McCarthy demands work requirements on 'all the programs' including Social Security, Medicare, Med...

[Ruffhowse]

McCarthy demands work requirements on ‘all the programs’ including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP. Here we go, GOP about to self destruct. So all retirees will need to go back to work?

[Wingus Dingus]

1. Git back to work, Meemaw!!

[EndlessWire]

32. LOL! n/t

[Nictuku]

2. There is no way my 81 year old mom can work

[LenaBaby61]

14. I know a "Church Mother" whose nearing 100. She's mentally very sharp but is .....

Blind in one eye and in a wheelchair. She going to have to go back to work?

I know slinky spine said able-bodied people with NO dependents only have to go back to work, but do you trust the GQP to tell the truth on anything?

[wnylib]

52. Discrimination against singles and childless people.

Besides, who has dependents when they reach retirement age? There are some who have an ailing spouse or adult child, but most retired people who are able bodied would also have no dependents any more.

Just another RW attempt to kill SS.

[roamer65]

3. Fuck that PoS.

[LoisB]

8. Sideways with a Saguaro cactus.

[LenaBaby61]

19. You mean with TWO Saguaro Cacti .....

[LoisB]

21. Yes. That is exactly what I meant.

[roamer65]

26. +1000

[viva la]

4. He's really dumb

It's possible he doesn't know that Medicare and SS are for the elderly.

I'm on both, and still working, but I don't think I can physically handle it much longer. And I'm in pretty good condition.

[tinrobot]

5. Work until you die, peasants.

[sheshe2]

6. What does he mean by that?

The elderly need to go out and bag groceries to get our SS that we earned? How long do we have to do that Kevin? Until we are 90? Or until we drop dead.

[LenaBaby61]

15. The GQP wants all of us who are growing older to just drop DEAD.

Unless they're the types who live in the Villages down in Banana Boat FloriDUH. Those freaks who are mostly MAGA stay spreading std's and all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases

[Buns_of_Fire]

7. How about setting work requirements for qpublican congresscritters?

It'd be nice to see them do something constructive for the 174 grand/year we waste on them.

[Freethinker65]

9. Link?

[Ruffhowse]

17. sorry here it is.

https://www.rawstory.com/mccarthy-demands-work-requirements-on-all-the-programs-including-social-security-medicare-medicaid-and-snap/

[Freethinker65]

25. And despite the headline,

The Rawstory link (a compilation from other sources I was aware of) goes into some depth about proposed work requirements for able bodied adults with no dependents that access SNAP. There is nothing about changing work requirements for Medicare, Social Security. I am not questionng whether Kev threatened those programs as a scare tactic, but it seems like getting the able bodied to have some sort of work requirement might be enough to get a compromise bill passed?

[Hugin]

29. The "able bodied" no matter what age earned the retirement that they are now receiving.

No strings attached. It was EARNED and not welfare of any sort.

[Johnny2X2X]

48. Do you even know how Social Security works?

What you pay gives you benefits until you die and then some. In fact, you can track your total amount that you and your emnployers have paid. 2 years? I've paid $160,000 into Social Security during my working life and my employers have matched that with their own $160,000. The next 15 years of my career I'll pay another 135,000 that will be matched by employer with another $135,000. That will be close to $600K me and my employer have contributed, my benefits will be based on that. I'm probably get about $35K a year, if there was 0% interest it would last me 17 years of retirement, but Social Security earns 3% on its money, so I will have paid in more than I'll collect before I die in all probability.

I see the poster I was responding to removed their post that was saying you collect more in 2 years than you paid into social security when you retire. Either they removed their post or it was removed for being a far right talking point.

[Freethinker65]

49. The article talks about proposed cuts to SNAP for able bodied

The article does NOT mention details of any cuts to social security.


SNAP is the supplemental nutrition program formerly known as food stamps. Kev suggested able bodied adult Americans, under the age of somewhere in their 50s, should either be looking for work or in job training to receive SNAP. If the proposal included money for mental health aid, it would be preferable for me, but still, I can see this becoming the compromise that gets a debt ceiling bill passed.

Most, including me, on DU realize that the wealthiest with their permanent tax cuts and lower chance of being audited because of complicated tax returns, have contributed far more to the deficit than the extremely small percentage of individuals getting meager SNAP aid that could get a job if they wanted to. But we also realize McCarthy now controls the nation's pocketbook, and presumably enough of the GOP House members' votes, and a compromise will most likely be made to get enough votes to pass a bill to pay our debts.

[edisdead]

54. Hell to the fucking NO!!!!

you call that a compromise? I call that a bag of shit. If you want to hold that, you are “free to think” thats a good deal. But not me.

[Ruffhowse]

56. Link to another source---

Here's a link to another source quoting Mccarthy saying "all the programs". I saw a video of him saying it at end of linked article.

https://www.alternet.org/kevin-mccarthy-demands-work-requirements/

[Hekate]

10. Since Social Security is not enough to live on anyway, old people already are working...

WalMart, Burger King, MacDonalds. They may be tired and their backs may ache — but they can’t afford to retire.

McCarthy and his ilk can go to Hell.

