itself. The food stamps program is by no means perfect, but it puts food in people’s mouths: one of the basic necessities of life.
Gone.
If Paul Ryan has his way, the millions of Americans who are now insured—and many of them with pre-existing conditions—would no longer have healthcare coverage.
Millions of Americans would be plunged into tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, suffer needlessly from basic health issues, and not be able to afford preventative care.
If you can’t afford college or university for your children, forget about them becoming educated unless they win a full-ride scholarship.
If Paul Ryan has his way, the most a student could get from a Pell Grant would be $5,730, and that’d be frozen for 10 years while academic institutions are allowed to hike up their tuition rates.
This means that if students want to earn a degree, they’ll either have to come from wealthy families, or put themselves very deeply in debt for the mere chance of a job. But while they’re earning their degrees, they can’t eat because the cuts to food stamps will be so deep. It also means students would be charged interest on their loans while they’re still studying.
Medicaid’s expansion—gone.
Medicare—Americans 65 and older would be forced into a voucher system where they’d have to buy health insurance from private companies instead of healthcare paid for by the government. This private system excels by focusing on profits, not because providing decent healthcare is the goal.
If you suffer from diabetes or malnutrition because your food stamps have been cut and you can’t afford to eat properly, forget about seeking medical attention. It’d probably be easier, faster and cheaper just to immigrate to Canada where they don’t send you a hundred thousand dollar medical bill in the mail.
This is one area where Paul Ryan would increase spending, presumably to protect America against itself from poor people sinking deeper into poverty and retaliating.
You take food and other essential life necessities away from people, and you’re a razor thin line away from riots and civil wars. But you keep your citizens clothed, fed, educated and content, and you’ve got a thriving society that looks out for one another.
To learn more about Paul Ryan’s proposed budget, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/us/politics/paul-ryan-budget.html
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/paul-ryan-budget-food-stamps-medicaid-block-grants
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/01/paul-ryan-budget_n_5069608.html
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