Cravaack votes to give trillions in tax breaks to the rich and end Medicare

Today, Rep. Chip Cravaack once again turned his back on Minnesota’s seniors and middle-class families in order to give massive tax breaks to the richest of the rich and the largest corporations.

Cravaack continues to toe the party line, voting in favor of Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s (WI-1) budget, which passed 228-191.

The Ryan budget boondoggle hands out trillions in tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest Americans while simultaneously slashing 4.1 million middle class jobs and ending Medicare as we know it.

“Today Cravaack voted to put trillions of dollars in the pockets of big corporations by ripping it out of the hands of Minnesota families,” Carrie Lucking, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, said. “This is a question of priorities. Cravaack repeatedly puts the interests of big corporations with their lobbyists and limousines over the needs of middle class families in Northeast Minnesota. Instead of toeing the extreme, special interest party line, Cravaack should be representing the interests of Northeastern Minnesotans.”

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VOTE IMPACT SUMMARY – CRAVAACK SUPPORTS EXTREME RYAN BUDGET

Chip Cravaack voted to cut millions of jobs in order to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.

• The House Republican budget plan will cut roughly 4.1 million jobs. [The Economic Policy Institute, 3/21/12]

Chip Cravaack voted to give $3 trillion in tax breaks to corporations, Big Oil, and the richest of the rich.

• The House Republican budget includes $3 trillion in tax breaks to corporations and the richest of the rich. The Ryan budget – among other major changes to the American tax code – cuts the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent and repeals the repatriation tax on profits corporations earn overseas then bring back to the United States. [Think Progress, 3/20/12]
• While American families pay more money at the pump, the House Republican budget pads Big Oil’s pockets. The Ryan budget retains a decade’s worth of $40 billion in tax breaks to Big Oil, while cutting billions of dollars in investments to develop alternate fuels and clean energy technologies. [Think Progress, 3/20/12]
• Under the House Republican budget, every millionaire would receive at least an $187,000 tax cut. [Think Progress, 3/22/12; Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/22/12] Nearly all of the residents of the 8th district make less than $200,000 a year in their jobs. [New York Times]

Chip Cravaack voted for millions of Americans to lose health insurance and to turn Medicare into a voucher system – but kept giveaways to big insurance companies in place.

• Under the House Republican budget plan, more than 47 million Americans would lose health coverage. The Ryan budget repeals the Affordable Care Act, which provides health coverage for 33 million Americans. The Ryan budget also transforms Medicaid by replacing federal funding with block grants to states – causing more than 14 million Americans to lose coverage in 10 years. [Center for American Progress, 3/20/12]
• The House Republican budget plan will end Medicare as we know it and turn it into a voucher system. More than 800,000 seniors in Minnesota would be forced onto vouchers when they retire. The Ryan budget proposes gives Medicare beneficiaries a choice between a voucher system and the traditional Medicare plan; however, “private plans could ‘cherry pick’ healthier seniors, driving up premiums for those who remain in traditional Medicare. And private plans would be able to undercut traditional Medicare in other ways, such as by offering free gym memberships or other perks. As a result more and more seniors would gradually shift to private plans over time.” [Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; DPCC, 3/22/12]
• Hundreds of thousands of seniors would become uninsured under the House Republican budget plan. The Ryan budget raises the Medicare eligibility age to 67 and scales back or eliminates other coverage options, causing hundreds of thousands of seniors to become uninsured. [Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Think Progress, 3/20/12]
• The House Republican budget plan reopens the prescription drug donut hole. More than 86,000 Minnesota seniors’ drug costs will increase by up to $44 billion through 2020 and by $2.2 billion in 2012 alone. The Ryan plan repeals the Affordable Care Act, which closed donut hole in the Medicare prescription drug program, Part D. [Huffington Post, 3/27/12; DPCC, 3/22/12]