Comparison of Republican Budget and Democratic Alternative
REPUBLICAN BUDGET | DEMOCRATIC ALTERNATIVE | |
Investing in America and Its Workers | • Undermines the country's investment in education, infrastructure, and research. • $5.4 trillion in spending cuts, which drain resources from programs that American families need. • Lowers the already inadequate austerity-level non-defense discretionary spending caps by an additional $5 billion in 2018 and by even more in subsequent years. | • Invests in infrastructure, cutting-edge research and innovation, and expanded educational opportunities. • Creates good-paying jobs with higher wages. • Increases opportunity through a higher minimum wage, immigration reform, equal pay for equal work, and consumer protections. • Protects parity between defense and non-defense discretionary spending. |
Tax Fairness | • Fast-tracks trillions in tax cuts for millionaires and wealthy corporations. • Shifts the tax burden onto the middle class. • Fails to close special-interest loopholes. | • Supports responsible tax reform that provides support and relief for hardworking American families. • Ensures that millionaires and wealthy corporations pay their fair share. |
Protecting Healthcare | • Embraces Trumpcare. • $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid. • $500 billion in cuts to Medicare. • Ends Medicare guarantee, shifting costs and risks onto seniors. | • Defends and strengthens the ACA. • Rejects Trumpcare. Brings more affordability and stability to insurance markets. • Rejects voucherizing Medicare. |
Supporting Basic Standards of Living | • Fast-tracks $203 billion in cuts to programs families rely on for food & other basic necessities. • Cuts fall heavily on low-income families, students, and persons with disabilities. | • Safeguards funding for nutrition assistance and affordable housing. • Strengthens and expands the EITC. • Supports increased resources for TANF. |
Strengthening National Security | • Shortchanges essential elements of national security, like the State Department, foreign aid, and climate change research. | • Provides robust defense funding, matching the President's request. • Invests in all aspects of national security, rejecting the 19% cut to diplomacy and foreign aid. |