by Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs
President Trump was asked by very friendly interviewer Joe Kernen of CNBC, will “entitlements ever be on your plate?” The President replied, “At some point they will be.” And, when asked whether he’d “do some of the things that you said you wouldn’t do in the past” (specifically, Medicare), he said “Well, we’re going – we’re going look.” (That’s how the transcript reads.)
Alarm bells went off around Social Security and Medicare, and the President responded via tweet by promising to “save” Social Security.
But for anyone who’s paying attention, the evidence of the Administration’s attempts to make cuts in basic needs programs is abundant. They are going after Social Security and they have made multiple attempts to throw people off Medicaid and SNAP. Even more far-reaching, the Trump administrator in charge of Medicaid, Seema Verma, is readying a plan to allow states to agree to capped Medicaid funding. So far, the unifying factor in their targets is the vulnerability of beneficiaries. They may not be aiming at retirees on Social Security, at least for now. But if you’re poor, watch out.
See the analysis here
