Rep. Chu Issues Statement on Sen. McConnell Plan to Cut Medicare

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 -- Rep. Judy Chu, D-California, issued the following statement:

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Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that it was time to cut entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in order to pay for a federal deficit that has grown 77% under his watch. According to the Treasury Department, the US deficit grew to $779 billion in President Trump's first full fiscal year as president, due in large part to the Republican tax cuts which slashed government revenues. Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, released the following statement:

"Acting on behalf of corporate influence, Republicans made it their first priority in Congress to pass tax cuts that would make those large corporations richer. But they still had to sell it to the American public, the vast majority of whom are not seeing the benefits of this law. So Republicans claimed that massive tax cuts which take revenues away from the government and slash rates for billionaires and multi-national corporations would pay for themselves, knowing that they never have in the past. And now, Senator McConnell is coming back to the American people and telling them to give up healthcare and retirement security so that he can pay for the tax cuts to those who already have the most. Speaker Ryan, likewise, has made it clear that taking away from Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security is how tax cuts actually get paid for.

"If Republicans cared so much about the deficit, they never should have passed these tax cuts, which were always projected to explode the deficit.

"The American people are paying attention. We see that corporate profits are rising, while workers' wages have stayed flat. And we see tax cuts turning millionaires into billionaires, while Republicans try to balance the budget on the backs of working families. Before making a single cut to Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security, Republicans must explain why they think average Americans should do with less so that billionaires can have more."