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dontmean2bepoliticalbut · 1 year

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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House Republicans are making clear that they intend to seek cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare with their new majority in the 118th Congress.

Their plans to target health care programs follow demands from a group of conservatives that helped elect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the weekend. Those far-right lawmakers have sought across-the-board spending cuts in order to tackle the growing national debt.

But the narrow House GOP majority ― McCarthy can afford to lose just four votes on any bill ― is far more divided on cuts to defense spending than for entitlement programs.

“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a former Army Green Beret, said Monday during an interview on Fox Business. “If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.”

As part of his list of concessions to conservatives, McCarthy reportedly agreed to cap spending for the next year at fiscal 2022 levels, which would amount to over $130 billion in cuts from last month’s $1.7 trillion government funding bill.

Republicans don’t plan to alter benefits for current Social Security and Medicare recipients, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).

“What we have been very clear about is, we’re not going to touch the benefits that are going to people relying on the benefits under Social Security and Medicare,” Roy said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But we all have to be honest about sitting at the table and figuring out how we’re going to make those work, how we’re going to deal with defense spending and how we’re going to deal with nondefense discretionary spending.”

The Republican Study Committee proposed a budget for fiscal 2023 that would gradually increase the eligibility ages for Social Security and Medicare, and change the Social Security benefit formula for people 54 and younger, while not changing it for people closer to receiving benefits.

Democrats are likely to oppose those changes, as well as any cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and an ensuing standoff could result in another government shutdown. The 2018-2019 lapse in federal funding lasted 35 days after a fight over former President Donald Trump’s border policies and immigration.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, warned last week that Republicans were “all but guaranteeing a shutdown” by demanding to cap spending at fiscal 2022 levels.

“These types of cuts would harm communities and families across the United States who are already struggling with inflation and the rising cost of living,” DeLauro said in a statement. “They put support for our Veterans, law enforcement, small businesses, and military families at risk.”

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whatareyoureallyafraidof · 2 months

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Social Security and Medicare might not be important to you, but I guarantee it's important to someone you know, whether it's your parents, or grandparents, or friends... someone you know relies on that money. Plus, you're paying into those programs with every pay check. That's your money. You will never get that money back.

#Social Security #Medicare #cuts #cut #reduction #reductions #ManChildTrump #Donald Trump #Trump #Drumpf #Crybaby Trump #Tiny Hands #Limp Dick #Spanky #Pee Brain #Cadet Bone Spurs #Five Deferment Don #The Orange Menace #The Manchurian Cantaloupe

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kp777 · 5 months

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By Jake Johnson

Common Dreams

Nov. 29, 2023

The Republican-led push to establish a fiscal commission for the U.S. debt was met with vocal opposition during a House Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday, with progressive advocates and Democratic lawmakers calling the proposal a thinly veiled ploy to further undermine and cut Social Security and Medicare.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), one of eight witnesses who testified at Wednesday's hearing, said he was "a little skeptical" that Republican lawmakers are now concerned about the national debt given that they have driven it up with tax cuts for the rich and large corporations in recent years—and are still trying to increase it.

According to one analysis, the series of tax cuts approved under former Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump have added $10 trillion to the debt since their enactment and are responsible for the bulk of the increase in the debt ratio since 2001.

Social Security, by contrast, is not a driver of federal deficits.

"If we want to ensure long-term solvency [for Social Security], there are two choices: Some on the other side think we should cut benefits, I think we should ask the ultra-rich to pay their fair share. We don't need a commission to tell us that," McGovern said during his testimony. "And my fear is that a commission would be used by some as an excuse to slash Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal anti-poverty programs."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the House Budget Committee who served on the infamous Bowles-Simpson commission that proposed deep cuts to Social Security, expressed similar concerns during Wednesday's hearing.

Schakowsky said she was "happy" the Bowles-Simpson proposals—which she vocally opposed at the time—weren't adopted and warned that a fiscal commission of the kind backed by Republicans and right-wing Democrats is "a way for members of Congress to get out from under having to take the blame for the kinds of cuts that may be presented."

