There won't be cuts to Social Security or Medicare in the budget popular vote loser Donald Trump sends to Congress, says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. For now.
"We are not touching those now," Mnuchin said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" when Maria Bartiromo asked if the administration planned to cut funding for programs like Social Security and Medicare. "So don't expect to see that as part of this budget."
Not touching them "now" and not in "this budget" is only a little bit comforting. Particularly when you consider what that leaves to be cut.
WASHINGTON — President Trump will instruct federal agencies on Monday to assemble a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes sharp increases in Defense Department spending and drastic enough cuts to domestic agencies that he can keep his promise to leave Social Security and Medicare alone, according to four senior administration officials.
A day before delivering a high-stakes address on Tuesday to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Trump will demand a budget with tens of billions of dollars in reductions to the Environmental Protection Agency and State Department, according to four senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the plan. Social safety net programs, aside from the big entitlement programs for retirees, would also be hit hard.
So much for food stamps, Medicaid, and all the other safety net programs. And, you know, having clean air to breathe and water to drink. If the old people aren't going to be punished, Trump's team of deplorables will make sure there's going to be maximum pain for everyone else.