HECK: House Vote Hurts South Sound Seniors, Students and Middle-Class Families

has released the following statement in response to today’s vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Republican budget:

“Today’s vote in the U.S. House was a blow to South Sound seniors, students and middle class families. It’s astonishing how out of touch Congress is with the priorities of the American people. This budget would make massive cuts to Pell Grants and the already tattered social safety net while at the same time giving millionaires and corporations who ship American jobs overseas yet another huge tax cut.

This budget would also end Medicare as we know it and make seniors in Washington State pay thousands of dollars more for health coverage. It does nothing but shift the burden of healthcare costs away from the federal government and onto seniors. Additionally, it misses the biggest problem with Medicare: out of control costs throughout our nation’s healthcare system.

The United States spends far more than any other first-world nation on healthcare as a percentage of GDP. If we adopt common sense changes to the way we deliver healthcare – such as reducing in-hospital infection rates, providing more continuing education to doctors on updated best practices, and placing a greater focus on preventative medicine – we can potentially save hundreds of billions of dollars on healthcare costs each year and significantly extend the solvency of the Medicare program.

We need leaders in Congress who are willing to work across the aisle and develop real solutions to America’s budget problem. This budget openly thumbs its nose at the chance of a bipartisan consensus. It is not a serious policy proposal but rather a partisan, election year stunt."