In an op-ed for Common Dreams on Wednesday, Schakowsky wrote that "if Republicans cared about improving our fiscal position, they would demand the rich pay their fair share."

"If Republicans wanted to actually solve our budget challenges, they would robustly fund tax enforcement to ensure corporations are complying with laws already on the books," she added. "But Republicans aren't serious about the deficit. They aren't even serious about governing. They are serious about only one thing, and that's ripping away Social Security from seniors behind closed doors."

Wednesday's hearing examined three pieces of legislation put forth by bipartisan groups of lawmakers in the House and Senate.

A bill introduced earlier this month by Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)—both of whom testified at Wednesday's hearing—would form a 16-member bipartisan, bicameral fiscal commission comprised of 12 elected officials and four outside experts tasked with crafting legislation to "improve solvency of federal trust funds over a 75-year period."

If approved by the commission, the legislation would be put on a fast track in the House and Senate.

Romney insisted during his testimony Wednesday that he doesn't know of a single Republican or Democrat who wants to cut Social Security and said benefit reductions should be off the table.

But Social Security Works, a progressive advocacy group, pointed out that a proposal released earlier this year by the Republican Study Committee (RSC)—a panel comprised of 175 House Republicans—called for raising the Social Security retirement age, which would de facto cut benefits across the board.

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who presided over Wednesday's hearing, is a member of the RSC. During his opening remarks, Arrington described efforts to prevent what he called a "sovereign debt crisis" as "our generation's World War."

Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, told Common Dreams that "at today's hearing, Republicans made the true purpose of their 'fiscal commission' crystal clear: demolish Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors, while avoiding accountability from voters."

"Chairman Jodey Arrington referred to the commission's supporters as 'partners in crime,'" Lawson added. "That's exactly what they are: criminals who are plotting to reach into our pockets and steal our earned benefits."

"It should be a national scandal that middle- and working-class families have to pay Social Security taxes on all of their income but millionaires and billionaires do not."

Instead of taking the deeply unpopular step of slashing benefits, Democrats who spoke at the budget committee hearing argued that Congress should pass legislation requiring the rich to contribute more to Social Security. This year, because of the payroll tax cap, millionaires stopped paying into the program in late February.

"It should be a national scandal that middle- and working-class families have to pay Social Security taxes on all of their income but millionaires and billionaires do not," said McGovern.

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said at Wednesday's hearing that Congress could extend Social Security's solvency through the end of the century by requiring the rich to pay more in taxes.

"I think that is fair. I think that is appropriate," said Boyle. "And for those who disagree, I would be very interested in seeing what their plan is and their alternative."

Following the hearing, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) delivered a speech on the House floor condemning Republicans for working to "establish a death panel commission to gut earned benefits" and described the effort as part of a "cycle" that must be opposed.

"First, Republicans pass tax handouts for their filthy rich donors, promising a trickle-down miracle that never has and will never happen—from Reaganomics to Trump's tax scam," said Lee. "Then, when their tax scam causes the economy to slow and deficits to grow, they refuse to correct their mistake. Instead they blame immigrants, poor folks, Black folks, and brown folks."

"Then they repeat the cycle," she continued, "hoping enough of us will forgive or forget their scheme to tear away Medicare and Social Security and believe their lie that they were 'only after' food assistance, healthcare, and housing for poor folks—not your earned benefits—when the truth is that they always were and always will be after it all."

