we're just coming from a meeting that representative kathy caster and representative michelle lujan grisham and i had with many of the organizations that represent americans across the country who are going to be hit hard by the republican budget that passed out of the budget committee this morning. you know, it wasn't that long ago -- in fact, right after the last election -- that speaker boehner and the republican senate leader, mitch mcconnell wrote in an op-ed piece that they were going to start looking out for the middle class. that's what they said. they were worried about wage stagnation. that's what they said, that that he recognized people were working hard but feeling like they weren't getting ahead. that's what they said. problem is that their budget makes it much harder on working families around the country. in fact, it will make life more difficult. it will make it harder for people to get ahead. and i think it is important to look at what it actually does. one of the things it does is greenlights, paves the way, for the romney-ryan tax cut plan for the very wealthy. again, th

now we're going to hear from congresswoman michelle lujan grisham who was an expert on health care issues long before she came to the congress. she headed up the new mexico department of health. she's going to talk about the impact of this budget on health care from medicare to medicaid both of which take big hits in this budget. rep. grisham: thank you. thank you, chris. i always have to start with lowering all the microphones or i got to find a way to raise my stature before the podium. good afternoon. i really appreciate that you're here because what you're hearing from us and you'll hear in a moment from other experts that are serving middle class families and working on effective policies that do really two things. one with be make sure the protections for middle class americans -- we're talking seniors and kids and hard working families and the disabled -- but also in addition to those protections, make sure that we're investing so, for example, those seniors with their retirement income continue to spend in this economy in a way that's good for all of us and continues to bolster ec

we're just coming from a meeting that representative kathy caster and representative michelle lujan grisham and i had with many of the organizations that represent americans across the country who are going to be hit hard by the republican budget that passed out of the budget committee this morning. you know, it wasn't that long ago -- in fact, right after the last election -- that speaker boehner and the republican senate leader, mitch mcconnell wrote in an op-ed piece that they were going to start looking out for the middle class. that's what they said. they were worried about wage