{"id":26736,"date":"2023-05-27T13:59:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T20:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26736"},"modified":"2023-05-27T13:59:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T20:59:53","slug":"sanders-says-cuts-to-aid-programs-should-be-off-the-table-as-white-house-and-gop-near-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/05\/27\/sanders-says-cuts-to-aid-programs-should-be-off-the-table-as-white-house-and-gop-near-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanders Says Cuts to Aid Programs Should Be ‘Off the Table’ as White House and GOP Near Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Sen.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks at a news conference on May 18, 2023 in Washington, D.C. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo: Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What should be off the table are children in America, where we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country.”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

JAKE JOHNSON<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 26, 2023 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> said late Thursday that cuts to aid programs for vulnerable people should be “off the table” entirely as Republican negotiators and the Biden White House reportedly<\/a> closed in on a deal that would raise the debt ceiling<\/a> in exchange for a two-year cap on non-military discretionary spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, told<\/a>CNN<\/em>‘s Anderson Cooper that Republicans have engaged in “an outrageous display of extremist politics” by “holding hostage the entire world economy unless they get what they want.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Right now in America, you got a middle class which is shrinking, you got 60% of our people living paycheck-to-paycheck, childcare system in disarray, healthcare system collapsing, housing\u2014all over the country people can’t afford housing,” Sanders said. “You don’t cut programs that working people desperately need.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senator appeared on the network shortly after The New York Times<\/em>reported<\/a> that top White House officials and GOP lawmakers were nearing an agreement that would cut non-military discretionary spending or keep it roughly at this year’s levels\u2014a real-term cut when accounting for inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the emerging deal, the debt ceiling would be raised for two years, temporarily preventing an economy-wrecking default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Times<\/em>, the deal would “roll back $10 billion of the $80 billion Congress approved last year for an IRS crackdown on high earners and corporations that evade taxes, though that provision was still under discussion.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As the deal stood on Thursday, the IRS money would essentially shift to nondefense discretionary spending, allowing Democrats to avoid further cuts in programs like education and environmental protection, according to people familiar with the pending agreement,” the Times<\/em> reported. “The plan had yet to be finalized, and the bargainers continued to haggle over crucial details that could make or break any deal.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutting $ for the IRS is, simply, enabling tax cheating by the super rich and corporations.

That\u2019s the Republicans\u2019 top priority. https:\/\/t.co\/fADMVIk1My<\/a><\/p>— Robert Weissman (@Rob_Weissman) May 25, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>