Yes, they really are dancing gleefully on the third rail
Congressional Republicans, eyeing a midterm election victory that could hand them control of the House and the Senate, have embraced plans to reduce federal spending on Social Security and Medicare, including cutting benefits for some retirees and raising the retirement age for both safety net programs.
Prominent Republicans are billing the moves as necessary to rein in government spending, which grew under both Republican and Democratic presidents in recent decades and then spiked as the Trump and Biden administrations unleashed trillions of dollars in economic relief during the pandemic.
The Republican leaders who would decide what legislation the House and the Senate would consider if their party won control of Congress have not said specifically what, if anything, they would do to the programs.
Yet several influential Republicans have signaled a new willingness to push for Medicare and Social Security spending cuts as part of future budget negotiations with President Biden. Their ideas include raising the age for collecting Social Security benefits to 70 from 67 and requiring many older Americans to pay higher premiums for their health coverage. The ideas are being floated as a way to narrow government spending on programs that are set to consume a growing share of the federal budget in the decades ahead.
The fact that Republicans are openly talking about cutting the programs has galvanized Democrats in the final weeks of the midterm campaign. Mr. Biden has made securing Social Security and Medicare a late addition to his closing economic messaging, and Democratic candidates have barraged voters with a flurry of advertisements claiming Republicans would dismantle the programs and deny older adults benefits they have counted on for retirement.
Mr. Biden has repeatedly said he will not agree to cuts to Social Security, which provides retirement and disability pay to 66 million Americans, or Medicare, which provides health insurance to about 64 million people. He has also accused all Republicans of putting both programs on the chopping block, based on the possible outcomes of proposals put forth by two Republican senators, which party leaders have not embraced.
“You’ve been paying into Social Security your whole life. You earned it. Now these guys want to take it away,” Mr. Biden said during a visit to Hallandale Beach, Fla., on Tuesday. “Who in the hell do they think they are? Excuse my language.”
They think they are winners and they are feeling their oats.
Obviously, Joe Biden will not let this happen but we know they have already signaled they are going to hold the debt ceiling hostage (unless the Dems do the smart thing and pass the debt ceiling in the lame duck — if Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema say it’s ok.) And they might very well shut down the government over the budget to get this done. They love doing that.
I’m never sure why they think this is such a big winner but it appears they are reverting to their former selves when it comes to slashing the safety net. I guess Trump is on board as well. He certainly hasn’t said anything and I’d be surprised if they didn’t get the ok. It’s never worked out for them in the past but who knows? Maybe if they can combine it with the kind of rank racism and xenophobia that has characterized this campaign it will finally get a majority in favor.
In case you were wondering what the odds of Manchin going along with a debt ceiling hike in the lame duck in order to avoid this fight:
So ….