#social security #medicare #republicans #tax cuts for the rich

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randyite · 6 months

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#GOP #republicans #rethuglicans #deficit #national debt #social safety nets #social security #medicare #trump tax cuts #income tax

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spinyax · 6 months

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I hate my job actually

#some fucker (with a shitty mix mind you) randomly called up and accused me of being a scammer????#like first he said our number was being used as a Medicare scam then said I was a scammer because Mississippi doesn’t have an area code with #with 228 like bitch!!!!!!! it fucking does!!!!!!!#and I’m just trying to figure out if the guy needs anything or has a car in the shop or something #and I can barely fucking hear his because he kept cutting out and he sounded like he was in 144p #well apparently he’s reporting us so good luck grandpa die in a hole 💖💖💖💖

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 6 months

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Have patience . . .

November 7, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

Republicans can’t help themselves. On a day that should have been non-stop coverage about the NYTimes poll, Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that Republicans should cut Medicare and Social Security. See The Hill, Johnson embraces deficit fight, setting up battle over Medicare, Social Security. Johnson faces a November 17 shutdown and has nothing to show for his brief tenure as Speaker. Instead of passing the twelve funding bills necessary to enact a budget, Johnson resurrected Kevin McCarthy’s proposal of a “bipartisan commission” to reduce the deficit by cutting Social Security and Medicare.

Before his accidental elevation to Speaker, Mike Johnson chaired the Republican Study Committee (RSC), which has long advocated cutting Medicare and Social Security—even though both are fully self-funding programs with sufficient reserves to pay 100% of their benefits through 2031 and 2034 respectively. But Republicans view Social Security and Medicare as “socialist” programs that deprive Americans of the “freedom” to experience financial and medical insecurity in retirement.

Per The Hill (linked above),

As RSC chair in 2020, Johnson authored a budget that called for raising the Medicare and Social Security eligibility ages. It called for $2 trillion in cuts to Medicare and $750 billion in cuts to Social Security. It also called for turning Medicare into a premium support program, where private plans compete alongside traditional Medicare. Instead of a guaranteed benefit, beneficiaries would use a voucher to buy coverage on either a private or Medicare plan. Johnson’s past support for cutting spending on Medicare and Social Security is in line with longtime Republican dogma. GOP leaders in the past have hammered Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as socialist initiatives—"inefficient and anti-American” —that threaten individual freedoms.

To be clear, Congress should take action to reduce deficits and the national debt. But the obvious place to start is by restoring the tax cuts gifted by Trump to corporations and wealthy individuals/families in 2017. (Certain cuts to individual income taxes are set to expire in 2025, but corporate, capital gains, and estate tax cuts remain in effect.) Trump's tax cuts (layered on top of Bush’s tax cuts) eliminated tens of trillions in tax revenue and are largely responsible for the increase in the US deficit and debt. See Tax Cuts Are Primarily Responsible for the Increasing Debt Ratio - Center for American Progress.

Per the Center for American Progress (CAP),

Taken together, the Bush tax cuts, their bipartisan extensions, and the Trump tax cuts, have cost $10 trillion since their creation and are responsible for 57 percent of the increase in the debt ratio since then. They are responsible for more than 90 percent of the increase in the debt ratio if you exclude the one-time costs for responding to COVID-19 and the Great Recession.

In short, the US has a tax revenue shortage problem created by Trump and Bush. As noted in the CAP report above, the US is a “low tax rate / revenue” country compared to equivalent economies—e.g., $36 trillion in less tax revenue than the EU over the last decade.

But rather than looking to GOP tax cuts as the source of the US’s current deficit spending, Republicans want to place the consequences of their reckless fiscal policy on the backs of hardworking Americans who earned the right to Medicare and Social Security.

Americans should be outraged. Republicans are threatening the financial and medical security of retirees—many of whom say they will vote for Trump in 2024!

I raise this story first on a day of many important stories to help ground us in the facts that matter regarding 2024. The truth about the GOP’s policies and Biden’s accomplishments has not broken through the noise of negative media narrative, but it will—so long as Democrats do their part as messengers for Biden, messengers for democracy, and messengers for the American people.

