House Budget Blueprint Boosts Military, Cuts Benefits
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/AP) – The 10-year budget blueprint unveiled by House Republicans on Tuesday would dramatically increase military spending while making cuts to Medicare.
The GOP plan, authored by Budget Committee Chairman Diane Black, would also pave the way for overhauling the U.S. tax code, and would pair that effort with cuts to benefit programs such as food stamps.
The plan also lays out a schedule to balance the budget inside a decade through deep cuts to a wide swath of domestic programs — though GOP leaders have no intention of actually carrying out the cuts.
Related: Trump Blasts Congress Over Failure Of GOP Health Care Bill
However, a report from the Congressional Budget Office says that President Donald Trump's budget, if followed to the letter, would result in a $720 billion deficit at the end of 10 years instead of the slight surplus promised.
CBO said Trump's budget would reduce the deficit by a total of $3.3 trillion over 10 years instead of the $5.6 trillion deficit cut promised by the White House. The nonpartisan scorekeeper estimated that deficits in each of the coming 10 years will exceed the $585 billion in red ink posted last year.
CBO says that Trump relied on far too optimistic predictions of economic growth and that Trump's rosy projections are the chief reason his budget doesn't balance as promised.
Black announced a committee vote for Wednesday, but a floor vote could be delayed by an ongoing quarrel between the GOP's tea party and moderate factions.
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