Why do Republicans hate Social Security and Medicare so much?
Because Social Security and Medicare are government programs that work so well, the Republican elite — with its seemingly religious belief that the private sector is always the best — hates them.
Why don’t Social Security and Medicare go through appropriations?
Social Security — the people’s pension — and Medicare — the first step toward universal health insurance for all — do not go through the appropriations process because, as monthly pension payments and medical insurance, they must pay what is owed, not what Congress chooses to spend.
Will Social Security and Medicare be a big election issue in 2018?
If Democrats are successful in making the American public aware that the Republicans desire to steal their earned Social Security and Medicare benefits, Social Security and Medicare could well be a potent issue in 2018, when seniors vote in disproportionately large numbers.
Why the Social Security debate for three decades?
The three decades of the Social Security debate also coincide with the long period of low or no growth in wages for American workers. Real wages for low-and middle-income earners were actually lower in 1996 than they were in 1973. A tight labor market drove them up during the next half-decade, but by 2001, stagnation had set in again.
What is the Republican claim that they are simply seeking to save Social Security and Medicare?
Republican claims that they are simply seeking to save Social Security and Medicare is the same Orwellian language used during the Vietnam War, when a military officer claimed that a village had to be destroyed in order to save it. Similarly, when today’s Republicans talk of “saving” Social Security and Medicare, ...
Why don't Social Security and Medicare go through the appropriations process?
Social Security — the people’s pension — and Medicare — the first step toward universal health insurance for all — do not go through the appropriations process because, as monthly pension payments and medical insurance, they must pay what is owed, not what Congress chooses to spend. If Social Security and Medicare were subject to the whims of every Congress, they would be radically transformed. No one could count on the benefits they had earned. Presumably with that goal in mind, the new rules require the relevant committees to make “recommendations for changes to existing law for moving [unspecified} programs…from mandatory funding to discretionary appropriations, where appropriate.”
Why do Republicans hate Medicare?
Because Social Security and Medicare are government programs that work so well, the Republican elite — with its seemingly religious belief that the private sector is always the best — hates them . So obsessed are the Republicans in their desire to eliminate these effective government programs that the very first action that House Republicans took in the new Congress was to adopt a rules package that included a new rule that amounts to a stealth attack on Social Security and Medicare.
What are the Republicans' obsessions with Medicare?
The Republican Obsession With Dismantling Social Security And Medicare. Today’s Republicans want to avoid political accountability by destroying Social Security and Medicare without leaving clear fingerprints. The Republicans are desperate to destroy Social Security and Medicare. These two programs demonstrate government at its best.
Why does Medicare not go through the appropriations process?
Social Security — the people’s pension — and Medicare — the first step toward universal health insurance for all — do not go through the appropriations process because, as monthly pension payments and medical insurance, they must pay what is owed, not what Congress chooses to spend. If Social Security and Medicare were subject to the whims ...
What are the two programs that Republicans want to destroy?
The Republicans are desperate to destroy Social Security and Medicare. These two programs demonstrate government at its best. The federal government runs these two extremely popular programs more efficiently, universally, securely, and effectively than the private sector does with its alternatives — or indeed could, ...
What would happen if the Democratic Party could draw a clear distinction on this vital issue?
If the Democratic Party can draw a clear distinction on this vital issue, it can create a powerful wedge between the Republican elites and their base. If the base catches on and realizes who truly represents their economic interests, the next four years, difficult as they are going to be, will be followed by important progress for many years to come.
How much will Social Security affect the economy?
The critical question in assessing Social Security's long-term impact is how much pressure it places on the economy as a whole. The answer is: not very much . According to the trustees' 2010 report, the Social Security deficit over the next 75 years – in other words, the benefit promises that payroll taxes and interest on the trust fund assets don't cover all by themselves – will come to just 0.7% of GDP.
Why is cutting Social Security bad?
In the short run, cutting Social Security – and Medicare and Medicaid – takes money out of the consumer economy at a time when consumption and economic growth are dependent on government income support. In the long run, it reduces retirees' income, making them more dependent on the “sandwich generation” of middle-aged workers struggling to raise children, support their elder relatives, and save for their own retirements.
What do privatizers want?
The privatizers want to funnel a portion of workers' payroll taxes to the financial services industry in the form of private accounts and cut benefits from the benefits that remain.
Why do Social Security workers want wages to rise?
Social Security's defenders would like to see wages start rising again, because this is the best way to assure the program's fiscal health going forward. Privatizers adamantly oppose new or higher taxes and would like to see income from private investments replace wages as the main source of wealth for nearly all workers, creating what Karl Rove described as the “ownership society.” The deficit hawks tend not to be wedded to the idea of carving private accounts directly out of payroll taxes. But they generally agree with the privatizers that the direction that wages have been trending for most of the past 30 years is not going to change – and probably should not be encouraged to do so.
What was the replacement rate for the 1983 amendments?
This has reduced benefits for many seniors. During the Clinton administration, a series of adjustments to the components of the Consumer Price Index used to calculate benefits began to push down the replacement rate for final average income. As a result of both these changes, the median replacement rate is projected to slip from 39% to 31% for workers born between 1956 and 1965 even if nothing is done to further downgrade the system.[5]
What is the pressure on Social Security?
