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Just a few hours prior to meeting his counterparts from all over the Western Hemisphere at the recently concluded Summit of the Americas, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaffirmed Canada's newfound commitment to the region, most clearly reflected in the newly signed free-trade deals with Peru and Colombia. On March 26, the Canadian government submitted legislation to the House of Commons that would implement the Canada-Colombia Free Trade, Labor Cooperation and Environment Agreements.
The Arrangements
In 2007, officials from both countries began secret talks to achieve a Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA). Less than a year later, the deal was underway. Essentially, the CCFTA is a carbon copy of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Consequently, in addition to the trade agreement itself, the accord consists of two additional side agreements, one addressing the environment and the other focusing on labor, which are legally separate from the main text and where both have to be ratified individually by the parliament.
Although Canadian products face much higher tariffs in Colombia than Colombian products do in Canada, both countries have agreed to lower tariffs on imported goods and also to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers as much as possible. Canadian products entering Colombia such as wheat, barley, pork and beef presently face considerable tariffs ranging from 15 percent on cereals to as much as 80 percent on beef. Canada, however, imposes no tariffs on about 80 percent of the Colombian products entering the country including coal, bananas, coffee, palm oil and sugar. Other products which are not duty-free such as cut flowers face moderate tariffs, from 8 to 16 percent. In 2008, Canadian exports to Colombia totaled $703.8 million whereas merchandise imported from Colombia amounted to $643.7 million, representing a meager 0.13 percent of Canada's total trade.
Far From Unanimous Support
Concerns surrounding human rights are at the center of the controversy surrounding the pending Canada-Colombia agreement. Proponents of the deal, including the Harper government, argue that Colombia is not what it used to be during the 1980s. To a certain degree, it is true that under the presidency of Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian human rights situation has improved in certain respects. In 2001, the year before Uribe was elected, 168 union members were murdered in the country. As of 2008, the number declined to 49 victims. Some of this discrepancy is due to a reclassification of who is a labor leader in Colombia, which is something of legerdemain by Uribe officials rather than the real thing. To promote the FTA with Colombia, Canadian officials repeated a vague and mainly theoretical discourse, maintaining that the CCFTA could improve human rights in Colombia by creating more jobs, consequently diminishing poverty and inequality. In theory, a stronger democracy would be established because the CCFTA would give Canada significant leverage on Colombia, if it was ever prepared to exercise it. This would allow Canada to press for improvements and to encourage the Uribe government to respect its international commitment to protecting human rights.
In spite of these potentially positive outcomes of the FTA, many Colombian and international human rights organizations affirm that human rights violations in Colombia remain a significant problem. In a communique dispatched to the Canadian parliament, the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC) claimed to be "very disappointed to see the government moving ahead with an agreement with Bogota. It fails to reflect such basic Canadian values as respect for human rights, economic justice and protection of the environment."
Colombia holds the record for the second highest rate of internally displaced people in the world, only after Sudan. The situation in the country is considered to be one of the worst human rights crises in the hemisphere by independent international bodies such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Labor rights activists and union workers particularly bear the brunt of these abuses. On average, throughout the past 21 years, there has been one Colombian trade union worker assassinated every three days. Adding to these statistics, and perhaps most indicative of the severity of the situation in Colombia, the Uribe government is suspected of acting in collusion with right-wing paramilitaries. "We have no doubts, given the evidence received, that the Colombian government of Alvaro Uribe and the security forces are accomplices in human rights abuses," reported a communique written by a delegation of British Labour Party members of parliament as well as trade union leaders from the U.S., Canada and Britain.
In an open letter to the Canadian International Trade Minister, Stockwell Day, Amnesty International reiterated these persistent concerns over the violation of human rights in Colombia. "It is clear that serious human rights abuses -including death threats and assassinations- are continuing to take place in areas of economic interests." According to Amnesty International, many union-affiliated victims have been targeted then attacked. They have been subject to coercion in efforts to purge the areas of the local population in order to gain access to land that may possess strategic resources such as oil, mineral and agro-industrial sites. Trade union members in particular have fallen victim to intimidation and brutal attacks in order to discourage them from organizing to protect themselves and their labor rights.
