Scalise acknowledges GOP plan to change Social Security, Medicare [View all]

[LetMyPeopleVote]

If the GOP are in control of either house of Congress, Social Security and Medicare will be under attack

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https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/scalise-acknowledges-gop-plan-change-social-security-medicare-rcna52578?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma

President Joe Biden recently warned the public that Social Security and Medicare would end up on “the chopping block” if Republicans make gains in this year’s midterm elections, and as regular readers know, plenty of prominent GOP voices — from Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson to New Hampshire’s Don Bolduc to Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia — have bolstered Biden’s claims.

It was against this backdrop that a member of the House Republican leadership broached the same subject yesterday morning. Bloomberg reported:

Representative Steve Scalise, the number two House Republican, defended his party’s approach to Medicare and Social Security, which has become a campaign issue ahead of US midterm elections in November. It’s a mis-characterization to say the GOP plans to “cut” the programs, Scalise said on “Fox News Sunday.”

As part of the on-air appearance, host Shannon Bream asked the Louisiana congressman about the proposed budget plan from the Republican Study Committee, which Scalise is a member of. As Politico noted, the plan, among other things, included proposals for “raising the eligibility ages for each program, along with withholding payments for individuals who retire early or had a certain income, and privatized funding for Social Security to lower income taxes.”

Yesterday was an opportunity for Scalise to distance himself from the document and its recommendations. He did largely the opposite. “That budget talks about shoring up and strengthening Social Security. That’s not ‘cutting’ Social Security,” the House minority whip said. He added, “We’ve broad forward legislation to stave off cuts to Medicare. We want to stave off cuts to Social Security. Democrats haven’t supported any of that. They want the programs to go bankrupt.”

For now, let’s put aside the question of which party cared more about the future of Social Security — a debate Republicans obviously can’t win. Let’s instead consider the two key elements of the broader debate.