The other big source of pressure on Social Security is health care costs. The new health reform legislation, or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, may help to ease those costs, perhaps even more than is projected – but only if it is allowed to remain in place. The ultimate effect of the new law will not be known for a decade, as federal and state regulators implement the rules that make the new system operative and the results of a host of small-scale programs, demonstration projects, studies, and research efforts become clear.
How many sides are there in the Social Security debate?
Three sides, not two, have defined the Social Security debate for the past three decades:
What is the wonky term for federal programs that automatically allocate benefits to qualified recipients?
The release goes on to cite specific comments by Republican leaders. These comments focus on changes to "entitlements, " the wonky term for federal programs that automatically allocate benefits to qualified recipients, rather than being dependent on Congress appropriating enough money every year. Entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid account for the largest share of the federal budget.
When did Paul Ryan talk about entitlement reform?
The Senate Democratic release includes two separate comments from House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in December 2017 talking about returning to entitlement reform in 2018.
Why didn't McConnell say entitlement reforms?
22, 2017, that he does not plan to bring up entitlement reforms in the current environment due to a lack of bipartisan agreement on the sensitive issue.
Did the Senate pass a bill that would have curbed Medicaid?
The House already passed a bill that would have curbed Medicaid, but it died in the Senate. And the Senate -- where Republicans have just a 51-49 edge in a chamber that requires 60 votes for most legislative business -- is expected to be a graveyard for legislation to rein in Medicare and Social Security.
Did Wyden say Republicans are taking away Medicare?
Wyden said, "Republicans in Congress are plotting to take away Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.". Some key Republicans, including Ryan, have long argued in favor of overhauling entitlement programs such as these by reducing the amount of money spent on them. However, no Republican proposal has been made to "take away" any ...
Why is the GOP terrified of Medicare for all?
Now we know why the GOP is truly terrified of “Medicare for all”: It will wipe out the Republican Party’s control of the House, Senate, White House, and most state governments. Because it could make it very easy for every citizen over 18 to vote.
What did the white conservatives do to prevent poor people from voting?
Here in the U.S., ever since Jim Crow, racist white “conservatives” have used a variety of means to prevent poor people, people of color, low-income working people, students, and older people from voting. Techniques have varied over the years, starting with poll taxes and so-called “literacy tests,” and now are carefully calibrated by cutting voting sites, reducing early voting, and even disenfranchising North Dakota’s Native American population.
How many people were purged in 2014?
Republican voter suppression is thriving in the U.S.: The Brennan Center documents a 33 percent increase in voters purged during the 2014-1016 election cycle (16 million), compared with the 2006-2008 cycle (12 million purged), as the GOP has made ID and purges (along with fear mongering about brown-skinned people) their main electoral strategy. In just the past year, as many as an additional 14 million voters have been purged from rolls nationwide, while over the past two decades every Republican-controlled state has introduce rigid ID laws.
Why do Republicans control the state legislature?
And, at the state level, in many—perhaps a majority—of the so-called “red states,” Republicans hold control of state legislatures and governors’ offices only because of voter suppression, ranging from voter-roll purges to voter ID laws.
What would happen if the GOP was out of power?
With the GOP out of power at the state level, Democrats (and the few remaining ethical Republicans) could replace gerrymandering with good-government solutions like the non-partisan district-drawing commission put into place by California.
When did the GOP start a voter suppression campaign?
The GOP stepped up their voter suppression game in 1980 when Heritage Foundation, ALEC, and Moral Majority co-founder and Reagan campaigner Paul Weyrich famously said, “I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people; they never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down .”
Does Canada have Medicare?
But it’s a virtual certainty that the deep-dive think tanks and “wise elders” of the GOP also know how easy it is to vote in Canada and other developed countries, in very large part because of the national ID card that Canada’s (and most of Europe’s) Medicare for all programs provide at great ease and no cost.
What is Social Security and Medicare?
Social Security and Medicare are federal programs that provide income and health insurance to qualifying populations, mostly older Americans and the disabled. Beneficiaries of both programs have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
How is Medicare paid?
Medicare is paid for through two trust funds: the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund and the Supplemental Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund. HI pays for Medicare Part A (hospitalization), and SMI pays for Part B (medical) and Part D (prescription drugs). 16
How much is Medicare Part B?
However, the standard premium for Medicare Part B is $148.50 per month ( for 2021), except for those with higher incomes who may be charged a higher monthly premium. 28
What is Medicare for older people?
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people age 65 or older, as well as younger people who are disabled or have end-stage renal disease. Medicare is financed through a combination of payroll taxes, government funding, and premiums paid by participants. It is run by a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) known as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). 16 17
What age does Medicare cover?
The Medicare system provides healthcare coverage to people ages 65 and older and those under age 65 with disabilities. These populations are the most vulnerable when it comes to COVID-19. In addition to health concerns, these same populations will be financially vulnerable in the future. 27
What is the Medicare system?
The Medicare system provides healthcare coverage to people 65 and older, as well as those under 65 with disabilities. These populations are the most vulnerable when it comes to COVID-19. In addition to health concerns, these same populations will be financially vulnerable going forward.
How many changes did Medicare make in 2020?
Consider that between January 1 and July 24, 2020, more than 200 Medicare-related regulatory changes were made.