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Sonoma Valley Sun -- Thompson: ‘Reckless’ budget plan won’t pass Senate

April 10, 2014
News Articles

By Sun News

Though the House Majority’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget was passed by the House today, Sonoma Valley’s U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who voted against it, said the Senate will not pass the budget, and if it did, the President would veto it.

“This reckless spending plan will kill jobs, end the guarantee of Medicare for America’s seniors, raises taxes on middle-class families while rewarding the wealthy and corporations that ship jobs overseas, gut our education system and make college more expensive for hard working families,” said Thompson.

The budget resolution passed by a vote of 219-205. No Democrats voted for the resolution and 12 Republicans voted against the resolution.

Thompson said that according to the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute, the cuts made in the House Majority’s budget will cost the American economy 3 million jobs and decrease economic growth by 2.5 percent in 2016. .

Thompson said the proposed budget would also:

• End the Medicare guarantee by transforming Medicare into a privatized voucher program.

• Increase the costs of prescription drugs and preventive care for seniors.

• Jeopardizes nursing home care for tens of thousands of seniors in California by cutting federal Medicaid funding for California by more than $95 billion over the next 10 years.

• Cut the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent at a cost of $1 trillion, and taxpayers with income exceeding $1 million in 2015 would receive an average net tax decrease of more $200,000 that year. These cuts and tax breaks are paid for by increasing taxes on middle class families with children by an average of $2,000 per family.

• Cut college student aid and support by a total of $260 billion over the next 10 years.

• Increase the cost of college loans by charging interest on college loans while students are still in school. This will raise the cost of student loans by $41 billion over ten years.

Under the House Majority’s budget passed today, Thompson said, 175,300 Californians would lose training and employment services, and 313,200 Californians would lose job search assistance. Nearly 7,000 California children could lose access to child care. And, 1,315 fewer victims of domestic violence in California would be served through the STOP Violence Against Women Program.

The bill now goes to the Senate for its consideration.

Issues:Fiscal ResponsibilityHealth CareImmigration ReformJobs & EconomySeniors