McConnell Wants to Cut Social Security and Medicare to Pay for Deficit Caused by Heller’s Corporate Tax Giveaway

CARSON CITY, Nevada, Oct. 16 -- The Nevada Democratic Party issued the following news release:

Sen. Dean Heller promised that the GOP's reckless tax plan that he helped write would pay for itself, but almost a year later it's become increasingly clear that was just another lie. The budget deficit has grown to $779 billion in 2018, and even the Treasury Department says there's no one else to blame but Republicans for passing massive tax cuts for giant corporations and corporate CEOs. Now, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell wants to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to pay for the irresponsible tax giveaways he and Dean Heller passed for their big donors and corporate special interests.

Bloomberg: McConnell Blames Entitlements, Not GOP, for Rising Deficits (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-16/mcconnell-blames-entitlements-not-gop-for-rising-deficits)

1. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blamed rising federal deficits and debt on a bipartisan unwillingness to contain spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and said he sees little chance of a major deficit reduction deal while Republicans control Congress and the White House.

2. McConnell's remarks came a day after the Treasury Department said the U.S. budget deficit grew to $779 billion in Donald Trump's first full fiscal year as president, the result of the GOP's tax cuts, bipartisan spending increases and rising interest payments on the national debt. That's a 77 percent increase from the $439 billion deficit in fiscal 2015, when McConnell became majority leader.

3. Republicans also passed a 2017 tax overhaul projected to add more than $1 trillion to the debt over a decade after leaders gave up on creating a plan that wouldn't increase the debt under the Senate's scoring rules. However, McConnell, like many Republicans, has said growth will more than make up for the lost revenue.

Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson Sarah Abel released the following statement:

"It speaks volumes that Dean Heller and Republicans in Congress blew a giant hole in the deficit to deliver a massive tax giveaway for giant corporations and CEOs, and now they want to cut essential programs that middle-class families and seniors rely on like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to pay for it. If it wasn't clear before, it should be now: Dean Heller is only worried about keeping his campaign donors happy and pleasing Republican leaders, not protecting the programs Nevada's working families rely on."