The premise of President Donald Trump’s new budget plan is to put so much money in people’s pockets that even those who are targeted by its cuts will share in the largesse.
Kansans know the trickle-down theory all too well from Gov. Sam Brownback’s “great experiment” during his 2011-2018 tenure. It’s what made us cut education and safety net services to the bone, destroy our credit rating and require the Kansas Supreme Court order legislators to adequately fund our public schools.
The president’s $3.4 trillion plan also is scheduled to reward first; punish later. As in after the 2026 midterm elections.
The “fun” stuff is $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that give lots and lots to a select few.
It’s back to “drill, baby, drill,” for oil and gas producers who will get greater access to public lands as well as federal subsidies for exploration.
On the flip side, renewable energy companies will get a double whammy. Not only will consumer subsidies toward the purchase of electric vehicles be eliminated by Sept. 30, but U.S. factories that produce equipment used by the solar and wind industries will lose any previous tax credits by the end of the year.
Both decisions — expanding the fossil fuel industry and hamstringing renewable energy — reflect the Republican Party’s continued unwillingness to address climate change and our responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Defense contractors are licking their lips in anticipation of the government’s goal to expand the U.S. military and border enforcement.
To meet the arbitrary goal of deporting 1 million migrants a year as well as expand our military footprint, Americans will write a check for $350 billion to produce more weaponry, expand our naval fleet, hire 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, erect hundreds of detention centers, and complete building an impenetrable U.S.-Mexico wall.
As for U.S. households, only the top 10% — those earning more than $217,000 a year — will experience a net increase in household income after all the give and take of the bill are leveled out, and that’s without including the tariff deals waiting in the wings that are projected to raise the cost of living.
Despite repeatedly promising to not cut Medicaid — “I have said it so many times, you shouldn’t be asking me that question” — the president’s bill cuts the program by nearly $1 trillion.
What that means for Kansas, is that an estimated 360,000 will lose their health care coverage, including nearly two-thirds of nursing home residents.
Kansas hospitals can expect to lose up to $2.65 billion in Medicaid funding over the next 10 years, meaning they will be forced to absorb even more bad debt from those unable to pay their bills.
After his vote to support the bill, Sen. Jerry Moran crowed, “I was able to make changes to the legislation to make certain Kansas hospitals will not face any immediate cuts upon enactment of this legislation.”
He’s right.
The cuts are not expected to take effect until after the 2026 midterm elections.
