Simpson and Fulcher Sell Out Idahoans For Their New Constituents: Billionaires and Mega-Donors

In response to Republican Representative Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher passing the GOP’s devastating budget after closed-door meetings all day yesterday, Idaho Democratic Party Chair Lauren Necochea released the following statement:

“Idaho Democrats believe hard work should mean a roof over your head, food on the table, healthcare you can count on, and a fair shot for your kids. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher just voted to rip that away. They backed a Republican budget that pushes the American Dream further out of reach for working people, while catering to billionaires with penthouses and private jets.

This is the biggest job-killing bill in U.S. history. It puts more than 4 million jobs at risk, including thousands in construction and clean energy. It guts Medicare, slashes Medicaid by a trillion dollars, and slashes health insurance tax credits for middle-class families. In Idaho, eight rural hospitals face closure. One in four nursing homes could shut down.

Billionaires and corporate donors walk away with massive, permanent tax breaks. Meanwhile, regular Idaho families are left with fewer jobs, unaffordable healthcare, higher energy bills, and college costs they can’t cover.

Simpson and Fulcher chose the wealthy few. Idaho Democrats choose working families. And we’ll keep fighting until this state has leaders who fight for you.”

NEW: Representatives Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher just passed Trump’s disastrous billionaire-first budget to make his tax scam permanent and fund another round of tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy on the backs of Idahoans.

House Press Gallery: “The House concurred in the Senate amendment and passed H.R. 1 by a vote of 218-214.”

Axios: “The draft legislation would extend the cuts in the 2017 tax bill, and it adds on some more breaks.”

USA Today: “Low-income families would lose, wealthier ones would gain under GOP tax proposals”

New York Times: “Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package”

Associated Press: “GOP tax bill would cost poor Americans $1,600 a year and boost highest earners by $12,000, CBO says”

Trump and the GOP’s billionaire first budget takes a wrecking ball to Idahoans’ families’ livelihoods …  

• Republicans cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid — the largest cut to Medicaid in American history
• The GOP budget rips away health care from at least 72,815 Idahoans
• 8 hospitals are at risk of closing — ripping away access to critical emergency medical care for millions of Americans
• At least 1 in 4 nursing homes will have to close their doors, and over half of nursing homes will be forced to cut staff
• 130,900 Idahoans are at risk of losing food assistance, forcing working families and children to go hungry
• Increases energy costs by hundreds of dollars across the country

… and drags Idahoans’ economy into the gutter …

• Costs the Idaho economy $423 million in GDP
• Kill 3,900 good-paying jobs
• Plummet Idaho tax revenue by $29 million
• Unions are warning this is the “biggest job-killing bill in the history of the country”
• If this bill is signed into law, it will threaten 1.2 million jobs nationwide, 1.75 million construction jobs, and 2 million clean energy jobs

… all to funneling thousands into the pockets of the wealthiest Americans:

• This bill cuts $1.3 trillion in food assistance and health coverage while giving the wealthy that exact amount in tax breaks
• Actively transfers money from the poorest among us to the richest:
• Republicans are slashing incomes among the poorest 20% by 3.8% while
  increasing the incomes of the richest 20% by 3.7%
• Americans making under $15,000 — below the federal poverty level — will
  see their taxes increase by 12% in the short term and jump 73% by 2033
• Americans making above $1,000,000 — more than 50 times the federal poverty level — will get an average tax cut of $79,000

Americans overwhelmingly reject Trump’s billionaire-first budget — as opposition grows the more folks learn about the bill.

• Americans oppose Trump’s budget 2 to 1 — and opposition grows to 7 to 1 when people hear about the bill’s drastic cuts
• Republicans oppose their own party’s budget 3 to 1 when they learn about the bill’s impacts
• 64% of Americans hold an unfavorable opinion of the GOP’s tax and budget bill, including 34% of Republicans
• After being told that the bill would decrease funding for local hospitals, favorability of the bill falls to 21% while unfavorability rises to 79%
• 3 in 4 Americans view Medicaid favorably, including 71% of independents and 64% of Republicans