An Ineffective Labor Side Agreement
Theoretically, labor side agreements are directed towards improving labor rights and enforcing labor standards among the signatory members of a free trade agreement. While the CCFTA was secretly being negotiated, many hoped for a labor agreement that would have a credible dispute settlement mechanism, similar to the one of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which would allow such trade sanctions as countervailing measures or abrogation of preferential trade status. These measures could then be implemented in order to coerce the signatory countries to respect their pledges regarding their compliance with labor rights standards.
However, the labor side agreement that was eventually signed only provided for the two signatory countries to enforce their own labor regulations, in accordance with provisions of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The agreement unfortunately focuses on the enforcement of existing statutes rather than speculating over raising labor standards in the future. Moreover, if one of the countries fails to respect the current standards, the only sanctions applicable are fines, never to exceed $15 million per year. Critics say that the labor side agreement is highly apathetic towards the malevolent conditions being faced on a daily basis by trade union workers who routinely face the possibility of being assassinated by right-wing interest groups motivated by greed. They argue that these side agreement measures in fact do nothing to protect the victims. "The FTA's human rights penalty works on an economy of scale: the more the Colombian government and its paramilitary allies violate the rights of unionists, the cheaper it is for them," says Canadian author Todd Gordon, in his article "Disaster in the Making: Canada Concludes Its Free Trade Agreement With Colombia." Violations against labor rights in Colombia are endemic, and the Uribe administration, because of the minimal progress it has made to protect Colombian trade unionists, seems unable, or at least unwilling, to effectively tackle the situation. Issuing fines against the delinquent government is clearly an insufficient remedy for an issue that is too important to be considered in terms of dollars and cents. The fact is that fines fail to address the root causes of human rights violations and do not offer a compelling incentive for Bogota to seriously address the problem.
Secret Negotiations
Many condemn Ottawa for the secrecy that surrounded the negotiations of the FTA. There were no public hearings held during the negotiations. Moreover, the agreement was only made public after it was signed by the two parties. The Canadian House of Commons' Standing Committee on International Trade was asked to produce a report on the deal. In that document, "Human Rights, the Environment and Free Trade with Colombia," the Committee came forth with eight major recommendations, in which critical components of the document called for Canada to "maintain close ties with Colombia without signing a free trade agreement until there is confirmation that the improvements noted are maintained, including continued improvement as regards displacement, labor law and accountability for crime, and until the Colombian government shows a more constructive attitude to human rights groups in the country." Nevertheless, none of the Committee's recommendations were considered. Instead, the agreement had been rushed and signed just days prior to the release of the report, which outlined key points for the resolution of an FTA between both countries. Canada gambled on a losing strategy: that free trade will inherently bring democracy to what some would consider a lawless society. Ottawa should only have looked to its neighbor in Washington to see the futility of this approach.
Who Benefits From the CCFTA?
Colombia is not a major trade partner of Canada, representing only a tiny percentage (0.13 percent) of overall Canadian trade. Given this fact, an FTA between Colombia and Canada almost seems unnecessary. However, it is worth remembering the potential created by the CCFTA for Canadian businesses when it comes to foreign direct investment (FDI) in Colombia. In recent years, Canadian direct investment in Colombia has more than doubled, reaching a figure of $739 million. Also, this trend is expected to grow because of the vast investment opportunities offered by Colombia, especially in the oil and gas exploration sector as well as in mining. In November 2008, after initialing the FTA with Canada, President Alvaro Uribe expressed his desire for the accord to help spur oil, gas and mining exploration across half of Colombia's territory. The CCFTA will provide Canadian entrepreneurs in Colombia with substantial new investment rights and increased security for Canadian companies thinking about investing in the country. Unfortunately, human rights traditionally do not receive such protections.
