Social Security and Medicare are not the only issues affecting seniors, who bore much of the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic both in terms of lives lost and personal finances drained. ![]() While Republicans want future seniors to bear the burden of shoring up Social Security's finances, Representative John Larson (D-Conn.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), among others, champion solutions that produce more revenue, such as asking the wealthy to contribute their fair share in payroll taxes-allowing an actual boost in benefits. ![]() The Medicare Part A trust fund will run out in 2028 without congressional help. Social Security's combined trust fund is projected to become depleted by 2035 if Congress fails to take preventative action. Congress just said no to energy transparency.Politics as Usual-Reversing the Promise Made to Black Farmers.The last thing they need is another increase in the retirement age-though this is one of the most popular ideas in Republican circles. Nearly half of retirees rely on Social Security for all or most of their income. Workers claiming Social Security before their full retirement age face reduced monthly benefits for life. The full retirement age has already been raised to 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Last June, the House Republican Study Committee's budget blueprint included raising Social Security's full retirement age-a massive benefit cut that ignores the fact that although some people are living longer, many are not able to continue working until age 70. Privatization is a terrible idea and a largely unpopular one, but conservative idealogues continue to push policies that are great for Wall Street, but harmful to seniors on fixed incomes. "Maybe we should privatize Social Security, right? Private retirement accounts, get the government out of it," he said. As NBC News reported, "In major Senate and House races across the country, GOP candidates have called for cutting long-term Social Security spending to tackle inflation and resolve the program's finances." In Arizona, a state with one of the largest populations of retirees in the country, GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters endorsed the idea of gambling seniors' earned benefits on the stock market. Some Republican candidates for Congress have followed this path off the political cliff. Scott's proposal garnered significant backlash, but that did not stop Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) from saying a few months later that Social Security and Medicare should be considered "discretionary" spending, placing seniors' benefits at the mercy of the Congressional budget process every year. During an election year, Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chair of the committee responsible for electing Republicans to the Senate, proposed a plan where Social Security and Medicare would have to be renewed every five years by Congress-putting both programs on a path toward steep budget cuts, if not outright elimination. You have to give Republicans credit for political brazenness, though perhaps recklessness is a better word. Meanwhile, GOP members of Congress, who for years have mouthed general support for Social Security and Medicare, are now saying the quiet part out loud: They propose to break the fundamental promises of both programs. ![]() Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which should significantly lower seniors' prescription drug costs, with zero Republican support. They have introduced legislation in both the House and Senate to strengthen Social Security and expand benefits. Democrats have made earnest efforts to boost Social Security and Medicare in the 117th Congress-and to shore up the finances of both programs. Are you ready to fight for these things now?" said President Joe Biden at an August rally in Maryland. "The Social Security you paid for from the time you had a job is on the ballot. The outcome depends largely on how older Americans-who cast ballots more reliably than any other age group-vote in 2022.įor seniors, the stakes could not be higher, nor the choice clearer. Whichever party controls Congress will influence whether Social Security and Medicare will continue as we know them-or be weakened and privatized. This is not a matter of nuance it's truly existential. It is no exaggeration to say that the nation's two most important programs for seniors-Social Security and Medicare-are on the line in this November's elections.
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