Category: Social Safety Net

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Congress GOP Social Safety Net

GOP Congressman Admits Republicans Plan To Slash Medicare And Social Security

A Republican congressman admitted Monday that since his party now has the majority in the House of Representatives, they plan to make massive cuts to Medicare, Social Security, and other entitlement programs.

Florida Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) was being asked about remarks made by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who said Sunday that he and members of his caucus would be looking at possibly cuts to defense spending, which led Fox Business host Stuart Varney to inquire, “Congressman, should military spending cuts be on the table and put on the table by a Republican?”

Waltz replied:

“Well, look, I agree with Jim Jordan that we are going to carve out work policies out of the military. We are going to look at the out of whack ratio of generals. I, I invited them to come on the Armed Services Committee and and work with us on that.”

Waltz then added:

“But Stu. And by the way, I’m all for a balanced budget. We’ve got to get spending under control, but we are not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military when at the same time we’re talking about China is the greatest threat. We’re going to have a select committee on China. They’re tripling their nuclear arsenal. Iran is racing towards a new North Korea is about to launch an ICBM. Russia is on the on the march.

“And oh, by the way, we still have a global terrorist state now in Afghanistan. Thanks to Joe Biden. So this is I mean, we can work on prioritizing defense spending, but that’s really nibbling around the margins. If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements program that’s 70% of our entire budget, that 1.7 trillion. And defense within that is only 30%. So if we want to talk about big reforms, I look forward to hearing that from those folks who are pushing towards a balanced budget.”

Waltz’s comments drew an immediate response from White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.

If you’re wondering how exactly the Republicans will try to cut Medicare and Social Security, consider what they’ve already said about not raising the debt ceiling unless President Biden agrees to massive cuts in social welfare programs. They want to hold the nation hostage so they can enact their radical agenda.

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Elections GOP Social Safety Net

Republicans Planning To Use Debt Ceiling Limit To Slash Social Security In 2023: Report

Imagine a year from now when it’s time to raise the debt ceiling or default on the loans the United States has around the world.

In the past, Congress has always agreed to raise the debt ceiling.

But if Republicans win control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections, it certainly sounds like they intend to hold the nation hostage and demand cuts to Social Security in exchange for an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.

HuffPost reports that the fear of such a move comes from remarks made by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the leading candidate to be Speaker of the House if the GOP wins control the House.

“You can’t just continue down the path to keep spending and adding to the debt,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News in an interview published Tuesday.

“And if people want to make a debt ceiling [for a longer period of time], just like anything else, there comes a point in time where, OK, we’ll provide you more money, but you got to change your current behavior,” McCarthy said. “We’re not just going to keep lifting your credit card limit, right?”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) echoed McCarthy’s remarks:

“The debt ceiling is the natural place from which you can operate to affect spending change.”

Other Republicans have also suggested that both Social Security and Medicare would be on the chopping block if they happen to regain control of the House, with  Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), saying that he wants to at least raise the eligibility age for both programs, which would in itself be a form of cutting by making people work longer to receive their benefits.

In case you’re wondering what might take place if indeed the the U.S. defaulted at debt, consider what Forbes reported last October:

In fact, an analysis by Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi estimates that defaulting on the national debt would wipe out as many as 6 million jobs and erase $15 trillion in household wealth. 

“We can’t emphasize enough how disastrous it would be for Congress to consider a government shutdown if consensus cannot be met in advance of the funding deadline. Small businesses are especially vulnerable and many would not survive a government shutdown at this time due to the pandemic, particularly with the rapid spread of the Delta variant, and trying to move from crisis to recovery,” wrote Candace Waterman, President and CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy, in a letter to U.S. House and Senate leadership. 

Of course, President Joe Biden could veto any cuts to Social Security and Medicare, but if the GOP decides to play a dangerous game of chicken and wreck the economy with their demands, all of us will wind up paying the price, and that price would likely be steeper than anyone can possibly imagine.

