Nancy Altman: Stealth GOP Tax Bill Provision Will Trigger Deep Cuts to Medicare

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Stealth GOP Tax Bill Provision Will Trigger Deep Cuts to Medicare

Posted Nov. 22, 2017

Interview with Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, conducted by Scott Harris

According to the calculations of many economists, President Trump and the Republican’s proposed tax reform legislation, which passed in the House Nov. 16 and now moves to the Senate, will primarily benefit the top one percent of wealthiest Americans, not the middle class as advertised. In fact, by some estimates, 80 percent of the benefits from GOP tax reductions and tax code changes would go to people making more than $730,000 a year over the next decade. Other features of the Republican tax plan include elimination of the estate tax that only benefits couples with more than $11 million in assets; ending most tax deductions for college student; dropping deductions for state and local taxes – predominantly hurting blue state residents – and repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate. In the Senate version of the tax bill, that will result in 13 million Americans losing their health insurance coverage.

But while many of the effects of the GOP tax reform plan operate like “Robin Hood in reverse,” another set of negative consequences for average Americans relates to little discussed cuts in the federal social safety net. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the GOP tax bill will instantly trigger $400 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare over the next 10 years, including a $25 billion reduction in the first year after enactment.

Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, who examines the proposed Trump-GOP tax plan’s major cuts to Medicare, and the likelihood that "chained CPI" will be imposed through the tax bill, increasing taxes and reducing Social Security benefits. (Rush transcript.)

NANCY ALTMAN: The Republicans have really just one play in their playbook that they've been using over and over again since Jan. 1, and that is what they want to do is give tax breaks to their billionaire donors and then, in the process even though they say there will be cuts to middle class, many middle class families will see their taxes increase. The way they want to pay for those huge tax cuts for the very wealthy is by cutting vital programs. They want to really end Medicare and Medicaid as we know it. They have had a vendetta against Social Security, really, since the time it's been enacted.

And, what they did over the summer with Trumpcare was they were really going to destroy Medicaid, get rid of the Affordable Care Act, and use that to pay for big tax cuts. Now they're just doing that in reverse order. They passed a budget that has big cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and tax breaks for the very wealthy. They've now passed through the House a tax cut bill that will, by itself, automatically trigger what CBO calls $400 billion of cuts in Medicare over the next decade. People are not really talking about it, but as soon as the tax bill gets passed, unless they waive another provision of an existing law, there will be $400 billion of cuts in Medicare.

They also wanted in the Senate version, to repeal a part of Obamacare that again, CBO projects will cut $185 billion out of Medicaid.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Nancy, with these hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts that may come out of Medicare, what will the net effect be on Medicare recipients down the line? How will it affect them personally?

NANCY ALTMAN: One way it may affect them is their choice of doctor. All these cuts in reimbursements of doctors and so forth, a lot of doctors may decide that it's not in their economic interest to keep seeing Medicare patients and Medicare patients can wind up not being able to go the hospital if they want, not being able to go to the doctors they want. The problem is that if this bill passes, it automatically triggers these cuts. And the person in charge of figuring out how to implement the cuts will be the director of the Office of Management and Budget, a man by the name of Mick Mulvaney, who is an extreme conservative who has a long-standing hatred of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and he will be in charge of deciding how the Medicare cuts come about. And as a consequence, I'm concerned that he will come up with the most destructive way as possible because he wants to see this program ended.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And Nancy before we go, I wanted to make sure to talk about another situation that's waiting in the wings here again, not being much discussed. And that is, there is a proposal by the Republicans to include something called "chained CPI" in the final tax legislation which could increase taxes for many Americans – but also mean future reductions in Social Security benefits. Tell our listeners a bit about chained CPI. I'm sure many haven't heard about it.

NANCY ALTMAN: It is an absolute tax increase and it does have this potential for Social Security – as you mentioned. One of the big advantages of Social Security over private pension plans, is that the benefits are indexed so they don't erode over time as inflation goes up, the benefits go up. So the purchasing power is maintained.

Now the same thing is true on the tax side. The brackets are indexed so that if you're getting more dollars, but if the real value of that money is not increasing, you don't pay a higher percentage in taxes, which why the brackets are indexed. When they decided to have automatic increases in 1972, there was only index available. That was the consumer price index for workers. And so that was used.

Now of course, retirees, people who get Social Security are by definition NOT workers, yet that was the only index that was available then. The current inflation adjustment – the CPIW, as it's called for Social Security, is inadequate because seniors and people with disabilities have disproportionately large expenditures on healthcare. And health care costs have risen much more rapidly than other costs. So there's another index called CPIE, the Consumer Price Index for Elderly that is a better measure.

But instead of going for the CPIE, in order to save money, politicians a few years ago said, "Well, let's use a stingier index." And that's the chained CPI. They're now saying let's use the stingier index for taxes and that will cause the middle-class and working class people to pay higher income taxes and what many fear is that once they get a foothold on the taxes, it'll be easy to say, "Well we're using it for this, let's use it for Social Security, too" and that would be a cut in Social Security benefits.

For more information, visit Social Security Works at socialsecurityworks.org and Strengthen Social Security Coalition at strengthensocialsecurity.org.