By Anna Cameron
As the House Budget Committee began its markup of President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget request Wednesday, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus gathered in opposition to the latest GOP budget proposal.
“The room to our right is filled with people listening to a budget proposal that balances the budget on the backs of the poor, the elderly, the children,” Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) said during a press conference held by the CPC.
According to Democrats, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) 2012 budget proposal would have an especially devastating impact on seniors, based on the privatization of Medicare and the implementation of a voucher system.
“Our seniors, who have cut a path for all of us to walk behind, have got to have dignity in their lives as they are in their golden years,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). “[This] is something that the ‘Ryan Roadmap to Ruin’ just obliterates.”
In addition, Democrats noted that the proposed FY 2012 budget, which they claim caters to corporations and the wealthiest 2 percent of the population, would do nothing to create jobs and conversely raise unemployment rates.
“If this budget goes through you’re going to see not jobs created for all Americans, but you’re going to see higher unemployment rates throughout the country,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) “You’re going to see twice the national average, of whatever that will be, in the African-American, Latino, and Asian-Pacific-American communities.”
The Congressional Progressive Caucus noted that it will release its budget blueprint Thursday.
