Jason Stein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MADISON - With $1.5 trillion in tax cuts signed into law last week, Wisconsin Republicans like U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and the party's two U.S. Senate candidates face a question: Should the GOP move on to overhauling entitlements?
In 2018, Republicans could use their control of the federal government to prioritize an infrastructure bill, a rewrite to immigration law or changes to entitlement programs such as Medicaid health programs for the needy and Medicare coverage for seniors.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) has argued against cuts to these social programs while her GOP challengers in next year's election — state Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) and Marine veteran Kevin Nicholson — are opening the door to that.
Vukmir spokeswoman Jess Ward said the nation needs to tackle its deficits and debt by addressing "the root of the problem, our spending."
"Leah agrees with Speaker Ryan, America’s debt is a threat to future generations and we must reform these programs," Ward said in an email. "In Wisconsin, we are living within our means, having passed one policy reform after the other, and Leah intends to do the same when she gets to Washington."
As the leader of House Republicans, Ryan has argued in recent weeks for following up the tax cut bill — which is projected to increase the federal deficit — with difficult to pass spending restraints on entitlements such as Medicaid, Medicare and welfare programs. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has balked at that, saying that GOP senators shouldn't try to push through those limits over the objections of Democrats.
Nicholson's campaign didn't say directly that the GOP business consultant favored Ryan's goal, but adviser Brandon Moody said Nicholson intended to "deal with our nation's toughest challenges."
"Too many typical career politicians give lip service to the American people about the massive amount of debt and risk created by our nation’s entitlements," Moody said in a statement. "It’s not ethical for them to make empty promises to beneficiaries that the federal government can’t keep, and it’s not sustainable to generations of Americans who’ve not yet been born."
For her part, Baldwin said in a statement that entitlement programs were crucial to protecting the nation's most vulnerable, citing how Medicaid cares for both the elderly in nursing homes as well as disabled children. She said state residents had "already sent Washington a clear message" by opposing a repeal of Obamacare, which could have included Medicaid cuts.
"The Republicans then passed a tax plan that will hike taxes on millions of middle-class families and increase health care premiums, all while providing giveaways to the wealthiest few and big corporations. Using this massive gift to the top 1% as an excuse to now cut Wisconsinites' Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security is downright sickening," Baldwin said.
A range of projections — from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation to the Tax Foundation — have found that the tax cuts would add significantly to the federal deficit even after accounting for the economic growth they generate. That could pressure Congress to hold down spending in the future.
Cuts to Social Security, however, seem out of reach for Republicans next year because of the procedural rules of the Senate. The GOP would need to use the process known as budget reconciliation to avoid a Democratic filibuster of Social Security cuts, but reconciliation can't be used to change Social Security.
Ryan has argued, however, for taking steps to hold down spending in other entitlements — a long-held goal of his and of many House conservatives.
"We have to address entitlements, otherwise we can't really get our handle on our future debt," Ryan said Dec. 20 on CBS This Morning. "There are two things you need to do to get the debt under control so that our kids and our grandkids get a debt-free nation — number one: grow the economy, this tax cut bill will help do that; number two: reform entitlement programs."
McConnell pushed back the next day, arguing that it would prove too difficult to overcome Democratic objections in the Senate. Instead, McConnell said, Republicans ought to work on proposals that might win some Democratic support, such as an infrastructure bill.
Speaking at a WisPolitics luncheon on Dec. 19, Vukmir said voters had been talking to her about Republicans rewriting immigration law and trying again to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Baldwin has urged Congress in 2018 to protect private-sector pension funds for workers, fight the epidemic of addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers and fund the Children's Health Insurance Program, which covers nearly 118,000 children in Wisconsin.
