Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) leaves a House Republican caucus meeting. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
US Rep. David Schweikert voted Tuesday to pass a federal budget he described earlier this month as an “immoral” proposal that would doom the United States to financial ruin.
“It would be immoral, I believe, to allow the tax rates to go up on working people. But it’s also immoral not to find a way to pay for it,” said Schweikert. “Are you ready to condemn this country in nine budget years—10 calendar years— to functionally, financial Armageddon?”
By extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, the budget proposal would cut off over $4 trillion in tax revenue over the course of 10 years. $3.7 trillion of those tax savings would go to the country’s wealthiest 10% — households making more than $230,000 per year.
The federal budget would spend twice as much as it takes in in order to subsidize the wealthy’s tax bill under Trump’s budget proposal. In an attempt to offset these costs, the following cuts over a ten-year period have been proposed by Schweikert and House Republicans:
- $880 billion from Medicaid
- $230 billion from the healthy food programs like SNAP
- 10% increase on gas prices by ending clean energy grants
The proposed tax breaks for the rich are so vast that even cutting nearly $1 trillion in public service funding would not be enough to offset what billionaires and major corporations would save: in total, these cuts would increase the federal budget deficit by $4.6 trillion.
“If you were to come in here and then take the president’s requests… you add it all up, by 2035, you have over $74 trillion in debt,” said US Rep. David Schweikert, who voted in favor of Trump’s proposal despite his objections. “Every single tax in America needs to be doubled just to maintain baseline services.”
Schweikert’s support of Trump’s budget comes after a decade of positioning himself as a budget hawk whose sole goal in Congress is to balance the federal budget. In reality, the budget deficit has quadrupled since Schweikert took office in 2014, and is expected to more than double should the current budget proposal be signed into law.
“David Schweikert just voted to fund trillions in tax cuts for billionaires while screwing over hungry children and Medicaid recipients,” said Justin Chermol, spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “ He’s a fraud who wants to have it both ways, but, in reality, he has no problem swiping America’s credit card to line Elon Musk’s pockets.”
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