There already are more than 20 Canadian companies operating in the oil and gas sector in Colombia. Yet, it is in these very industries that most of the abuses of labor rights are perpetrated, including 40 percent of the murders of union leaders and workers. What is even more disconcerting is that Canadian oil and mining companies are investing in some of the most conflict-ridden zones of the country. According to several human rights associations, there is a clear correlation between extracting natural resources and the presence of human rights abuses. In fact, the regions that are richest in minerals and oil are also often the most plagued by violence. According to a report of the Canadian House of Commons' Standing Committee on International Trade, these regions are "the source of 87 percent of forced displacements, 82 percent of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and 83 percent of assassinations of trade union leaders in the country." To some degree, investing in such areas ineluctably would make Canada complicit in Colombia's endemic human rights problems.
Trying to Attract Investors
Some observers also contend that Colombia does not in fact benefit under the terms of the proposed FTA. Since the tariffs and trade barriers are already very low in Canada on Colombian products, the latter country will reap relatively small benefits from the trade agreement. However, for Colombia, the advantages lie mainly in the gains in FDI, in the hope that this will create much needed employment. But it is difficult to convince investors to place new capital investment in Colombia because of the high level of political risk confronting such projects. In Colombia's perspective, the FTA with Canada could help change this perception and send a signal to investors from other countries, providing assurance that investing in Colombia is not hazardous and even could provide worthy business opportunities. However, in the current economic context, it is highly doubtful that such a plan would function appropriately. With investors seeing their net worth melting away, businesses are more likely to look for FDI opportunities in more politically stable and economically viable countries. Additionally, signing a deal with Canada would be a way for Colombia to put pressure on the U.S., which has not yet ratified the FTA with Colombia. The deal now has been put on ice by U.S. Congress, over concerns about the human rights situation in the country. But once the deal with Canada is implemented, Bogota hopes that the United States will want to go ahead with its own bilateral trade agreement, in spite of the reluctance expressed in Washington, so not to be left behind and lose business opportunities in Colombia, in Canada's favor.
Canadian Multilateralism Left Behind
Many critics point to the fact that Canada, which has always been a proud defender of multilateralism and the WTO, should not be engaging in increased bilateral trade agreements with Latin American countries. Multilateralism diminishes asymmetry between trade partners and levels the playing field, something that has always been a priority for Canada. Since NAFTA was implemented in 1994, only three bilateral FTAs have been enacted by Canada; with Costa Rica, Chile and Israel. However, since Stephen Harper's Conservative Party was elected in 2006, Canada signed an FTA with Peru and Colombia and is negotiating no less than eight other bilateral trade pacts. If Canada is truly interested in Latin America, it might want to adhere to its "Americas Strategy," which promotes building "strong, sustainable economies through increased trade and investment linkages, as well as mutual commitment to expanding opportunity to all citizens." In order to achieve these goals, Canada should work multilaterally with other countries of the hemisphere. Multiplying bilateral trade agreements is just one way to promote Canada's advantage, without effectively taking into account the benefits in store for Latin America, while at the same time undermining efforts to achieve efficient multilateral trade organizations embracing the entire hemisphere. In a region with some of the highest indicators of inequality, bilateral deals favor different treatment with various countries, a pathway contrary to the WTO's goals. Some inevitably lose in this process and, more often than not, the poorer country in the bilateral agreement is disadvantaged.
Almost all parties would agree that Canada should actively engage with Colombia to help the country continue to improve its record on human rights and to help build the institutional capacity which, in turn, can be counted on to contribute to hemispheric peace and stability. But Canada has to make certain that a trade agreement is not warranted by the current situation in Colombia. Some standards must be set before the CCFTA is implemented because the existing code is a far cry from being up to the job.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Mylene Bruneau
May 1st, 2009
Founded in 1975, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), a nonprofit, tax-exempt independent research and information organization, was established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere, raise the visibility of regional affairs and increase the importance of the inter-American relationship, as well as encourage the formulation of rational and constructive U.S. policies towards Latin America.
