Republicans now threaten to crash the economy unless they can slash your benefits.
Leading
party members are eager to use their new majority in the House of
Representatives to trash two programs conservatives have long detested: Social
Security and Medicare. But Republicans control only one house of Congress by a
slim margin, and slashing Social Security and Medicare benefits is wildly
unpopular.
Even three-quarters of those who voted for Republicans for Congress last
year are against cutting benefits, as well as similar majorities of Democrats
and Independents. In fact, 83 percent of Americans support increasing Social
Security benefits — including 84 percent of Republicans! And
big, bipartisan majorities want to tax the rich to do it.
Republican
Senator Lindsey Graham wants seniors to “take a little less” and “pay a little more in” for
Social Security, and Republican policy makers want to increase the retirement age to 70.
Given
how unpopular the idea is, a direct legislative attack on benefits is destined
to go nowhere. Instead, the Republican strategy is indirect: to hold the
government itself hostage.
Extremist House Republicans now say they will refuse to increase the nation’s “debt limit” this year — causing a government shutdown, a default on our debts, and a global economic calamity — unless Social Security and Medicare benefits are slashed.
The
credit and debt evaluator Moody’s says a default would trigger a recession wiping
out 6 million jobs and erasing $15 trillion in household wealth.
The
GOP scheme spits in voters’ faces. In polling, virtually no Americans want the debt
limit to be tied to cutting Social Security and Medicare. Indeed, over two-thirds of Republican voters say they
favor increasing the debt limit increase without such
cuts.
Republican
excuses for attacking these programs are that Social Security is going bankrupt
and that the country cannot afford more debt.
It
is true there’s a shortfall in income going into the government’s Social
Security trust account. But the fix doesn’t have to rely on slashing benefits.
The
causes of the shortfall include the aging of America’s population and the rise in economic inequality. The distribution of income
has shifted in the last 50 years, and the share of the very rich has grown.
Since Social Security limits how much of a person’s income is subject to Social
Security taxes to $147,000, the rich escape taxes on most of their income,
limiting revenues.
Eliminating
the cap would reportedly eliminate three-quarters of the Social Security funding shortfall.
But since Republicans wish above all to protect the wealth of the rich, they
are prepared to ignore the preference of three-quarters of Americans, including
their own voters.
The
second claimed excuse, the size of the national debt, is also meritless. The national debt has grown under every presidential
administration since Herbert Hoover in 1928, but there’s no
reason to conclude it is more than we can afford. Our debt is among the
highest-rated and safest in the world — unless Republicans destroy our credit
for political reasons.
Refusing
to pay what is already lawfully owed because it exceeds an arbitrary “limit” is
no answer. Failing to raise the debt limit means cheating those who, in good
faith, bought government bonds or sold things to our government. The economic
effects would be devastating.
Why
would Republicans use a back-door tactic with such risks to force through cuts
opposed by giant majorities of their own supporters?
Their determination to defund Social Security and Medicare appears to rest on the “principle” that the government should do nothing to benefit ordinary people — and that the wealth of the ultra-rich must be protected at all costs.
Mitchell Zimmerman is an attorney, longtime social activist, and author of the anti-racism thriller Mississippi Reckoning. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.