The GOP-controlled House narrowly passed a new budget-cutting plan that aims to cut fifty billion dollars from the national deficit in five years. How does it expect to do this? By taking the targets off our soldiers’ faces and getting them out of Iraq? By ending the countless tax cuts for the richest Americans? Or by cutting benefits to the poor?

The new bill cuts food stamps to many impoverished Americans, raises rates and fees on student loans, and puts new limits on Medicaid. That’s Medicaid, which helps needy families, and not Medicare, which helps the elderly. The real difference to the government is that retirees are far more likely to vote, and to vote Republican, than those who are still working their hands to the bone just to make ends meet–many of whom benefit from food stamps. Students have been shown as far more likely to vote Democrat than Republican; not only that, but the likelihood of voting Democrat also rises along with the voter’s level of education. The new legislation, which does not touch rich corporations or their innumerable tax cuts, is clearly being used against the demographics who are least likely to support the inefficient, wasteful politicians who created the bill.

The GOP’s blatant economic and political marauding is even more obvious in the face of another upcoming tax bill that would perpetuate tax cuts on stock dividends and capital gains. The money these proposed tax cuts would cost the government would actually increase the deficit , even with the new cuts to government programs for the Republicans’ likely non-constituents. While the government continues helping the rich grow richer, restricted medical benefits, higher education costs, and lack of nutritional assistance only work to keep the lower classes firmly in place in the sociopolitical strata.

The House Republicans said that cutting social benefit programs is the first step to “restoring financial discipline” to American government. A better step would have been to stop feeding corporate giants and actually help the poor climb out of poverty to where they will not need such programs.