This afternoon, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter is showing just how ignorant he is about the federal budget with this tweet he sent:
What’s on the chopping block if the #GOPTaxBill passes? Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other investments in healthcare, education, science, and environmental protection. This is unacceptable.
— Rep. Ed Perlmutter (@RepPerlmutter) November 30, 2017
Of course Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and other investments in healthcare, education, science, and environmental protection are on the chopping block. A little known fact (to Rep. Perlmutter, apparently) is that mandatory spending (the largest of the two programs in this bucket are social security and medicare) is 62 percent of all federal spending. How could these programs not be on the chopping block? Mandatory spending comprises 62 percent of all federal spending, according to the FY2018 budget, which is three times more than even military funding.
Rep. Perlmutter is upset that the new budget and tax plan is cutting into the largest segment of our country’s budget? That’s not whine-worthy – it’s fiscally responsible.