Will Republicans Use Cuts To Medicare, Medicaid & ACA Too Pay For Trump’s Wall?

Would Republicans sacrifice the health and welfare of the disabled, the poor and to build Donald Trump his wall? One would think not, but here is what we know. Trump was considering cancelling his meeting with the president of Mexico scheduled for next week. Why? Because Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has repeatedly made clear that Mexico will not be paying for Trump’s wall.  Before Trump could make up his mind, President Enrique Peña Nieto cancelled the meeting himself. Mexico paying for the wall played well as a campaign fantasy, but in the real world it seems to have hit a sour note.

We know that Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to begin immediate work on the barrier. Therefore, someone is going to be paying for his wall. Who?

We know that Republicans are considering a special budget bill to pay for Trump’s wall. Republicans in Congress are willing to pass such a bill because they believe Trump when he says that Mexico will eventually pay for the wall. Republicans in Congress are willing to take Trump at his word even though a Google search on “People who have been stiffed by Trump” returns about 13,500,000 results. The result at the top of the list is a USA Today report that gives detailed accounts of the many people who have done work for Trump and who are still waiting to be paid. Just as Trump left numerous people holding the bag for work they had done for him, he has now convinced Republican leaders in Congress to hand that bag to the American taxpayer.

We also know how much Republicans want to cut health care. They have already voted to begin the process of cutting the Affordable Care Act. We know they want to turn Medicaid into block grants. We know Speaker Ryan’s plan, A Better Way, cuts Medicare benefits, raises the eligibility age and eventually turns it into a voucher program.

Given what we know, is it a stretch to imagine a scenario where Republicans make the cuts to health care that they have clearly told us they want to make and then take those dollars and use them to build the wall that they have clearly committed to helping Trump build?  Frankly, it is not hard to imagine at all. In fact, it is frighteningly easy to imagine, too easy.

Please call your members of Congress and tell them to protect and preserve health care for the American people.