GOP Class Warfare

Once again, the primary threat to this nation is not Donald Trump, it’s the Republican Party.

Under enormous internal pressure to quickly balance the budget, Republicans are considering slashing more than $400 billion in spending through a process to evade Democratic filibusters in the Senate, multiple sources told POLITICO.

The proposal, which would be part of the House Budget Committee’s fiscal 2018 budget, won’t specify which programs would get the ax; instead it will instruct committees to figure out what to cut to reach the savings. But among the programs most likely on the chopping block, the sources say, are food stamps, welfare, income assistance for the disabled and perhaps even veterans benefits.

If enacted, such a plan to curb safety-net programs — all while juicing the Pentagon’s budget and slicing corporate tax rates — would amount to the biggest shift in federal spending priorities in decades.

Atop that, GOP budget writers will also likely include Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) proposal to essentially privatize Medicare in their fiscal 2018 budget, despite Trump’s unwavering rejection of the idea. While that proposal is more symbolic and won’t become law under this budget, it’s just another thorny issue that will have Democrats again accusing Republicans of “pushing Granny off the cliff.”

And sure, Republicans might lose control of the House in 2018. But they won’t lose control of the Senate, millions of poor whites will gladly accept their own loss in benefits if they know that blacks aren’t getting benefits either, and Trump will still be in the White House. Even the worst case scenario here would fulfill Ryan’s dream to starve granny. I wonder if he dreams of throwing people into poverty at night.