After a considerable period of time in which other aspects of the Republican agenda held center stage, we are beginning to see some renewed attention to lurid plans to hammer federal spending programs that disproportionately benefit the poor. Politico raised the alarm over the weekend: President Donald Trump’s refusal to overhaul Social Security and Medicare — and his pricey wish-list for infrastructure, a border wall and tax cuts — is sending House budget writers scouring for pennies in politically sensitive places: safety-net programs for the most vulnerable. This moment comes after Republicans at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue have concluded that their original idea of paying for high-end tax cuts by finding new sources of revenue — say, closing loopholes or creating new taxes — is a whole lot easier said than done. The original House GOP idea of a border-adjustment tax has all but expired after intense criticism from retailers and an at-best tepid response from the White House. Trump administration trial balloons about a value-added tax or a carbon tax were shot down before they cleared the treeline. There was never any serious interest in going after the largest tax loopholes, the charitable and mortgage interest deductions. Current talk about eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes may be more a matter of blue-state-baiting — or perhaps a hostage-taking exercise aimed at securing some unspecified Democratic concession down the road — than a practical option. So if — and this is a very big if — Republicans really care about budget deficits, but won’t let that get in the way of treating America’s rich to a tax-cut banquet, then that just leaves one option: Under enormous internal pressure to quickly balance the budget, Republicans are considering slashing more than $400 billion in spending through a process to evade Democratic filibusters in the Senate, multiple sources told POLITICO. The proposal, which would be part of the House Budget Committee’s fiscal 2018 budget, won’t specify which programs would get the ax; instead it will instruct committees to figure out what to cut to reach the savings. But among the programs most likely on the chopping block, the sources say, are food stamps, welfare, income assistance for the disabled and perhaps even veterans benefits. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligence...safety-net-programs-on-altar-of-tax-cuts.html
