President Donald Trump's budget plan is a "violation" of the American people's trust because it hurts everybody except for the very wealthy, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Wednesday.
He added that it's a "scam" because it won't balance the nation's budget in 10 years, as the Trump administration claims,
"We are going to fight this tooth and nail," the Maryland Democrat said during a MSNBC "Morning Joe" interview. "I've never seen anything as hateful and abominable as this . . . it does include a tax cut for millionaire. If you're a millionaire, you're going to get an average annual tax cut of at least $50,000 a year, so if you can jet off to Mar-a-Lago every weekend, you're just fine."
In addition, Van Hollen said, the Trump blueprint assumes 3 percent economic growth and the administration claims it will balance the budget in 10 years, but the budget doesn't balance.
"It is something that would make the Enron accountants blush," Van Hollen said. "The harm is real, but the claim that it comes into balance is a total scam."
Show anchor Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, commented that he's a fiscal conservative and he finds Trump's blueprint budget "nothing less than hateful."
"It guts basic services, slashes cancer research, and slashes health care for the poor," he said. "It slashes money for rural hospitals. It slashes money for rural hospice care and anything involving health care in rural America. My part of America, middle America."
Van Hollen agreed, and complained the plan not only violates Americans' trust, but it is a "betrayal of so many of Donald Trump's own promises from the campaign trail."
The Trump administration Tuesday asked Republicans who control Congress to sign off on several politically sensitive cuts, seeking to including to healthcare and food assistance programs for the poor, in order to cut $3.6 trillion in government spending over the next 10 years.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday the plan puts taxpayers first, and it will allow for more secure borders and a stronger military. However, Van Hollen said the only taxpayers that will come first through the plan are those who are very wealthy.
"You're going to get a windfall tax break if you're very wealthy, but if you're a student trying to pay your bills to go to college, you'll see see loans cut," Van Hollen said. "If you're in rural America, it cuts the whole rural economic development plans that have been put in place."
Cities will also face cuts to Community Development Block grant money that is often a significant source of funding, he said.
During his campaign, Trump tweeted that he would not cut programs like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, Van Hollen said, but his budget cuts Social Security and Medicaid.
Van Hollen said he hopes Republicans will join in opposing the Trump blueprint, much as it ignored his budget for the remainder of this fiscal year.
"We came together and I think we put together a responsible budget," Van Hollen said. "Of course, Donald Trump tweeted out after that that he was looking forward to a quote, 'good government shutdown' in September. I hope he doesn't try and push it to that."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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