Trump Plan to Balance Budget Includes Farm Subsidy Cuts

According to Bloomberg News, a budget plan President Trump is expected to submit to Congress Tuesday includes steep cuts to farm subsidies.  The 2018 budget proposal, which would begin the process of balancing the budget within ten years, would make cuts to mandatory spending on an array of social programs while sparing the Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs.

The budget proposal will also include Trump's proposal to overhaul the tax code.  But, with an effort of eliminating the federal deficit, many suspect tax cuts will be offset by the elimination of credits and deductions, a move opposed by agriculture groups who say farmers need both.  Bloomberg News says the possibility of proposed cuts to target price supports and crop insurance led House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway to seek a meeting with White House director Mick Mulvaney.

However, Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky signaled that lawmakers would seek substantial changes to the proposal, calling it a “process of negotiation.” McConnell added: “We haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to any president’s budget since I’ve been here.”

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