President Trumps Record On Social Security
In 2016, the president distinguished himself from other Republicans by promising to leave Social Security alone. Over the past four years, hes pretty much done just that.
There have been no Bush-like privatization plans from the Trump administration, no Simpson/Bowles-inspired murmings over cutting benefits or raising the full retirement age. Theres been no real plan to do much of anything. The Biden campaign ad is as close as theres been to a controversy, and even that misrepresents the presidents aims.
Should Trump win in November you can expect more of the same.
I haven’t seen anything discussed on Social Security reform, Andrew Biggs, a research fellow at the conservative-leaning think tank AEI told Forbes Advisor. The president has argued against any Social Security benefit cuts but hasn’t waded into how Social Security’s long-term funding should be secured.
While this should assuage any fears about changes to the Social Security status quo and soothe soon-to-be retirees worried about cuts to their monthly checks, its less than ideal that the Trump administration has no plans to shore up Social Securitys long-term finances.
Gop Plan To Cut Social Security Medicare In 2023 Comes Into View
Democrats have spent much of the year warning voters that Republicans will seek cuts to Social Security and Medicare if put in power, and an amazing number of GOP officials and candidates have bolstered the claims. Whats new this week, however, is Republicans signaling how they intend to pursue their goal.
It was two weeks ago when President Joe Biden warned the public that Social Security and Medicare would end up on the chopping block if Republicans have their way, and the rhetoric hardly seemed outlandish. In recent months, theres been no shortage of prominent GOP voices from Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson to New Hampshires Don Bolduc to Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia whove bolstered Bidens claims.
But for many voters, the warnings may not seem overly alarming. After all, theres a Democratic White House. Even if Republicans enjoyed congressional majorities, and they were somehow able to pass a bill to cut Medicare and Social Security, the president would veto it and the public would be protected. So theres no real cause for concern, right?
Wrong. Bloomberg Government published a striking report yesterday sketching out GOP officials plans to work around a veto threat and force Biden to accept cuts to the popular social insurance programs.
Instead, they waited for a Democratic president, whom they hope to extort into giving them the cuts they want.
Cortez Masto: President Trumps Proposal To Cut Social Security Medicare Medicaid Threatens Thousands Of Nevada Seniors
Washington, D.C. U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto today responded to President Trumps recent comment that his administration will look at cuts to mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare. In an interview with CNBC in Switzerland, the President said that such programs are the easiest things to cut.
As a candidate, Donald Trump promised that he would not cut programs that Nevadas seniors, families, and disabled communities rely on to stay healthy and safe. Now the President may be trying to walk it back, but just yesterday, he said that it would be easy for him to slash critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, threatening the health and incomes of thousands of Nevadans and millions of Americans. The Presidents comments should concern us allespecially when his proposed budgets have already entailed cuts to these programs. Ill continue to fight in the Senate to protect Social Security and Medicare for our seniors in Nevada who deserve to have peace of mind that their lifelines wont be cut to pay for a presidential tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and big corporations.
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Undocumented Immigrants Without Health Care Were Among The ‘essential Workers’ Felled By Covid
Republicans repeated their campaign talking point Thursday night that Democrats want to give health care to immigrants without legal status. But the coronavirus pandemic has shown some of the consequences of high uninsured rates among people without legal status in the U.S.
Early in the pandemic, meat plants slowed their production and Americans feared meat shortages as workers became ill. Some died.
There are an estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. The rates of those uninsured are high for the population. Not all plant workers are undocumented but the agricultural industry and others are known to rely on these workers and immigrants with legal status.
Undocumented workers are not eligible for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid or Medicare and most do not have health care coverage through their employers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Many forgo health care to avoid exposing their undocumented status or affecting future chances for citizenship. Some states provide health coverage with state funding regardless of status, but others deny health care even to pregnant women.
Some immigrants get health care through non-profit community clinics, but the clinics usually only provide preventive and primary care. Often, undocumented immigrants will only seek care when the situation is dire at more costly emergency rooms.
Fox Is Lying About Gop Plans To Cut Social Security And Medicare
Research contributions fromRyan Masri
Fox News personalities and guests are minimizing concerns about Republican plans to cut entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, and instead claiming Democrats are engaging in scare tactics ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. But the GOP has proposed multiple plans that would threaten these programs if they take control of the House.
According to Bloomberg Government, House Republicans plan to weaponize the debt ceiling in future budget negotiations to accomplish the GOPs top priorities if they win control in the upcoming midterm elections. All four Republicans vying for the next potential House Budget Committee chairmanship support this plan and are focused on slashing entitlement program funding. But mainstream media largelyignored Bloomberg’s bombshell reporting until House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy endorsed this strategy.
