Social Security

What Democrats Are Doing:
Democrats believe a dignified retirement is central to the American Dream, and its foundation is built on two long-standing institutions charged with realizing that dream: Medicare and Social Security. These two institutions represent an unbreakable commitment to American workers, and for decades Democrats have fought to defend that commitment.

President Biden proposes to boost average benefits across the board while putting Social Security on a long-term path to solvency by raising taxes on those who can easily afford it, who earn more than $400,000 a year.

President Biden also proposes to raise benefits for vulnerable beneficiaries—including widows and widowers, low-wage workers, and long duration beneficiaries who may have exhausted all other assets. 

See also https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/the-issues/retirement-security/

and https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/biden-promise-tracker/promise/1586/expand-and-increase-social-security-benefits/

What Republicans Are Doing:
Since 1980, Republicans, including Paul Ryan and Ron DeSantis, have tried to make deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare every time they thought there might be a political window of opportunity. President George W. Bush tried to privatize Social Security. Here are some more recent examples:

• Senator Mike Lee said: “One thing that you probably haven’t ever heard from a politician: it will be my objective to phase out Social Security. To pull it up by the roots, and get rid of it.”
• In November, John Thune, the number two Senate Republican in leadership, declared that Social Security and Medicare benefits should be slashed.
• Florida Senator Rick Scott is championing a plan to put Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security on the chopping block every five years, which would put the health and economic security of 63 million Medicare beneficiaries, 69 million Medicaid beneficiaries and 65 million Social Security beneficiaries at risk. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin goes even further, proposing sunsetting these laws every year.
• The Republican Study Committee – which includes a majority of House Republicans – released a formal budget that, according to Politico, included “raising the eligibility ages for Social Security, along with withholding payments for individuals who retire early or had a certain income, and privatized funding for Social Security to lower income taxes.”
• And in 2015, most House Republicans, including Speaker McCarthy, Rep. Scalise, and a host of others in current leadership, voted to raise the retirement age to 70, which would cut Social Security benefits for tens of millions of seniors who paid into the system for years.

See more here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/09/fact-sheet-congressional-republicans-many-proposals-to-cut-social-security-and-medicare-and-increase-prescription-drug-prices-and-health-care-premiums/

and https://time.com/6254832/republicans-sunset-social-security-medicare/

And https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/opinion/columnists/republicans-medicare-social-security.html
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