The Republican Party relies on deceit, deception, and misdirection in concealing its true agenda. Think of Governor Glenn Youngkin in Virginia—who presents himself as a “moderate” on reproductive liberty but will impose a total abortion ban if Republicans win control of both chambers of the legislature. In Ohio, the Republican Secretary of State wrote a deceptive and misleading description of Issue 1, the proposed constitutional amendment to protect the right to make reproductive decisions. Across the nation, Republicans have enacted “voter protection legislation” that suppresses the vote of Black Americans.

If Republicans were confident in their policies, they would not go to great lengths to conceal the true substance and purpose of those policies. Whenever Democrats have broken through the GOP smokescreen of lies, Democrats win most of the time. That knowledge should fill us with confidence after yesterday’s NYTimes poll: The truth is on our side; we need to work harder to break through the veil of disinformation and negative media narrative. If we can do that—and we can—we can win.

While we cannot rely on Republicans to defeat themselves, they are helping us at every turn. The fact that Speaker Mike Johnson has targeted Social Security and Medicare in his first month on the job is another misstep by Johnson and House Republicans. There will be plenty of additional opportunity in the next ten days as House Republicans use the threat of a government shutdown to slash budgets to make up for GOP tax cuts for corporations and ultra-wealthy taxpayers.

#Speaker of the House #Cutting Social Security #Cutting Medicare #US House of Representatives #Radical Republicans #Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter #Robert b. Hubbell

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intelligentchristianlady · 4 months

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If you have time for one long read this holiday weekend, make it this one.

#Heather Cox Richardson #economy #economic policy #Bush tax cuts #trump tax cuts #supply-side economics #demand-side economics #social safety net #market forces #Social Security and Medicare

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emperornorton47 · 1 year

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Be angry

#social security #healthcare #Minimum wage #Billionaire tax cut #Tax cut for billionaires #eat the rich #medicare #medicaid #Child labor #SNAP #food stamps

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dontmean2bepoliticalbut · 11 months

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#us politics #republicans #conservatives #tweet #twitter #2023 #gop #gop platform #gop policy #republicans be like #conservatives be like #social security cuts #medicare cuts #welfare programs #auctions #fundraising #rep. marjorie taylor greene #rep. kevin mccarthy

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 11 months

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CLARIFICATION: Paul’s office says that under his spending plan, Social Security will be exempt from cuts.

Conservative Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he will force the Senate to vote this week on cutting total federal spending by 5% in each of the next two years, a proposal that could put popular programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act under scrutiny. Paul told reporters Tuesday that he would insist on a vote on his amendment in exchange for yielding back time on the Senate floor and giving leaders a chance to pass the debt-limit bill before the nation faces default next week.

Paul’s proposal, which he is calling a “conservative alternative” to the deal negotiated by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), poses an uncomfortable vote for Senate Republicans, one which it divides their conference.

A “no” vote opens GOP Senators to criticism from conservatives who say that policymakers who exempt mandatory spending programs from reform are not serious about balancing the budget.

A “yes” vote risks alienating seniors who are worried about seeing their Medicare benefits cut or veterans who now receive more federal aid through mandatory spending through the PACT Act, which Congress passed last year.

A press release issued by Paul’s office Tuesday didn’t mention any exception for Social Security, and Paul while speaking with reporters that day also did not say Social Security would be exempted. After an initial version of this story was published, a spokesperson for Paul clarified that Social Security would be exempted.

“He was referring to on-budget spending, which excludes Social Security. His Penny Plan has never touched Social Security and it’s not allowed under the budget rules,” said Kelsey Cooper, referring to a past budget resolution sponsored by Paul to cut spending. “His Penny Plan has also never specified cuts to Medicare or any other program — it only gives topline numbers.”

When he spoke with reporters on Tuesday, Paul said his plan didn’t specify what programs Congress should cut to balance the budget in five years but that it would pressure lawmakers to look at a range of entitlement programs to achieve $545 billion in cuts over two years.

Asked whether he would reach his target of an annual 5% annual cut to all federal spending “by going through entitlements,” Paul responded: “We get there by putting a top line number of what it would take for the entire budget.”

