Congressman Ruben Hinojosa on Opposition to GOP's Plan "B"

Press Release

Today-Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX-15) on why he opposes the U.S. House Speaker John Boehner's so called "Plan B" legislation..

Congressman Hinojosa: "This legislation, which the Senate has refused to bring up and President Obama has vowed to veto if it ever came to his desk, is a cheap political ploy from an ineffective Speaker of the House trying to deflect the much needed blame he and his Republican colleagues will suffer if we go over the fiscal cliff. Tonight he did not even have enough support from his Republican colleagues to carry his bad plan through a vote on the House floor. We need to stop playing games and end the brinkmanship and posturing. The President has already made a number of concessions in an effort to get a deal done. Yet time and time again, all we hear from Republicans is "no". What is most upsetting is that this legislation simply makes matters worse. It benefits the very rich and guts services for the poor and working class."

The Republican bill would:

cut $36 billion from the SNAP program, kicking millions of people off food stamps, as well as hundreds of thousands of poor children off of the school lunch program.

cut $70 billion from the Affordable Care Act, crippling its ability to provide insurance
to over 30 million Americans.

cut $4.2 billion to rural hospitals providing care to low income individuals

cut all funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

cut federal pensions by $83 billion, this already on top of a two year pay freeze and an existing cut to pensions that total $103 billion in cuts to just one group of middle-class workers.

would include devastating cuts to education that would be even worse than what would happen if we actually went over the fiscal cliff. It also fails to extend the teacher tax deduction which provides a deduction for teachers who have out-of-pocket expenses for classroom supplies and Qualified Zone Academy Bonds used for needed school repairs and modernization.

would eliminate the Home Affordable Mortgage Program

would eliminate the Social Services Block Grant Program which works to prevent child abuse, increasing the availability of child care, and provides community-based care for the elderly and disabled

"This is not a viable plan that was presented by House Speaker John Boehner," said U.S. Rep. Hinojosa."It is a smoke and mirrors form of governing that leaves the burden of our economy on the backs of middle class families, veterans and seniors, while letting the upper crust of our society dismiss their responsibility of paying taxes at a fair rate, Boehner and his colleagues who support this "befuddled" plan are not fooling anyone."

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