"It is shocking to see a country that considers itself a champion of the rule of law trying to stymie the actions of an independent and impartial tribunal set up by the international community, to thwart accountability."
Four independent United Nations experts on Friday urged United States senators to oppose legislation passed earlier this week in the House of Representatives that would sanction members of the International Criminal Court after the tribunal issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza.
H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act—introduced by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.)—passed the House on Thursday with strong bipartisan support. Forty-five Democrats joined all 198 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill, which, if passed by the Senate and signed by the president, would "impose sanctions with respect to the International Criminal Court (ICC) engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies."
A similar bill was passed by the House earlier this year failed to clear the Democrat-controlled Senate. The upper chamber is now under Republican control.
Responding to the proposal, Margaret Satterthwaite, the U.N. special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; George Katrougalos, independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; and Ben Saul, special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, said in a statement:
It is shocking to see a country that considers itself a champion of the rule of law trying to stymie the actions of an independent and impartial tribunal set up by the international community, to thwart accountability. Threats against the ICC promote a culture of impunity. They make a mockery of the decades-long quest to place law above force and atrocity.
The tireless work of brave legal professionals at the ICC is the main driver for accountability. The work of its prosecutors becomes the foundation upon which our efforts to uphold the integrity of the system of international law is resting. We call upon all state parties to the ICC and on all member states in general, to observe and respect international standards, as it relates to legal professionals working to bring accountability for the most grave international crimes.
Although neither the Israel or the United States is a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty underpinning the ICC that's been ratified by 125 nations, Palestine is a signatory to the treaty and crimes committed there by non-signatories can still be prosecuted.
In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—who ordered the "complete siege" of Gaza that experts say is to blame for the rampant starvation, sickness, and deprivation of basic human necessities such as food, water, medicine, and shelter that has resulted in Palestinians, mostly babies and children, dying of preventable causes including malnutrition, disease, and hypothermia.
The warrants were for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, as well as the kidnapping and abuse of Israeli and international hostages.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel's 463-day assault on Gaza has killed more than 46,500 Palestinians in Gaza. However, this could be a vast undercount. A peer-reviewed study published this week by the esteemed British medical journal The Lancetfound that, between October 7, 2023 and June 30, 2024 alone, more than 64,000 Gazans were killed by Israeli forces.
The International Court of Justice is currently weighing a
genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa and supported by numerous nations, most recently Ireland.
The Biden administration and most of Congress oppose the ICC warrants, as does Republican President-elect Donald Trump, whose pick for national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), has threatened a "strong response" to the ICC for its move to bring the Israeli leaders to justice.
The U.N. experts asserted that "international standards provide that lawyers and justice personnel should be able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; and should not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards, and ethics."
"We urge U.S. lawmakers to uphold the rule of law and the independence of judges and lawyers," they added, "and we call on states to respect the court's independence as a judicial institution and protect the independence and impartiality of those who work within the court."
"Remember, Zuckerberg built Facebook not for social connection but to rate the hotness of his female college mates," noted one critic.
As numerous U.S. corporations bend to the right with the political winds swirling around Republican President-elect Donald Trump's imminent return to power, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is following up on his company's termination of its fact-checking program by ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and praising "masculine energy" in corporate America.
"I think a lot of the corporate world is, like, pretty culturally neutered," Zuckerberg said during an interview with the eponymous host of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast on Friday. Meta is the parent company of social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Explaining that he has "three sisters, no brothers" and "three daughters, no sons," Zuckerberg continued: "So I'm, like, surrounded by girls and women, like, my whole life. And it's like...I don't know, there's something, the kind of masculine energy, I think, is good."
"And obviously, you know, society has plenty of that, but I think corporate culture was really like trying to get away from it," he said. "And I do think that... all these forms of energy are good. And I think having a culture that, like, celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive."