[Kaleva]

41. It's not easy but it's possible to live on SS

Maybe later I'll provide you with a link to my budget from years ago

[Hekate]

50. You're kind of undercutting my point, which is that we should do better than bare bones

But I am glad you made it & hope things improved

[elocs]

60. I'm poor & retired, below the 100% Federal Poverty Level,

and I have managed to live on my SS just fine and I retired at 62. I'm 70 now and still in good shape, weigh what I did in high school. I'm capable of working but I did my time. It's just me and I've made good choices in retirement. My housing expenses are very low and I pay nothing for food nor healthcare. As meager and modest as my living conditions are, most homeless would love to have what I have. But I have no intentions of going to work anywhere and I have no need to do so./

[Hekate]

61. Kevin McCarthy seems to be saying --and mind you, I could be mis-hearing the man--that even...

…SS recipients are receiving a form of welfare, and that they should be employed.

I give up. I don’t want to argue with DUers. I may have misunderstood him.

HOWEVER, it is true that Republicans have been trying to get rid of SS since FDR first got it in, and one way of doing that is to try to convince people that it is an unearned gift and a form of welfare. So if I did in this instance conflate his intentions there is a reason I did so.

PS: I know more than one single woman who worked hard and tried to do all the right things, but luck was against them. A single wide trailer tucked out of sight, food bank, etc.

And now I am going away.

[Hekate]

62. You might be interested in a couple of posts in the thread at link. I think they heard what I heard...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217923999

[Cha]

11. Go home, Kev.. you're Drunk. We've

earned our Social Security, you Stupid SOB.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

12. Kevin is a prostitute for the people

Who think we should simply die once we can no longer work, no matter what age.

People who read Dickens and H.C Andersen and think “Now why can’t it be like this?”

[vlyons]

13. Bullshit to that!!!

I'm 76 with heart disease. No one will hire me, when they see me walk into an interview using a walker. I guess Kevin just wants to kill off all the Seniors. And what about our veterans with PTSD, lost limbs, etc? Drag old folks out of nursing homes? What an asshole! This HAS to generate some great ads about how Republicans want to kill off grandma and grandpa.

I'll say it again. McCarthy is an asshole.

[sarcasmo]

16. GOP terrorists causing stress on purpose.

[Walleye]

18. I wish one of them would explain how making poor people try to get jobs balances

The budget. What revenue does this bring in, none. They are just hoping people will drop off the program.These programs have been legitimately voted in by Congress and legislations. Who the fuck does he think he is. And by the way, Kevin, I paid into Social Security every paycheck for 50 years. Go fuck yourself.

[NowISeetheLight]

20. SSDI

I'm on SSDI and VA 100% disability. I have a 40 year work history and didn't even file for VA benefits until over 30 years from my medical discharge. I ended up in the hospital several times and had to stop work.

I have some good days when I can take care of some things. I have other days when I can't get out of bed. I lost a $120k+ a year career thanks to PTSD. I don't see how I can schedule good days vs bad to "work" so I can meet these types of requirements. Days I can't even manage ADLs like eating and a shower. What employer will just excuse me?

I worked 40+ years too. Over $200k paid in SS taxes by my employer and I in that time. Life was a lot easier when I made big money. I had a country club membership, drove expensive cars, took vacations. Now I spend most days isolating at home.

FUXK YOU MCCARTHY and all you asxholes. We are not all lazy people sucking the government teat.

[ForgedCrank]

28. I found

the link posted and the headline and title are totally misleading, at least at this point in time. The claims are that it's for SNAP only, nothing else. And to top it off, even that is still just rumor. from unconfirmed "sources".
Not that I'd put it past McCarthy to come up with something like that, but right now, looks like bunk.

[Ruffhowse]

59. Link to proof

Here's a link verifying my post with video proof

https://www.alternet.org/kevin-mccarthy-demands-work-requirements/

[Walleye]

22. Congress is it not in session a lot of days of the year, maybe the reps should get summer jobs

[Fiendish Thingy]

23. I don't think that's accurate

Where did you read that Kevin is demanding work requirements for SS?

Your raw story link is clickbait, and not accurate reporting.

[orleans]

24. where the fuck is HIS mother? & why isn't she slapping him silly?? nt

[ForgedCrank]

27. Where did

you read this?
Right now, all I find are write-ups citing "sources with knowledge", but nothing official, just gossip.
And, the gossip I've seen published mentions SNAP only, not "all the programs".
I'd be interested in reading where you saw this so I know for myself.

[Ruffhowse]

55. Here is solid evidence

Here is another source of Mccarthy saying "all the programs" in response to a question. See video included at end of linked post.
https://www.alternet.org/kevin-mccarthy-demands-work-requirements/

[Rhiannon12866]

30. I thought the point of Social Security was to provide an income after folks retire - from working??

[ShazzieB]

31. I guess old Kev didn't get the memo about how we EARNED our social security.

You know, by paying into it all those years when we WERE working.

