Republicans Want to Cut Healthcare and Food Assistance to Pay for Billionaire Tax Breaks
The GOP’s budget plan takes billions from working families while giving the ultra-rich another massive payday
Republicans in Congress are at it again. Their latest budget proposal is a full-on attack on working families, slashing Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and food assistance programs. Why? So billionaires and big corporations can keep hoarding wealth.
Let’s be clear about what’s happening.
In 2017, Republicans passed one of the biggest tax giveaways in modern history, giving massive breaks to the richest people in the country. These tax cuts were never meant to last forever. They are set to expire in 2025. That means billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are desperate to keep their windfall, and Republicans are more than happy to help them at our expense.
To pay for extending and expanding these tax cuts, Republicans are proposing nearly $2.3 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade. That is almost a third of all federal Medicaid funding. They are also targeting SNAP, which helps working families buy food, and Medicare, making it harder for seniors to afford healthcare. And let’s not forget Social Security. These are earned benefits, yet Republicans want to cut them while protecting their wealthy donors.
This plan would take away healthcare from millions, cause rural hospitals to close, and increase financial insecurity for seniors, working-class families, and people with disabilities. But after all that, it would still add trillions to the national debt. So when Republicans talk about fiscal responsibility, know that it is nothing but a lie. They are not balancing the budget. They are robbing working families to make billionaires even richer.
How This Hurts Latino Families
Latinos make up a significant portion of Medicaid and SNAP recipients in the United States. According to recent estimates, about 18 million Latinos rely on Medicaid for healthcare (Kaiser Family Foundation). Many of these are children, working-class adults, and seniors. If these cuts go through, millions of Latino families could lose access to doctors, life-saving medications, and essential medical services.
Cuts to SNAP would also hit Latino communities hard. Nearly 4 million Latino households rely on food assistance to keep their families fed. Rising grocery prices have already stretched budgets to the limit. Slashing food benefits would push more families into hunger and financial distress.
And let’s not forget that Latinos make up a large share of the essential workforce. These are the people who keep this country running, working in healthcare, food production, transportation, and other industries. They pay taxes, contribute to Social Security, and fuel our economy. Yet Republicans are asking them to foot the bill for more billionaire handouts.
Undocumented Immigrants Contribute While Receiving Nothing in Return
The U.S. is aging rapidly. As more Americans retire, we need younger workers paying into Social Security and Medicare to keep these programs solvent. Immigrants, especially younger workers, play a critical role in filling this gap (CBO, 2023).
But here’s something that rarely gets talked about. Undocumented immigrants also contribute billions to these programs, despite being ineligible to receive benefits. According to the Social Security Administration, undocumented immigrants contribute an estimated $12 billion per year to Social Security (SSA, 2018). Their contributions help fund benefits for retirees while they receive little in return.
Yet Republicans continue to demonize immigrants while quietly benefiting from their labor and tax dollars. Now, they want to cut programs that millions of Americans, including immigrants, depend on, all while pretending these cuts are necessary for the economy.
We Can Stop This
The good news is that Republicans do not get to pass this budget in secret. Congress is home this week, which means we have a chance to make our voices heard.
Call your Representative. Show up at their events. Demand that they protect healthcare, food assistance, and Social Security, not billionaire tax breaks.
Find out who represents you at house.gov and tell them:
Hands off our healthcare.
Hands off Social Security.
No more giveaways to billionaires.
They are hoping we stay quiet. Let’s prove them wrong.
Check out my friend
’s post on what we can say to our representatives.
Thank you for this clear look at what the republicans are trying to do. Qasim was right about you! Count me in as a supporter!