Trump in attack mode for cutting Social Security, Medicare, and possibly taking away Medicaid (for the most needy). That is GOP 101 (always cut spending for critical programs).
This report here from NEWSWEEK with this
headline:
“Trump Gives
New Details on His Social Security Plans”
Trump spoke (Monday March 11) about the details of a possible reform of
Social Security if he returns to the White House.
Appearing on CNBC's Squawk Box, Trump was asked
by co-host Joe Kernen if he has any thoughts on changes to entitlement programs
such as Medicare and Social Security.
Trump replied: “There
is a lot you can do in terms of entitlement, in terms of cutting and in terms
of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements. I know that they're
going to end up weakening Social Security because the country is weak. I
believe there is cumulative inflation around the country is nearing 50% percent
and the nation's middle class has been routed. The middle class largely built
this country, and they've been treated very, very badly with policy.”
President Biden in
his 2024 State of the Union address last week vowed to protect Medicare and
Social Security, saying: “Working people who built this country pay more into
Social Security than millionaires and billionaires do. That is not fair.”
He also accused
Republicans of wanting to cut Social Security as well as “aiming to give more
tax cuts to the wealthy.”
On X (formerly Twitter), the
Biden-Harris HQ account shared a video of Trump's comments on Monday and
charged that he wants to cut Social Security and Medicate and possibly Medicaid
as well.
Trump’s “War Room”
(Steven Cheung – seen above) then right on time, tweeted Trump’s response:
“If you losers didn't cut his answer short, you would know President Trump was
talking about cutting waste.” (More details on that here from FORBES).
President Biden then retorted on X: “Not on my watch.”
Now this update – same subject – but with a different
Trump tune and after only one day from the above statements from Trump based on–
this update from BUSINESS INSIDER with this
their article headline:
“Trump's campaign goes into damage-control mode after he
suggests cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits”
Trump on Monday
handed President Joe Biden a gift while calling in to CNBC.
The highlights in
this update from Business Insider linked above:
· Trump suggests Social Security and Medicare might
be cut.
· That sent his campaign immediately into damage
control.
· Trump's comments were a political gift for
President Biden.
When asked how to cut spending and his outlook
on handling entitlements like Social Security and Medicare benefits, Trump
suggested cuts could be made to the programs, guaranteed financial support to retired and disabled workers.
Trump told CNBC's Joe
Kernen in a rambling response to the question that touched on the stock market,
oil drilling, and his administration's response to the COVID pandemic: “There
is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting and in terms
of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements, tremendous bad
management of entitlements. There's tremendous amounts of things and numbers of
things you can do.”
He then added: “I
know that they're going to end up weakening Social Security because the country
is weak” (suggesting that the Biden administration would make cuts to the
program).
Trump's campaign quickly jumped into damage-control mode,
sending out a press release saying that the former president's remarks had
focused on: “Protecting entitlements like Social Security and
Medicare and that he would get rid of waste and fraud.”
But Biden seized upon Trump's remarks just as quickly, telling a crowd of voters in NH that Trump had said cuts to the programs were on the table.
Biden vowed to protect the
entitlements more than 70 million Americans rely on, saying: “I won't cut
Social Security and I won't cut Medicare. I will protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and make the wealthy begin
to pay their fair share.”
Representatives for Trump didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment from Business Insider update.
The NEWSWEEK story starts from here:
What We Know: In 2023, Trump spoke about Social Security and rejected claims that he would attempt to cut the program. You don't have to touch Social Security he said during a town hall with Fox’s Sean Hannity last December saying: “We have money laying in the ground far greater than anything we can do by hurting senior citizens with their Social Security.”
In January, the left-leaning advocacy group Social Security Works, which seeks to expand benefits,
issued a warning about Trump's possible reelection saying: “He proposed cutting
Social Security and Medicare every year he was president, and he tried to
defund Social Security.”
What's Next: A Navigator Research poll said 61% of Republicans were very, or somewhat, concerned about possible plans for tax breaks that would cut Social Security for older Americans.
My 2 Cents: Those two articles above, with the second one updating the
first one, stand on very solid factual ground and need our full attention
regarding any talk of cutting Social Security and Medicare – since they are
connected and serve so many Americans.
According to Trump, he
wants it both ways – cut them both and duck when confronted with the truth –
which is SOP for him on most issues.
Stay tuned – this is apt
to get very ugly but President Biden defend programs and ensure they are
properly funded and they have been since 1935 and 1965.
Thanks
for stopping by.
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