Hillary: House GOP budget ‘fails’ the American people

Hillary Clinton late Tuesday criticized the House GOP’s budget blueprint released earlier in the day, asserting that it “fails” the American people.

Our nation’s future – jobs & economic growth – depends on investments made today. The GOP budget fails Americans on these principles.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 18, 2015

Clinton, who’s expected to launch her second presidential campaign as early as next month, posted a series of tweets on the Republicans’ budget.

{mosads}“Budgets reflect our priorities. They should help families get ahead, educate our kids, and spark small business growth,” her first tweet said.

Clinton slammed the blueprint’s proposal to repeal ObamaCare, which would take away health insurance coverage for millions of people, she said.

“Repeal of the ACA [Affordable Care Act] would let insurers write their own rules again, and wipe out coverage for 16 million Americans,” she said.

She also said the budget’s cuts to Pell Grants for college “hold our kids back.”

The former secretary of State and expected Democratic front-runner in the 2016 presidential race normally doesn’t tweet that frequently but has been much more vocal lately.

On Monday, for example, Clinton criticized the Senate Republican strategy to stall Loretta Lynch’s confirmation vote to become the next attorney general. Last week, Clinton said the Senate Republican letter to Iran “undermines American leadership.”

Clinton’s tweets on the budget came after Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) unveiled his first spending blueprint as chairman of the House Budget Committee.

To balance the federal budget in nine years and erase the deficit, the plan would cut $5.5 trillion. Much of that would come from mandatory spending and proposed changes to entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

The budget sticks to sequestration budget ceilings, set to return in October, that were established by a 2011 law. Nondefense domestic programs would get $493 billion and the Pentagon would be limited to $523 billion next year.

To cater to defense hawks, it also offers the option of boosting the Pentagon’s war funding account to make up for the sequester.

The Senate is expected to release a similar budget Wednesday ahead of committee markups in both chambers. Republicans aim to hold floor votes on the plans by the end of next week.