INDIANAPOLIS – Republicans in Congress, including all seven House members and both Senators from Indiana, are holding Indiana and America’s economy hostage by threatening a default on our country’s bills. Their solution? Widespread cuts to veterans’ healthcare benefits, Medicare, Social Security, our teachers, and law enforcement officers.
On top of these cuts, Republicans want to balloon the national debt by making the 2017 tax law that benefited the wealthy permanent, and propose new tax cuts for billionaires and big business. Their Default on America plan would also cause economic hardship for thousands of Hoosier families. Indiana’s 400,000 veterans would suffer as the VA would be forced to cut over 80,000 jobs and over 30 million outpatient visits nationally.
“Hoosier Democrats Frank Mrvan and André Carson voted against the Default on America Act because it is a bad deal for millions of Hoosiers. Veterans would lose access to essential care, proactive railroad inspections would be cut, as would funding for police departments,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl.
“Indiana Republicans need to put aside the partisan games, protect Indiana’s economic future and America’s global reputation by working with Democrats and the President to avoid default. America has always paid its bills; Republicans are pushing the economy to the brink simply to score political points.”
Instead of finding common ground, Republicans are proposing a plan that could:
- Cut Preschool and Childcare access for 9,400 children in Indiana;
- Cut 290 days of railroad track inspections totalling over 1,000 miles in Indiana;
- Raise Social Security and Medicare wait times for over 1.5 million Hoosier seniors;
- Reduce support for the 180,000 students with disabilities in Indiana;
- Worsen housing costs for 12,000 Hoosiers;
- Reduce the number of Pell Grants awarded to Hoosier students by 2,400
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