Dem
47
GOP
53
Co-President Elon Musk wants to gut Medicaid. He finds it wasteful. After all, he has never used it in his entire life and neither have any of his so-called friends. Given his desire to slash federal spending, he has to go after at least one among Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, or defense, because that's where the money is. He probably thinks Medicaid is the least popular of the bunch so he can get away with it.
The voters think otherwise. Republican pollster Bob Ward ran a poll on this. Two-thirds of swing voters opposed slashing Medicaid. Ward said: "There's really not a political appetite out there to go after Medicaid to pay for tax cuts. Medicaid has touched so many families that people have made up their minds about what they don't want to see cut." Musk and many Republicans think that Medicaid goes to poor Black Democrats in cities. Actually, most of the money goes to poor white Republicans in rural areas. The voters who get Medicaid know that very well.
Ward tested the Democrats' likely attack: Do you want to cut Medicaid to pay for tax cuts that benefit billionaires? The answer was a resounding "No." People are happy about rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse, but not if that cuts Medicaid. This is going to be a problem when passing a budget. (V)