REPUBLICAN BUDGET HARMS SENIORS (AMONG MANY OTHERS)

The recently enacted Republican budget bill will harm seniors by reducing Medicaid spending, weakening Social Security, and cutting Medicare. These (and other) budget cuts are being made to help pay for large tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations.

(Note: If you find a post too long to read, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading my blog!)

The Republican budget just passed by Congress and signed by President Trump will harm seniors by reducing Medicaid spending, cutting Medicare, and weakening Social Security. Before I get into some of these details, a couple of notes on other provisions of the bill, of which there are many in the nearly 1,000-page bill’s language. As you probably know, 12 million people are projected to lose their health care due to Medicaid cuts of roughly $1 trillion (yes, trillion) over the next ten years. Medicaid provides health insurance for low-income families and seniors including long-term care for millions of seniors (see more below). Cuts to food assistance programs, primarily the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will increase hunger for millions of families, including many new mothers and babies where malnutrition may have long-term effects on the babies’ development.

All the cuts in the budget are being made to help pay for large tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations. Note that the big tax cuts take effect right away, while many of the program cuts don’t go into effect until after the 2026 election. The Republicans hope that because people won’t be experiencing the program cuts before the election that it will be easier to con voters into voting for Republicans.

Most people know that the budget will increase the federal budget’s annual deficits by over $300 billion for a total of $3 trillion (yes, trillion) over the next ten years. However, few people are aware that the bill increases the federal government’s overall amount of allowable, accumulated debt, i.e., the debt ceiling, by $5 trillion. (I’ll document the Republicans’ hypocrisy on raising the debt ceiling in a future post.)

The Trump administration and Republicans are pumping out lots of disinformation about the budget bill in an attempt to keep the public from understanding the harm it will do.

For example, within hours of the passage of the bill, all of you who are seniors, tens of millions of Americans overall, received an email from the Social Security Administration stating that “The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits” and that “The new law includes a provision that eliminates federal income taxes on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries.” [1]

These statements are misleading at best. Only about a quarter (25%) of seniors will see any tax benefit from the bill’s provisions – quite different from the figures used in the Social Security Administration’s email.The bill does not directly eliminate or even reduce taxes on Social Security benefits. What the bill does is temporarily increase the standard income tax deduction by $6,000 for seniors 65 and over. [2] Sixty-four percent of seniors receiving Social Security benefits ALREADY pay no tax on their Social Security payments. This percentage will increase to 88% due to the bill’s provisions. Furthermore, the people who will benefit will be those Social Security recipients who are better off and the richest will benefit the most. By the way, the increase in the income tax deduction will expire in 2028 when Trump’s term in office is ending. [3] [4]

Furthermore, the message from the Social Security Administration didn’t mention that, overall, the budget bill will weaken Social Security by reducing the revenue that flows into the Social Security system. Currently, the Social Security trust fund, built up over many years to help pay Social Security benefits, is projected to run out of money in 2033. After that, Social Security revenue would only be able to pay 77% of promised benefits. Under the Republican budget bill, the Social Security trust fund will run out of money one year earlier, in 2032, and its reduction of future Social Security revenue means that benefits after 2032 would be even lower than the currently projected 77% of the promised level. [5]

The Republican budget’s cuts to Medicaid will harm low-income seniors who qualify for Medicaid (and that they receive in addition to Medicare – which covers all seniors). In particular, it will harm the roughly eight million seniors and people with disabilities whose long-term home and community-based care services are paid for by Medicaid and the 1.5 million seniors in nursing homes. About two-thirds of all nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid. The budget’s Medicaid cuts will significantly reduce revenue for long-term care services and facilities. As a result, 25% of nursing homes are projected to close and over half are likely to have to reduce staff to remain financially viable. Therefore, finding nursing home care, let alone good quality care, will become even more difficult than it is now. [6] [7]