Mainstream media are failing to inform the American public of what is at stake in the midterms: Social Security and Medicare. Meanwhile, right-wing media led by Fox News are downplaying and concealing the GOPs threat to entitlements as part of their largereffort to boost Republicans in the upcoming elections.
Senate Budget Committee member Sen. Rick Scott has proposed a plan more extreme than even some of its critics have let on, potentially putting all federal legislation, which includes Social Security and Medicare, on a 5-year chopping block.
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Medicare And Social Security
TRUMP:Were saving Social Security. The Democrats will destroy Social Security. Were saving Medicare. The Democrats want to destroy Medicare. We will keep it going. Were making it stronger. Were making Social Security stronger. remarks Wednesday.
TRUMP, promoting Montana Republican Matt Rosendales Senate campaign: Im going to protect your Social Security. Were going to take care of your Social Security. Matt Rosendale is going to make sure were not touching your Social Security and your Medicare is only going one way. Thats stronger. Montana rally Thursday.
THE FACTS: Trump hasnt made Medicare and Social Security stronger.
The governments annual trustees reports on the programs released in June shows the financial condition of both worsening significantly since last year. The projected insolvency for Social Security stayed unchanged in 2034 but Medicares moved three years closer, to 2026.
Both programs also will start tapping their reserves this year, meaning that income from payroll taxes and interest earned by the Social Security and Medicare trust funds will no longer cover costs. That threshold was still a few years away in last years report. As a result, Social Security and Medicare will need a $416 billion transfer from the governments general revenues this year, when the federal deficit is already rising.
Trump Speech Missing Several Of His Favorite Talking Points
Shannon Pettypiece
While President Trump launched attack after attack on Joe Biden, he left out a number of his favorite topics of criticism in his acceptance speech.
He made no mention of mail-in voting, which he has alleged, without evidence, will lead to widespread voter fraud and could prevent the country from ever knowing the result of the election. There is no evidence that mail-in voting is at risk for fraud.
Trump also avoided bringing up Bidens son Hunter, a line of attack his campaign believed at one point would be central to their takedown of Biden. He also made no mention of Bidens running mate Kamala Harris, who his campaign has struggled to find an effective way to criticize.
With protests raging outside the White House gates and in Wisconsin over racial injustice, Trump made only a passing mention of race and there was no mention of racism.
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Top House Republican Kevin Mccarthy Hints At Cuts
During a recent interview with Punchbowl News, top House Republican Kevin McCarthy made clear he wanted to cut spending. He did not specifically mention Social Security or Medicare, but they are among the biggest parts of the federal budget and have long been a target of Republicans. McCarthy explained that spending cuts were necessary to reduce the national debt, but his party also wants to extend the Trump tax cuts, which are already on pace to add nearly $2 trillion to the deficit.
Rnc Features A Sports Segment Amid Historic Walkouts
One of the many video segments during the fourth and final night of the convention touched on American sports. But it comes at a historic moment.
The NBA is in the midst of a player walkout over police violence, one that has also reached Major League Baseball and the NHL. President Trump earlier on Thursday took a jab at the NBA, claiming its ratings were down.
It’s an odd juxtaposition and a reminder that while the RNC has sought to draw connections between Trump and parts of American culture, many parts of that culture do not feel particularly connected to Trump.
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Trump The Disrupter Takes Dead Aim At Social Security
Throughout the 3 ½ years of his presidency, Donald Trump has disrupted nearly every major institution of government, save one. He has politicized the military, upended strategic alliances that have been a bedrock of US foreign policy for 75 years, overturned civil rights protections, undone the postal service, andwith help from a Republican Congressremade much of the federal income tax code.
But in his 2016 campaign, Trump vowed to leave Social Security untouched. And he has, somewhat uncharacteristically, kept that promise. Until now.
On Saturday, in a press briefing to promote a package of unilateral initiatives aimed at responding to the COVID-19 economic slump, Trump declared a longer-term goal. He announced that if reelected, he would terminate the payroll tax that funds Social Security and the payroll tax that supports the hospital insurance piece of Medicare. Currently, employers and employees each pay 6.2 percent of wages up to $137,700 for Social Security and 1.45 percent of wages for Medicare, with no cap.
Short-run deferral
Trumps unilateral deferral of the employee share of the Social Security tax is likely to have little impact on either the programs finances or the economy. His initiative will not benefit the 30 million people who have lost their jobs in the pandemic, since they earn no wages and pay no Social Security tax.
Long-run repeal
Altering the status of Social Security
House Republicans Backed Cuts To The Programs
The Republican Study Committee a group of 157 House Republicansthis year released its Blueprint to Save America, where they propose raising the eligibility ages for Medicare and Social Security and withholding payments to those who retired early and earned over a certain amount, effectively making cuts to the program.
