At a time when several states are recognizing the need for health supports for its neediest citizens by adopting Medicaid, the House of Representatives proposes to make America stronger by reducing Medicaid benefits, privatizing Medicare and abolishing Obamacare. Who exactly does this strengthen? Certainly not the millions of Americans at or below the poverty level.

It should be clear that the House budget strengthens those who need it least, the prosperous whose fortunes are at stake every time a federal subsidy is threatened. What happened to the pledge to get every citizen the substantial medical coverage that Congress enjoys? Where are the voices in Congress that defend the right to health care for every citizen? Do they really believe that the weak and expensive coverage proposed by privatizing Medicare and cutting into Medicaid will reach this goal?

Let’s clarify what America the Republican majority is interested in strengthening: the already prosperous and the generous subsidizers of their campaign funds. The poor are not building the campaign war chest. In fact they vote inconsistently. A few cynical regulations shortening the time to register and to vote can keep them away from the ballot box. They are not the America Republicans want to strengthen.

And there are the 16 million now registered under Obamacare. Even federally-subsidized health care is expensive, but it offers alternatives to the Emergency Room and sheer neglect of health. Are these the Americans being strengthened by this budget?

What about those working at $7.25 an hour, which typically puts them below the poverty line? What about the food service workers: are they being served or their bosses, who lobby against the minimum wage? Can they even get Food Stamps now that this program is diminished by the current budget?

The proposed budget does not “strengthen America,” but a very small subset of America: an oligarchy that takes care of its own.