 

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Elections Fox News GOP Social Safety Net

WATCH A Fox News Host Call Rick Scott Out For Lying About His Plans To Kill Social Security

Earlier this month, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) who serves as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, laid out an 11-part plan that would drastically cut social programs and raise taxes on the poorest Americans.

One of the programs that Scott’s plan would “sunset” is Social Security, which is often referred to as the third rail of American politics; touch it and you die.

During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Scott was asked about his plan by host John Roberts:

“That would raise taxes on half of Americans and potentially sunset programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Why would you propose something like that in an election year?”

Rather than respond, Scott tried to weasel his way out of actually discussing the specifics of his plan:

“That’s, of course, the Democratic talking point.”

But Roberts was having none of Scott’s dissembling, noting:

“No! It’s in the plan! It’s in the plan!”

The senator then began trying to dig his way out:

“Let’s think about reality for a second.”

Roberts interjected:

“But, Senator, hang on. It’s not a Democratic talking point. It’s in the plan.”

Scott:

“Also in the plan, it says we ought to every year to talk about exactly how we’re going to fix Medicare and Social Security. No one that I know wants to sunset Medicare or Social Security. But what we’re doing is we don’t even talk about it. Medicare goes bankrupt in four years. Social Security goes bankrupt in 12 years.”

Flailing badly and trying desperately trying to recover, Scott concluded with this bit of tripe:

“I want to change this country. The woke left controls everything! We’ve got to win.”

The woke left? That the best you got, Rick? If so, you might want to go ahead and concede the 2022 midterms right now.

Here’s the video from Fox News:

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Donald Trump Social Safety Net The Trump Adminstration

Mnuchin Accidentally Confirms That Donald Trump Has Plans To Cut Social Security

Shortly after he announced he was running for president in 2015, Donald Trump swore he would never cut Social Security, declaring:

“I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid. Every other Republican’s going to cut, and even if they wouldn’t, they don’t know what to do because they don’t know where the money is. I do. I do.”


And yet in early March when he appeared on Fox News for a town hall meeting, Trump had this to say on the matter of entitlements such as Social Security:

“Oh, we’ll be cutting. We’re also going to have growth like you’ve never seen before.”

A day later, when he realized he was running for reelection and needs the votes of senior citizens, Trump tried to walk back what he said the night before, tweeting out this denial:

But as it turns out, if we’d been listening more closely a month earlier when Treasury Secretary Steve Mnunchin testified before the Senate Finance Committee, we’d have known that Social Security was on the chopping block.


Asked by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) about the White House’s budget for fiscal year 2021 and the massive cuts over the next decade in Social Security, Mnuchin tried desperately to call those cuts something else. He said:

“I believe it’s not a cut, it’s a reduction in the rate of increase. And it’s not to the benefits of people on Social Security.”

The Nevada senator was having none of Mnuchin’s double talk, telling him:

“If that is not a cut, then I would love to talk to you about what it is this administration values and what they see, how these groups and important individuals in our communities are being affected. My concern is this administration says one thing, but their actions are just the opposite.”


Alex Lawson, executive director of progressive advocacy group Social Security Works, says both Mnuchin and Trump are lying:

“When Steve Mnuchin or any other politician says that a ‘reduction in the rate of increase’ is different than a benefit cut, they are shamelessly lying. If Social Security benefits were to stay flat every year, they would quickly begin losing value due to inflation. We need to make annual cost-of-living adjustments more generous, not less.

“Any ‘reduction in the rate of increase’ would lead to benefit cuts.”

If Trump wins a second term in office, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will be cut to the bone. As Trump himself confessed behind closed doors when he met with then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and was asked about slashing entitlements:

“From a moral standpoint, I believe in it.”

The most immoral man to ever hold the office of president is coming for the benefits you worked decades to earn. And the only way we can stop him is at the ballot box.