“The committees would have to determine where the cuts would be. So there still would be for room for people to disagree and debate over exactly where they want the cuts but there would be an absolute topline number for the entire budget that over the next two years would be on the way to balance in five years,” he explained.

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and other health care programs account for nearly 50% of all spending. As a result, it is very difficult to balance the budget without touching such programs. The Postal Service would also be exempt from his plan because along with Social Security it is classified as “off budget” spending, according to a Senate GOP aide.

Republicans have spent months running away from the accusation President Biden leveled at his “State of the Union” address that they want to cut Medicare.

If Paul were able to force a vote on his measure, they would find themselves having to vote on deep, across-the-board funding cuts that would likely affect a range of popular mandatory spending programs that are largely excluded from discussions about fiscal reform.

McCarthy took Social Security and Medicare cuts off the table early in the year. Some conservatives think that was a mistake. Paul says that under his proposal, “there would be an absolute top-line number for the entire budget that over the next two years would be on its way to balance in five years.”

He says the McCarthy-Biden plan, which was approved in a bipartisan vote by the House on Wednesday night, falls short of making a meaningful dent in the federal deficit because “they’re only really looking at non-military discretionary” spending, which accounts for only 17% of the federal budget. He argued that mandatory spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are the biggest drivers of the debt. “Mandatory spending is enormous. It’s over half of the spending every year; it’s going up at 5% a year,” Paul said. “This specular deal that we’ve gotten tries to slow down spending on nonmilitary discretionary [spending,] so it does nothing,” he added with a dose of sarcasm.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), another outspoken critic of the Biden-McCarthy deal, says mandatory spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid do “have to be considered” as part of any meaningful deficit reduction deal. Lee said a 5%, across-the-board reduction in federal spending will be criticized as “abrupt” or “draconian,” but he argues the consequences of letting the debt continue to grow by a couple trillion dollars every year are scary.

“If you want to talk at draconian and abrupt, look at what happens the moment our borrowing costs because of our profligate spending practices and because of interest rates and other factors … returns to the historical average of 5%,” he said.

“Our annual interest payments will very quickly go up well over a trillion dollars a year,” he warned. “It could easily exceed … our entire defense budget, and within a few years, we could see our total interest on debt outlays even coming to exceed our entire discretionary spending outlays.”

Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who will also vote against the debt limit bill, said federal spending as a percentage of the nation’s gross domestic product has gone into “the stratosphere.”

“You got to make those hard decisions like any real leader would do,” he said.

He says Social Security and Medicare, which he called “the drivers” of the debt, should be on the negotiating table “in terms of saving it.”

“Sooner or later, the programs that drive the structural deficits” such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid “will have to be looked at, and everybody knows that here,” Braun said.

Paul’s proposal is expected to pick up only around 20 votes, because many Senate Republicans don’t want to their favorite programs, in particular defense spending, to face steep cuts.

Biden and Senate Democrats have hammered the GOP relentlessly over the 12 Point Plan to Save America, which Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced last year and calls for a sunset of all federal legislation after a period of five years. Scott said he never intended to sunset Medicare or Social Security, but that didn’t stop Democrats from using the plan as a bludgeon. Scott amended it earlier this year to create specific exceptions for Social Security, Medicare, national security and veterans benefits.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who supports the debt limit deal, said Paul and other conservatives are correct that “you can’t balance the budget solely on discretionary spending.”

“I don’t see how, in the context of raising the debt ceiling, that you could have gotten anything more than Kevin McCarthy got,” Cramer said.

But he said McCarthy probably took Social Security and Medicare off the table too early in the debate. Asked if that was a mistake, Cramer said, “yeah, I think it was.” But he argued it might have been the right political move.

“You have this crazy political game going on where everybody out-Social Security the other people instead of being straight up and honest with the American public and say, ‘We won’t do any harm to anybody’s existing Social Security, and we’re going to have a forward-leaning solution,’” he said.

