OOPS, The GOP Did It Again!, Republicans Approve Budget That Ends Medicare, Slashes Taxes on the Wealthy

OOPS, They Did It Again!
Mar 29, 2012 | By ThinkProgress War Room

GOP Votes to End Medicare In Order to Finance Giveaways to the Wealthy, Big Oil
Today was a big day on Capitol Hill. Republicans made crystal clear
exactly whose side they're on — that of the wealthiest 1 Percent and
special interests like Big Oil.

Here's a rundown of today's action.

House Republicans Approve Budget That Ends Medicare, Slashes Taxes on
the Wealthy

Just like they did last year, Republicans almost unanimously voted for
a radical budget proposal that ends the Medicare guarantee in order to
partially* offset deep tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

How radical is the plan the House passed today? It would pull the rug
out from under the elderly (and more or less everyone else in one way
or another) while giving millionaires a $265,000 tax cut on top of
what they'd each get from the expiring Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

The parade of horribles for the elderly, students, low-income
Americans, the middle class, the housing market, our public lands, and
virtually every facet of society is too long to list here, but check
out our complete coverage of this disastrous budget for all of the
details.

10 Republicans, some of whom thought the proposal did not go far
enough, voted against it, while ZERO Democrats voted in favor of the
extreme plan.

*Even slashing Medicare and nearly every other program or service that
Americans benefit from each day isn't enough to pay for the Republican
plan's massive tax cuts for the wealthy. These tax cuts are so big
that the Republican plan actually makes the deficit and debt worse.

Senate Republicans Vote to Protect $24 BILLION in Giveaways to Big Oil

Not to be outdone by their compatriots on the other side of the
Capitol, Senate Republicans voted en masse to protect $24 BILLION in
wasteful and unnecessary taxpayer-funded giveaways to the five largest
oil companies.

Though 51 Senators voted in favor of the bill (Maine's Republican
Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, joined with 49 Democrats),
it was defeated due to the Senate's now-standard 60-vote requirement.
Unfortunately, four Democratic Senators — Ben Nelson (NE), Mary
Landrieu (LA), Jim Webb (VA), and Mark Begich (AK) — joined 43
Republicans in siding with Big Oil to vote down the proposal.

Big Oil is well-known for making it rain in the halls of Congress, but
a closer look at its largesse in the context of today's vote is
particularly shocking. The 47 Senators voting to protect $24 BILLION
in giveaways to Big Oil have received a whopping $23,582,500 from Big
Oil. The 51 Senators who stood with the 99 Percent received less than
a quarter of that sum.

$24 MILLION for $24 BILLION in giveaways is a pretty good rate of return.

More:
ThinkProgress

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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

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