In addition to the direct cuts to Medicaid (government health care coverage for low-income families and seniors), the Republican budget will also force cuts to Medicare (government health care coverage for all seniors). Because of the budget’s large increases in the federal government’s annual budget deficits, the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2010 requires across-the-board budget cuts. A mandatory cut of about $50 billion a year to Medicare for each of the next ten years will be required. This cut will take place immediately (while many of the explicit program cuts in the budget are delayed until after the 2026 elections). [8]

Please contact your members of Congress and tell them you are opposed to (or even horrified by) budget cuts that will harm seniors. Tell them you are particularly upset that these cuts are being used to give wealthy individuals and corporations tax cuts. Urge them to speak out against these cuts and to explain to their constituents the toll the Republican budget is taking on seniors and others.

You can find contact information for your US Representative at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and for your US Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

[1] Social Security Administration, 7/3/25, “Social Security applauds passage of legislation providing historic tax relief for seniors,” Press Release (https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2025/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#2025-07-03)

[2] Hubbell, R., 7/7/25, “Stay on task: Overwhelm the opposition,” Today’s Edition Newsletter (https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/stay-on-task-overwhelm-the-opposition)

[3] Edelman, L., 7/15/25, “Seniors score, gamblers get rolled in Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’,” The Boston Globe

[4] Siegel Bernard, T., 7/8/25, “Social Security email misleading,” The Boston Globe from the New York Times

[5] Johnson, J., 7/4/25, “Trump Social Security chief applauds budget bill that will harm Social Security’s finances,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-social-security-budget-bill)

[6] Lawson, A., 6/30/25, “The Republican nursing home apocalypse,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/gop-nursing-homes)

[7] National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities, Feb. 2025, “Medicaid facts with links to state data,” (https://nacdd.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/250204_NACDD-Medicaid-Fact-Sheet.pdf)

[8] Dayen, D., 7/3/25, “Republicans are cutting Medicare. Not only Medicaid, Medicare.” The American Prospect (https://prospect.org/politics/2025-07-03-republicans-cutting-medicare-not-only-medicaid/)

ASK YOUR SENATORS TO OPPOSE THE REPUBLICAN BUDGET

Please contact your US Senators NOW. Ask them to stop the draconian Republican budget the Senate is voting on NOW, which includes major cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. Its spending cuts will harm millions of Americans. Its tax cuts will be a windfall for wealthy individuals and corporations.

ACTION: Please contact your U.S. Senators NOW and ask them to do everything they can to stop the draconian 940-page Republican budget the Senate is voting on NOW, which includes major cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. In addition to spending cuts that will harm millions of Americans and tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations, it includes many other very objectionable provisions.

(Note: If you find this message too long to read, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading and acting!)

The Republican budget the Senate is voting on NOW makes big spending cuts in a range of government programs and services due to the need to reduce the increase in the federal budget deficit caused by the lost revenue from the big tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations. Overall, the richest Americans would gain around $12,000 a year from the tax cuts, while the poorest families would lose about $1,600 on average from program cuts. Here are some key things the Senate Republicans’ proposed budget would do: [1] [2] [3]

Take health care away from roughly 12 million Americans by cutting spending on Medicaid by $930 billion over ten years. Medicaid provides health insurance for millions of low-income families, including students and families of low-paid and unemployed workers. It also covers nursing home care for millions of seniors and health care for disabled individuals. This cut, combined with cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicare, will reduce spending and wreak havoc throughout the whole health care system.
Take food assistance away from millions of low-income households, including many new mothers and their babies, as well as students and families of low-paid and unemployed workers. It would dramatically cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps. It would also cut the Farm to School program that supports local, small farmers and provides healthy, fresh food to school lunch programs.
Increase the federal budget deficit by about $330 billion a year. This would add $3.3 trillion (yes, trillion) to the overall federal debt over the next ten years.
Extend expiring tax cuts and create new ones that will provide huge windfalls to wealthy individuals and corporations at a cost of about $4 trillion.
More than double the budget for the detention and deportation of immigrants by adding $150 billion to the budget of the Department of Homeland Security. It will add $45 billion to the budget for detention centers to increase or expand the existing 160 detention centers. This would mean ICE has more money for detention that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Immediately end tax credits in place since 2005 to incentivize the development of wind and solar energy. Moreover, it would implement a new tax on these projects. [4]
Increase funding for the Defense Department by about $150 billion, including for Elon Musk’s companies. This significant increase is proposed even though there’s more waste, fraud, and abuse in the Defense Department than anywhere else in the federal government. Clearly, Trump, his administration, and Musk and DOGE don’t really care about cutting waste and making government more efficient.