The tech industry is built on 'masculine energy', a bro--no girls allowed--culture. Remember Zuckerberg built Facebook not for social connection but to rate the hotness of his female college mates. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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— Amy Diehl, Ph.D. (@amydiehl.bsky.social) January 11, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Zuckerberg elaborated:
I do think that if you're a a woman going into a company, it probably feels like it's too masculine. Right? And it's like there isn't enough of the kind of the energy that you may naturally have. And it probably feels like there are all these things that are set up that are biased against you. And that's not good either, 'cause you want women to be able to succeed.
But I think these things can... go a little far. And I think it's one thing to say we want to be kind of, like, welcoming and make a good environment for everyone. And I think it's another to basically say that masculinity is bad. And I, I just think we kind of swung culturally to that part of the... spectrum where, you know, it's all like, okay, masculinity is toxic. We have to, like, get rid of it completely.
No... Both of these things are good, right? It's like, you want, like, feminine energy, you want masculine energy... I think that that's all good. But I do think the corporate culture sort of had swung towards being this somewhat more neutered thing. And I didn't really feel that until I got involved in martial arts, which I think is still a more, much more masculine culture.
While some social media observers attributed Zuckerberg's shift to factors like "the power of gym bro masculinity," others noted the rightward shift in corporate America accompanying Trump's White House return and Republicans' control of both houses of Congress.
"Zuck is a Cuck": Meta's Billionaire Bends The Knee to MAGA Mark Zuckerberg joins a rogue's gallery of billionaires capitulating to Donald Trump's threats and promoting MAGA's agenda against truth, democracy, and diversity for the sake of self-preservation. thelefthook.substack.com/p/zuck-is-a-...
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— Wajahat Ali (@wajali.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the wave of companies ending or dialing back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. The growing list includes McDonald's, Walmart, Boeing, Molson Coors, Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Amazon, and—as of Friday—Meta.
According to an internal memo from Meta vice president of human resources Janelle Gale viewed by several media outlets, Meta is immediately ending DEI programs in hiring, training, and supplier selection because the "legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing."
"The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others," Gale explained.
Meta's move follows Tuesday's announcement that the company is ending its third-party fact-checking program because it is "too politically biased" and replacing it with community notes à la X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, who will co-chair the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency.
The announcement also said Meta "will be moving the trust and safety teams that write our content policies and review content out of California to Texas and other U.S. locations."
As part of its broad new "free expression" policy, Meta will also permit certain speech widely considered hateful by human rights defenders.
According to training materials
viewed byThe Intercept and other media outlets, Meta users will be able to say things like "immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit," "Black people are more violent than whites," "Italians are dickheads," women are "household objects" or "property," and transgender people are mentally ill. Calling trans people "trannies" or "it" is now also acceptable on Meta sites.
I got a warning for posting "you are an evil man" to Zuck but not for posting "you are a degenerate tranny." Real nice system they have at Meta.
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— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) January 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The New York Timesreported Friday that Meta has ordered its offices in Silicon Valley, New York, and Texas to remove the tampons which had been offered to transgender and nonbinary employees who use men's restrooms. The report also said that Meta has removed trans and nonbinary themes from its Messenger chat app.
Zuckerberg has also appointed UFC CEO Dana White, a friend and supporter of Trump, to Meta's board of directors,
explaining, "I've admired him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand."
These moves followed a November meeting between Trump and Zuckerberg at the former's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, after which Meta reportedly also gave $1 million to the president-elect's inauguration fund.
Zuckerberg's alignment with key elements of Trumpism represents a stark departure from just a few months ago, when, in a new book, Trump accused him of inimical "plotting" during the 2020 election and said he threatened to imprison the tech billionaire for life if he did so again in 2024.
Now, Zuckerberg's blasting outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden. He told Rogan Friday that during the coronavirus pandemic, Biden administration officials would "call up and, like, scream... and curse" at Meta leaders over Covid-19 misinformation.
Some internet users poked fun at Meta's new policies, with one popular meme satirically claiming that Zuckerberg "died of coronavirus and complications from syphilis."
Who needs dumb old facts anyways?
