Ever since President Joe Biden put Republicans on the defensive with his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, members of the GOP have been complaining that Biden misrepresented their plans for Medicare and Social Security.
However, on Sunday a GOP senator admitted that his party wants to fund Social Security on a “year-by-year” basis, which would be the first step to cutting or even eliminating the program.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) was a guest with host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and had this to say about Social Security:
“I kind of look at Social Security the way I would at the Department of Defense and our defense spending. We’re never going to not fund defense.”
However, it was what Rounds said next that should set off alarms in every home in this country:
“But, at the same time, we — every single year, we look at how we can make it better. And I think it’s about time that we start talking about Social Security and making it better. We have got 11 years before we actually see cuts start to happen to people that are on Social Security. And I think it’d be very responsible for us to do everything we can to make those funding programs now and the plans right now, so that we don’t run out of money in Social Security and that it continues to provide all the benefits that it does today.
“Simply looking away from it and pretending like there’s no problems with Social Security is not an appropriate or responsible thing to do. So, I guess my preference would be, let’s start managing it.”
The comparison between the defense budget and Social Security by Sen. Rounds is telling. Yes, he and members of his party will gladly commit to providing some funding for each, but they won’t say how much or how little. Allowing them to vote each and every year on Social Security would mean they could make massive cuts or even decide the program is no longer needed.
Make no mistake: If the GOP ever regains control of both houses of Congress and the White House, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are dead. They just don’t want the voters to know that because it would be the end of the Republican Party.
