The Trojan Horse in the Tax Bill

[elleng]

*Under the Pay-as-You-Go Act of 2010, or Paygo, the Office of Budget and Management has to order automatic spending cuts if legislation passed by Congress is set to increase the deficit and the rules aren’t waived or the loss isn’t covered by new revenue. According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, spending cuts would have to total $136 billion for a bill, such as the tax legislation, that increases the deficit by $1.5 trillion over a decade.

What would get cut? Some programs, like Social Security and unemployment benefits, are spared. But plenty of others are seriously exposed. While there are limits on how much Medicare would be pared back, it would still be slashed by $25 billion.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/20/opinion/republican-tax-bill-senate-house.html?

[doc03]

1. On slashing Medicare just what would they do? Medicare now pays 80%

would they cut that back to 70%. Would they reimburse hospitals and doctors less?
Would they raise the Medicare age above 65? I am on Medicare just wondering what their intensions are?

[elleng]

2. 'Intentions,' you ask?

[doc03]

3. I know Paul Ryan has had wet dreams on cutting Medicare for decades just wonder

what that would look like?

[pansypoo53219]

4. grover norquist's wet dream.

[Hoyt]

5. They have supposedly kept the addition to the debt under $1.5T, perhaps with smoke and

mirrors. That's why they didn't call the cuts in individual taxes permanent. The revert to current rates in 2027. Even the corporate rate cuts aren't really permanent because they can be changed at anytime. So it's just a game.

Second, they usually "cut" Medicare and Medicaid by cutting the annual increases, that way they say they are not cutting benefits. Of course that is BS. They can also schedule the cuts for out years if they want to pass the issue to the next admin.

But, even if they don't try to cut Medicare, etc., due to the tax bill, they will still come back and say they have to make some cuts because of the increase in the debt the fuckers just created. Truthfully, this kind of crap has been going on for years under both parties.

[quartz007]

6. Cut boondoggle travel by congress critters!