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— JonZoidberg ( @jonzoidberg.bsky.social) January 7, 2025 at 8:42 PM
But others took a more serious view of Zuckerberg's about-face, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asserting this week that "these changes reveal that Meta seems less interested in freedom of expression as a principle and more focused on appeasing the incoming U.S. administration."
"Meta has long been criticized by the global digital rights community, as well as by artists, sex worker advocacy groups, LGBTQ+ advocates, Palestine advocates, and political groups, among others," EFF added. "A corporation with a history of biased and harmful moderation like Meta [needs] a careful, well-thought-out, and sincere fix that will not undermine broader freedom of expression goals."
"Americans: We just want higher wages and lower costs. Republicans: We are going to take away your healthcare."
Some Democratic lawmakers and other critics of congressional Republicans on Friday pointed to a document obtained by Politico as just the latest evidence that the looming GOP trifecta at the federal level poses a threat to working families nationwide.
"Americans: We just want higher wages and lower costs. Republicans: We are going to take away your healthcare," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in response to the reporting, which came as Republicans have taken control of both chambers of Congress and prepare for President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in just over a week.
The one-page list originated from the House Budget Committee, chaired by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Politico reported, citing five unnamed sources. One of them explained that the "document is not intended to serve as a proposal, but instead as a menu of potential spending reductions for members to consider."
The document lists various policies that it claims would collectively cut up to $5.7 trillion. Republicans have been discussing how to offset the high costs of top priorities—specifically, Trump's immigration policies and plans for tax cuts that critics warn would largely benefit the wealthy, like the law he signed in 2017.
"In order to make his rich, billionaire buddies richer, Trump wants to kick millions off healthcare coverage and starve families. How does this help working families thrive?"
The policies are divided into eight sections, with headings that critics called "dystopian" and "Orwellian." The first calls for repealing "major" health rules from outgoing President Joe Biden's administration, which would supposedly cut $420 billion. The second section takes aim at Medicare, the federal health program for seniors, proposing policies that would cut $479 billion.
A large share of the potential cuts would come from section three, which lists seven potential changes to Medicaid, a program that provides health coverage to low-income people. The policies include per capita caps, work requirements, and lowering the federal medical assistance percentages (FMAP) floor.
"In order to make his rich, billionaire buddies richer, Trump wants to kick millions off healthcare coverage and starve families. How does this help working families thrive?" Michigan state Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-47) asked on social media. "In this leaked list of cuts, 'lower FMAP floor' for Medicaid means states pay a higher proportion of Medicaid costs for enrollees—this just shoves [federal] costs to states so billionaires get more yacht money."
Section four of the document calls for "reimagining" the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to cut $151 billion, with changes that include repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund, limiting eligibility based on citizenship status, and reclaiming $46 billion from subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
The fifth section lays out $347 billion in cuts by "ending cradle-to-grave dependence," targeting initiatives including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often called food stamps.
Section six claims "reversing Biden climate policies" would cut $468 billion: $300 billion by discontinuing some provisions from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure legislation, $112 billion by rolling back electric vehicle policies, and $56 billion by repealing green energy grants from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The seventh section is a catchall, listing up to $1 trillion in potential cuts through moves that include ending student debt forgiveness, restricting emergency spending, and reforming federal employee benefits. Section eight identifies up to $527 in potential tax offsets from requiring Social Security numbers for the child tax credit and green energy credits.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who recently agreed to use the budget reconciliation process to cut $2.5 trillion, "can't afford any Republican defections if he wants to pass a package on party lines," Politico reported. "Even proposed cuts to green energy tax credits, worth as much as $500 billion, could be tricky—as the document notes, they depend 'on political viability.' Already 18 House Republicans—14 of whom won reelection in November—warned Johnson against prematurely repealing some of the IRA's energy tax credits, which are funding multiple manufacturing projects in GOP districts."
Sharing the report on social media Friday, Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) stressed that "Republicans want to cut vital food and healthcare support programs to pay for a tax cut for billionaires and large corporations. The GOP wants working families to pay for their billionaire handouts."