Cramer acknowledged Congress “missed the opportunity, so to speak” to make big fiscal reforms to Social Security and Medicare but he said the “threat of default is so big” that it limited how bold Republicans could be in making demands.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has said in the past that split party control of government provides a good opportunity to enact big, controversial reform, acknowledged Wednesday it’s been very tough to make any headway on Social Security or Medicare reforms.

“It’s been challenging over the years to get both sides to look at the very large picture,” McConnell told reporters.

But he praised the McCarthy-Biden deal for cutting spending, after Congress increased it by more than $2.7 trillion through two partisan reconciliation bills in 2021 and 2022, under Democratic control of Congress.

“At least we’re going in a different direction,” he said.

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whatareyoureallyafraidof · 2 years

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lesbiangummybearmafia · 1 year

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Current mood... due to pms or state of my life or both I'm not sure.

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badbirdnews · 25 days

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There is no shortage of controversial decisions and proposals being thrown around.

One such proposal that has caused quite a stir is Joe Biden’s plan to cut Medicare Advantage benefits. This decision has raised concerns among many Americans who rely on this program for their healthcare needs. While Biden’s reasoning behind this move may be rooted in budgetary concerns, the potential impact it could have on individuals who depend on Medicare Advantage cannot be ignored.

Medicare Advantage is a popular alternative to traditional Medicare, offering additional benefits and coverage options. This program has been a lifeline for many seniors and individuals with disabilities, providing them with access to affordable healthcare. However, with Biden’s plan to cut these benefits, there is a genuine fear that these vulnerable populations will suffer the consequences.

The decision to reduce Medicare Advantage benefits is not one that should be taken lightly. It is crucial to consider the real-life implications it could have on those who rely on this program. While the budget may need to be balanced, it is essential to find alternative solutions that do not compromise the health and well-being of the elderly and disabled. As we navigate this election year, let us hope that all proposed policies are carefully examined and evaluated for their potential impact on the most vulnerable members of our society.

My opinion was inspired from this source: https://redstate.com/joesquire/2024/04/04/were-in-an-election-year-and-joe-biden-has-decided-to-cut-medicare-advantage-benefits-n2172293

#Cut to Medicare Advantage benefits

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scottguy · 30 days

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Republicans want to cut EVERYTHING Americans have already paid for with Social Security & Medicare payments from OUR paychecks in their budget proposal for 2025.

Their "budget proposal" also contains a near total ban on abortion AND a ban on in-vitro fertilization. Families will be denied the ability to conceive their own children because of politician' personal twisted religious beliefs. (How can medical restrictions on abortion have anything to do with our US budget?)

Republicans who never cared about fiscal responsibility in 2017 will do anything EXCEPT rescind the massive tax cuts to the rich and corporations given in 2017.

The right despises the middle class as a group of people to be worked to death and then taxed on that income so that money can be given to the rich in the form of yet more tax cuts.

Could it be more clear that Republicans don't care about you or your family at all?

They think you're all brainwashed by Fox. They think you're not paying attention. They think you believe their incessant and obvious lies. Republicans really think you're THAT stupid.

Prove to them you're not in November. Vote out every last Republican asshole.

#Republicans 2025 budget is a giant middle finger to average Americans #Republicans hate average Americans #Republicans only work for the filthy rich #Republicans want to cut your Social Security #Republicans want to cut your Medicare #vote blue to save your family

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hislop3 · 5 months

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MedPAC Recommends 3% Rate Cut for SNFs - 2025

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is (likely) recommending to Congress a series of post-acute rate reductions (Medicare, Fee-for-Service) for federal fiscal year 2025 (beginning October 1, 2024, for most programs, January 1, 2025, for Home Health Agencies). Specifically, the MedPAC recommendations are as follows. Reduce the 2025 payment rate for home health agencies by 7%. Reduce the 2025…

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