Republicans plan to reduce deficit

I respond to the Feb. 19 Dispatch.com article “‘Deficit hawk’ Republicans don’t seem to care anymore about debt.” I find the opposite to be true. Republicans time and time again under the leadership of House Speaker Paul Ryan and U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, have championed balancing the budget and reducing the deficit.

The House Budget Resolution “Building a Better America — A Plan for Fiscal Responsibility” will reduce the deficit by $6.5 trillion in 10 years. The plan serves as a benchmark for the fundamental ideas congressional Republicans wish to pursue — balance the budget, reduce spending and lower taxes for all Americans. These are ideas that have characterized the Republican Party for decades.

To reduce the deficit, reforms must be made to the entitlement programs in this country, which account for almost two-thirds of our mandatory spending per year. The budget resolution addresses these.

First, it will start a mandatory work requirement for Medicaid for all people who are able-bodied, not pregnant, not elderly and without dependents. Second, the plan will eliminate the double-dipping loophole in the Social Security system that allows people to collect disability along with unemployment disability.

Lastly, the plan will reform the Medicare program for senior citizens by creating direct payments to the insurers and maintaining a program much like Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage, which seniors are comfortable with.

This resolution, coupled with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, achieves the conservative promises Republicans made to the voters and does not abandon their commitment to reducing the deficit. Already Americans are seeing money back in their checks from bonuses to reductions in the percentage taken out by the federal government. Voters care about the deficit and certainly care about their pocketbooks. That’s why they elected Republicans.

Trevor Knapp Pickerington