Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) says you can’t believe your lying eyes when they tell you that Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” budget bill will slash over $1 trillion from Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP. Those are lies, he claims, despite clear evidence that the lies are coming from him.
Appearing Thursday on the Wisconsin-based podcast, “The Meg Ellefson Show,” Van Orden proudly declared, “I want to be super clear: When these Democrats have been lying to you, saying we’re cutting Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, that we’re going to cut all of these other programs — they’re lying.”
“We did this early enough so that folks are going to understand that we’re telling the truth. It’s fantastic,” said Van Orden. “I want anybody in my district to call me if their benefits have been dropped by a nickel. Not gonna happen.”
But as Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost explains, Van Orden is lying like a proverbial rug.
“It’s not clear what the GOP congressman is talking about. Trump’s hugely consequential tax and spending bill, which House Republicans passed Thursday and sent to the Senate, represents the largest upward transfer of wealth in U.S. history. It cuts $1 trillion from federal health and food programs to help pay for $4 trillion in new tax cuts to rich people.”
“The effects of this bill, if it became law, would be devastating for millions of low-income people who rely on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamps program. The bill would kick an estimated 8 million people off of health insurance, and its expanded work requirements for SNAP would result in an estimated 1.5 million families losing all food benefits and 1.2 million families losing some.”
As you’d expect, Trump himself has also been repeating one lie after another in an effort to get his budget through the US Senate, where it faces stiff opposition from both Democrats and Republicans, with his press secretary remarking, “This bill does not add to the deficit. In fact, according to the Council of Economic Advisers, this bill will save $1.6 trillion, and the president absolutely understands and hears the concerns of fiscal conservatives and of Americans who want to get our fiscal house in order.”
“That’s what the intention of this bill is. There’s $1.6 trillion worth of savings in this bill. That’s the largest savings for any legislation that has ever passed Capitol Hill in our nation’s history.”
Nope. Nowhere close to being true. In fact, it would balloon both the deficit and the federal debt, according to an analysis by Time.
“Fiscal watchdogs have sharply disputed such estimates, citing the bill’s steep tax cuts—estimated at $3.8 trillion—and relatively modest spending reductions. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the House bill in its current form will increase debt by $3.3 trillion through 2034, and increase annual deficits by $2.9 trillion to $3.3 trillion.”
Congressman Van Orden is lying, just like every Republican trying to defend their reverse Robin Hood bullshit budget. This bill must be stopped in the Senate. Call your senators and let them know. You can reach them by using this link: https://www.commoncause.org/find-your-representative/