There are many other harmful provisions in the proposed Republican budget.

Please contact your U.S. Senators NOW (as they are voting on this bill and its provisions this week) and ask them to vote against this draconian budget in the upcoming votes. Let them know you oppose tax cuts for wealthy corporations and incredibly wealthy individuals – especially when they are partially paid for by cutting programs that benefit everyday working Americans.

If your Senator is a Democrat or Republicans Tillis (NC) or Paul (KY), thank them for voting against the budget in a preliminary vote. If your Senator is one of the other Republicans, ask them to vote against the budget in upcoming votes.

Your contacts are important even if you don’t change someone’s mind or vote. It lets your Senators know that you are watching them and paying attention to what’s going on in Congress. If they voted against the budget preliminarily, it will encourage them to continue to oppose the budget. If they vote for the budget in upcoming votes, it will let them know that they are jeopardizing their chances of re-election, which is key to getting them to oppose Trump in these and future votes.

You can find contact information for your U.S. Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO! IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

(Note: Republican presidents (Reagan, Bush, and Trump) and Congresses have cut taxes for wealthy individuals and corporations multiple times since the 1981. These tax cuts have added over $10 trillion (yes, trillion) to the federal debt. The economic boom, jobs, increased tax revenue, and trickle down of benefits to everyday Americans they always promise have NEVER materialized. Most recently, they did not happen after the Trump and Republican tax cut of 2017. Extending these tax cuts and adding others will not increase economic growth, will not increase tax revenue, will not create jobs, and will not trickle down to working Americans. They will, however, balloon the deficit by around $500 billion a year – unless spending is cut to make up for the loss of revenue.)

[1] Reich, R., 6/30/25, “The worst bill in history,” Robert Reich’s daily blog (https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-three-myths-of-trickle-down-economics)

[2] Mascaro, L., Freking, K., & Cappelletti, J., 6/29/25, “Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill clears key Senate vote as Republicans race to pass it by July 4,” The Boston Globe from the Associated Press

[3] Cox Richardson, H., 6/28/25, “Letters from an American,” (https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-28-2025)

[4] Reuters, 6/28/25, “Senate bill hastens end of wind, solar tax credits and imposes new tax,” U.S. News (https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2025-06-28/senate-bill-hastens-end-of-wind-solar-tax-credits-and-imposes-new-tax)

ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO OPPOSE THE REPUBLICAN BUDGET

Contact your U.S. Representative and ask them to oppose the draconian measures, including major cuts to Medicaid, in the Republican budget the House is considering. Its spending cuts will harm millions of Americans while it gives tax cuts to wealthy individuals and corporations.

ACTION: Please contact your U.S. Representative and ask them to do everything they can to stop the draconian measures, including major cuts to Medicaid, in the roughly 400-page Republican budget the House is now considering. In addition to spending cuts that will harm millions of Americans and tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations, it includes many other very objectionable measures.

(Note: If you find this message too long to read, please just skim the bolded portions. Thanks for reading and acting!)