The RSC isnt some fringe group it includes 74% of House Republicans, including North Carolina Senate nominee Ted Budd, whos previously voted for cuts to Medicare and Social Security, voted to raise the retirement age, and recently hinted he might vote for cuts to the programs in the future.
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Tv Viewership Dips On Rnc’s Night 3
About 17.3 million people tuned in for Night 3 of the RNC, a decline compared to the second night of the convention and about the same as the first night, according to data released by media measurement company Nielsen.
Night 3 of the Democratic convention drew about 22.8 million viewers.
The downtick happened during a busy news day an NBA player walkout, a hurricane barreling toward Louisiana, and the ongoing unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin that partially drowned out the convention, which Vice President Mike Pence headlined.
The Nielsen data does not take into account people who watched some or all of the convention online. Most major broadcast networks and many other media companies have livestreamed the conventions on various platforms.
But the viewership is still a significant drop off compared to 2016, when Night 3 drew 23.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Notre Dame Disavows Former Coach’s Attacks On Biden’s Religion
The president of the University of Notre Dame disavowed attacks on Joe Biden made by the school’s former football coach, Lou Holtz, at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday.
“While Coach Lou Holtz is a former coach at Notre Dame, his use of the universitys name at the Republican National Convention must not be taken to imply that the university endorses his views, any candidate or any political party,” Rev. John I. Jenkins said in a statement.
“Moreover, we Catholics should remind ourselves that while we may judge the objective moral quality of anothers actions, we must never question the sincerity of anothers faith, which is due to the mysterious working of grace in that persons heart,” he continued. “In this fractious time, let us remember that our highest calling is to love.”
In his speech at the convention, Holtz praised President Trump and called Biden a “Catholic in name only.”
Asked about the remarks on Thursday in an interview with CNN, Biden asked, Whens the last time darkened the doorway of a church?”
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Influential House Republicans Threaten To Use The Debt Ceiling To Make Cuts To The Programs
The week before McCarthys interview, the four Republicans fighting to serve as House Budget Committee Chairman in the next Congress told Bloomberg Government that they would use the debt ceiling deadline to force cuts to programs Democrats support, such as Social Security and Medicare.
Our main focus has got to be on nondiscretionaryits got to be on entitlements, such as Social Security and Medicare, Rep. Buddy Carter said.
The Republicans told Blomberg they wanted to increase the eligibility age for both programs and/or reduce benefits for some wealthier Americans. Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma explicitly stated that the debt ceiling deadline is obviously a leverage point for achieving their goals.
Raising the eligibility age is the worst way to cut benefits, according to Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
It hurts most the people who cant work any longer. These are people with less education and physically harder jobs. They get stuck with lower benefits for the rest of their lives, she told Politifact.
Trump Is Lying His Budget Proposal Does Cut Social Security
Donald Trump lies about everything from the size of his inauguration crowds to his promise to provide great health care for a fraction of the price to every person in America. So, its no surprise that Trump is lying when his Administration says his just-released budget proposal doesnt cut Social Security. In fact, it cuts billions from that vital program.
There is good reason that he is covering up the truth. The truth is a complete contradiction of his repeated campaign promise not to cut Social Security. He bragged that his refusal to cut Social Security differentiated him from his Republican Primary rivals, who had their knives at the ready. His voters tend to be older and more rural. They will be hit the hardest by his duplicity.
Trumps Administration is seeking to cover up the breaking of this key promise by claiming that Social Security disability insurance, which the budget cuts, is not really Social Security, or, at least, not an important part of Social Security protection though it has been part of working families earned Social Security benefits for more than six decades and is the nations most important protection for working families hit with work-ending disabilities!
His voters tend to be older and more rural. They will be hit the hardest by his duplicity.
Dont believe the lie that the cuts to Social Security disability insurance are simply designed to help people return to work.
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Trump With White House As Literal Backdrop Talks About Its History As Critics Say Hes Violating The Law
Dartunorro Clark
Trump embedded references to the countrys past presidents, such as Lincoln, Grant and Eisenhower, and the work they did in the White House as he gives a speech from the Peoples House.
Gathered here at our beautiful and majestic White House known all over the world as the People’s House we cannot help but marvel at the miracle that is our Great American Story, Trump said. This has been the home of larger-than-life figures like Teddy Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson who rallied Americans to bold visions of a bigger and brighter future. Within these walls lived tenacious generals like Presidents Grant and Eisenhower who led our soldiers in the cause of freedom.
Critics and ethics experts have routinely hammered the president for hosting a political convention that included the performance of official duties at the White House, which they say is a violation of federal law that prohibits government employees from participating in political activities.
White House advisor Kellyanne Conway, who gave a speech, was excoriated by a government watchdog for repeatedly violating the federal law called the Hatch Act by engaging in partisan politics. Ivanka Trump, a senior aide, also gave a speech at the White House, raising similar issues.