[GoodRaisin]

33. Don't believe it. Doesn't make any sense.

Joe Biden’s not going to sign off on anything that makes people on social security have to work to get their benefits. That’s just stupid. Republicans could refuse to raise the debt ceiling all the way through election day in 2024 and not get that. Even McCarthy’s not stupid enough to try doing that to the old retired Magats who would scream the loudest if they were forced out of their recliners back to work. They would yell that they had earned it, which of course, is true.

I think sometimes people forget it’s Congress’ responsibility to raise the debt limit, not the President. They must take him a bill to sign and McCarthy better give him one that can pass in the Senate. When it’s time to lay the blame (if such a time were to come) for defaulting on the debt it would be laid squarely at McCarthy’s feet. But there won’t be a default. There never is each time Republicans try this crap. They’ve become like the boy who cried wolf with this antic.

[ancianita]

34. There goes the Villages and the 55+ Republican vote.

[PufPuf23]

35. Perhaps there should be equivalent dollar-weighted work requirements

for millionaires and even billionaires?

More work and increased taxes on those making more than $100,000 in addition to the very rich makes the most sense for everyone.

[Buns_of_Fire]

37. To whom much is given, much should be required.

More than just hosting a fundraiser at the summer mansion for some boorish orange slug from Florida, anyway.

[ZonkerHarris]

36. Tell Florida and Arizona

[DFW]

38. Logic, Republican style.

If you want to retire from working after 45 years, you will have to go to work if you want to collect your pension.

I wonder if it‘s OK to push a religious Republican off a cliff, since their god would provide them with wings if he had wanted them to live?

[EndlessWire]

39. Here's a link

with a bit more info:

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/15/gop-work-requirement-demands-debt-talks-00097058

I am really, really struggling to not hate the guts of every last Maga Republican in Congress. I am sick of them.

McCarthy thinks that Joe will cave, when Joe is just doing his job. And we have to have these deals done by Friday? Puhleese. I'd rather Biden just visits Papua New Guinea and Australia for the Quad Summit, rather than deal with these losers. They obviously just want to f*ck with all of us.

The Repubs Have zeroed in on our basic fears, and they love it. They make $174,000 a year. Does someone making their Congressional salaries really need to strip some poor person of food stamps while they struggle to feed their children? What's fair, here? McCarthy claims he's just making able-bodied, childless people work, but that's not it.

And, why the fixation on this issue instead of a broader budget compromise? Because A$$hole McCarthy knows the food issue will crash the whole negotiation?

And, who are the Dems muttering in the background to give this ahole what he wants?

I don't care what Joe voted for in the past. I wouldn't look at him like he's a hypocrite, or anything like that. I want him to tell McCarthy to go to hell. Let's find out about the power of the 14th Amendment.

And, before anyone says that politicians are sacrificing by giving up what they could make in the private sector--most of what I've seen so far is that they are braindead, mean, cruel assholes and sycophants who can't think, and don't know how to govern. What are they getting paid for?

Eff them all. Let's do the 14th and test out of that while we vote all these miserable jerks and miscreants out of office. Mr. Fifteen Times McCarthy can shove it where the sun doesn't shine. He doesn't intend to compromise.

Go to the Quad Summit, Joe. This crap isn't going to fly, anyway--not unless the monkeys started flinging their poo. Shame on them all. Their purpose is to crash the economy. It is very apparent. They just found the hook they want. You're the President; put your sunnies on and walk away.

I'm just so sick of this crap.

[Beachnutt]

40. I read the whole article and no mention of social security

snap benefits and emegency medicaid are being discussed though.
If They force work requirements for food stamps (snap, supplemental nutrition assistance program)
which I hope they do not, surely more folks will show up and vote the rethugs out in the next election.

[NowsTheTime]

42. People that can least afford it need to step up & prevent default! Makes a lot of sense, right?

[Kaleva]

43. I can't find a reliable source that confirms SS is included

[Tanuki]

44. It isn't, and neither is Medicare. The OP headline is inaccurate.

It really should be edited. Information presented as factual on DU should be accurate.

[Kaleva]

46. OP is disinformation and should be edited

What anuses me is the recs it has.

[Ruffhowse]

57. Here's another source

Mccarthy really did say "all the programs". I also saw it on the video included.

https://www.alternet.org/kevin-mccarthy-demands-work-requirements/

[Emile]

45. When they bailed out the banks what kind of work requirements

did they impose on the bankers,?

[TomSlick]

51. A work requirement for Social Security and Medicare is just dumb.

People are on Social Security and Medicare because they are either elderly or disabled. If someone is eligible for Social Security or Medicare, they cannot work - by definition.

Besides which, Social Security and Medicare are the third-rail of politics - touch it and die.

Work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP are just mean.

[Emile]

53. What about when we bail out banks? Is he going to

require bankers a work requirement?

[Sogo]

58. Someone please tell Kev and his gang that SS and Medicare ARE

work-requirement programs. A person works and contributes to these programs their whole career, and then the payout happens (and, yes, I know that it's the subsequent generation that's actually paying the current benefits).

[roamer65]

63. Florida retirees will soon be picking crops.

DeSatan’s immigration plan plus McCarthy’s work requirement equals Florida retirees will soon be picking oranges and strawberries.