Note that the big spending cuts are driven by the need to avoid exploding the federal budget deficit due to the lost revenue from the big tax cuts for the wealthy. Here are some key things the proposed budget would do:

Take health care away from millions of Americans by cutting spending on Medicaid by around $700 – $800 million. Medicaid provides health insurance for millions of low-income families, including students and families of low-pay and unemployed workers. It also covers nursing home care for millions of seniors.
Take food assistance away from millions of low-income households, including many new mothers and their babies, as well as students and families of low-pay and unemployed workers. It would dramatically cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps. It would also cut the Farm to School program that supports local, small farmers and provides healthy, fresh food to school lunch programs.
Prohibit state and local governments from regulating Artificial Intelligence (AI) for ten years. State laws (often bipartisan ones) are currently regulating AI. (Note: The federal government is doing nothing to regulate AI and protect us from its abuses. Elon Musk and other AI entrepreneurs have been very supportive of Trump. They want AI unregulated and are on the current Mideast trip with Trump as the Saudi Arabian royalty is very interested in investing in AI.)

For example, state laws currently block deepfake pornography, election disinformation, use of discriminatory algorithms (e.g., in hiring decisions), AI-enabled price fixing (e.g., rents), and abusive targeting of children. State laws also protect consumers from AI abuses, including privacy violations, deceptive marketing, price manipulation, and harmful health care decision making. Millions of residents in these states would lose protections from AI abuses if this provision passes as part of the budget bill. California and other states are also cracking down on AI companies using copyrighted material without permission, payments, or attribution. In 2025, at least 45 states’ legislatures are considering 550 AI-related bills. [1]
Grant the Trump administration broad authority to take away tax-exempt status from non-profit organizations it deems to be supporting terrorism. It’s already illegal for non-profits to support terrorism, so this is a ploy to allow the administration to take away the tax exemption from organizations it doesn’t like. Moreover, the language doesn’t give the non-profits any effective way to challenge the administration’s decision and action. As I imagine you know, the Trump administration is already attacking non-profits it doesn’t like (e.g., Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Harvard University) and threatening to take away their tax-exempt status. [2] (Note: It’s a crime for the President to ask the IRS to target a specific taxpayer, for example, to remove its tax-exempt status.) [3]
Defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Cut renewable energy funding.
Limit judges’ ability to hold the Trump administration accountable.
Cut student financial assistance.
Cut federal workers’ retirement benefits.
Increase funding for the Defense Department, including for Musk’s companies, when the Defense Department is where there’s more waste, fraud, and abuse than in any other government agency.

Pick a few of these harmful effects of the Republican budget (or others you know of) that are most meaningful to you and ask your Representative to oppose them and the budget overall. Also, let them know you oppose tax cuts for the wealthy, especially when they are paid for by cutting programs that benefit everyday working Americans.

Moreover, tell them you support tax increases on wealthy individuals and corporations to reduce the high levels of economic inequality in the U.S. and so the wealthy pay their fair share for all the benefits our society and economy provide them.

THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO! IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

You can find contact information for your US Representative at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

(Note: Republican presidents and Congresses have cut taxes for wealthy individuals and corporations multiple times since President Reagan did so in the early 1980s. The economic boom, increased tax revenue, and trickle down of benefits to everyday Americans they have always promised have NEVER materialized. Most recently, they did not happen after the Trump and Republican tax cut of 2017. Extending these tax cuts and adding others will not increase economic growth, will not increase tax revenue, and will not trickle down to working Americans. They will balloon the deficit by around $500 billion a year – unless spending is cut to make up for the loss of revenue.)

[1] Conley, J., 5/13/25, “‘Gift-wrapped favor to big tech’: GOP sneakily pushes ban on state AI regulation,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/regulating-artificial-intelligence)

[2] Johnson, J., 5/13/25, “‘We need calls now!’ Republicans slip nonprofit killer bill into tax package,” Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/nonprofit-killer-bill)

[3] Gleckman, H., 4/25/25, “Why Trump’s efforts to revoke tax exemptions so dangerous for democracy,” Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2025/04/25/why-trumps-efforts-to-revoke-tax-exemptions-are-so-dangerous/)