Conference Report on S. 1932, Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 1932, DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - December 18, 2005)
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Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, this Budget reconciliation spending cut bill asks those with the least to sacrifice the most, while providing the most fortunate with even more.
Today's Bill: This Budget reconciliation charade is such an affront to working and lower-income families that our nation's religious leaders have stepped in to say `enough is enough.'
The Lutheran Bishops sent a letter saying this bill is contrary to Biblical teachings.
The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has said this reconciliation bill is ``tantamount ..... to blasphemy.''
And the Conference of Catholic Bishops have said they are ``deeply disappointed'' with this legislation, especially ``its lack of concern for children.''
The conference report before us includes a number of cuts that would hurt children, the disabled and poor Americans.
This bill picks on our most vulnerable citizens who depend on Medicare, Medicaid, SSI, child support, welfare and a host of other critical programs.
Some of the most egregious items in the conference report include:
Unfunded Welfare Policies: includes new work requirements in the TANF program without providing adequate funding for child care. According to CBO, the bill is far short of the nearly $11 billion needed to implement the new work requirements and keep child care funding even with inflation.
Cuts Child Support Enforcement: CBO tells us that the reductions in child support collections will reduce collections being sent to families by $8.4 billion over the next 10 years.
Cuts Assistance to Relatives Caring for Abused Children: the report eliminates Federal foster care payments to grandparents and other relatives with limited incomes who are caring for abused children.
Delays Assistance to the Disabled: the report delays the payment of past-due benefits to low-income disabled individuals who are eligible for back payments.
Medicaid and Medicare cuts: the legislation before us makes extraordinary cuts in Medicaid that will raise health care costs and reduce benefits for our nation's most vulnerable children and individuals. It also contains more than $6 billion of Medicare cuts, including premium increases.
Protects Special Interests: this agreement protects special interests at the expense of struggling families. Yet, the conference did not have to pursue these Dickensian cuts. It could have accepted Senate language that reduced overpayments to private insurance companies. Or it could have gone further, and completely eliminated these overpayments, which would negate the need for most of the pain and raise more than $20 billion over five years. Instead, it's gifts for the greedy, and cuts for the needy.
I don't know what the poor, elderly, disabled, and foster children have done to deserve this. And I don't know why the Republicans would wait until the wee hours of the morning, just a few days before Christmas, to show just how mean-spirited they can be.
For the Republicans to deal this heavy blow to the poorest among us at the same time they reduce taxes for the very rich is not only wrong, but it smacks of being immoral.
Future Tax cuts (February?):
The $56 billion Republican tax bill overwhelmingly benefits the very wealthy.
Nearly 50% of the benefit from the extension of capital gains and dividend rate cuts goes to households with incomes over $1 million
This tax bill grants these wealthy households an annual benefit of more than $32,000.
In contrast--Middle-income families receive only 2 percent of the benefit of the capital gains and dividend rate cuts, resulting in an average annual benefit of only $7.
So the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class gets left behind. That's Republican economics.
I urge a ``no'' vote on this shameful conference report.
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