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WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressman John Conyers, Jr. expressed his intention to once again oppose the draconian Republican Budget Reconciliation legislation that rewards well-connected corporate interests and slashes benefits to poor Americans.
“Behind closed doors,” said Conyers, “Republican House and Senate negotiators agreed to change the budget so as to save the health insurance industry $22 billion over the next decade. At the same time, Republican negotiators let stand deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, student loans, and other important services for the poor. The priorities that this bill puts forth – while helping to finance billions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans – simply abandon our nation’s commitment to its disadvantaged citizens.
Most alarmingly, this bill would allow the federal government to turn its back on those Americans who struggle to maintain their health. The bill cuts Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $6.9 billion over five years, including harmful increases in cost-sharing and premiums, tightened asset rules governing eligibility for long-term care, and other benefit cuts. In the state of Michigan alone, $304,886,000 will be cut from the Medicaid budget over the next five years. This bill also cuts Medicare spending by $6.4 billion over five years, in part by increasing Part B premiums for certain Medicare beneficiaries, while leaving in place unnecessary payments to private health plans.
Furthermore, this bill would impose nearly $12 billion in cuts to federal student loans by imposing higher fees on students, higher interest rates on parent loans, elimination of mandatory spending to administer higher education programs, and cuts in lender subsidies. These cuts will put a college education further out of the grasp of America’s families.
Despite this bill’s title (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005), its purpose is not to reduce the deficit, but rather to facilitate passage of and partially offset the cost of tax cuts. In fact, the spending cuts of $40 billion in this bill will only slightly offset the House-passed tax cuts of $122 billion in 2005. Because this bill rewards well-connected corporate interests at the expense of the poor, I cannot support this legislation.”
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