Republicans Want to Cut Social Security

Contrary to the disinformation on the Internet about Social Security, Democrats are not the problem.

I just ran across a post on a social media site that was full of half-truths and outright fabrication about Social Security. From what I can gather it's been circulating for a while.

The Social Security Act of 1935 created a safety net for people over 65. It never promised a 1% tax rate indefinitely. The Act as signed into law by FDR provided for incremental increases in the withholding tax to 3% by 1949. The amount subject to withholding was set at 3,000 dollars. Payments into the fund were never tax deductible. There was no income tax levied on benefits for the first 47 years because of SSA department guidelines, not because of language in the original Act. The general fund has always been able to borrow from the Social Security fund and has always paid it back with interest. Changes in accounting procedures changed a couple of times but the fund always remained intact.

Richard Nixon signed into law a bill allowing DOCUMENTED immigrants to receive SSI. That law was already in effect during the Carter administration. Documented immigrants are also allowed to draw Social Security benefits as long as they have forty covered quarters of employment as required by the Social Security Administration. At no time has SSI or Social Security benefits been available to undocumented immigrants. Nor has it been suggested.

The first time Social Security benefits were taxed was under the Reagan administration. Ronald Reagan signed H. R. 1900 into law in 1983. Al Gore cast the tie breaking vote on a bill creating a second bracket in 1993.

Since I don't want to link to the misinformative post I will link to a discussion that reproduces it and discusses the fallacies and what the facts are. I don't like disinformation, no matter which political party.

https://www.factcheck.org/2009/03/fdrs-voluntary-social-security/

The Social Security Act of 1935 passed with overwhelming bipartisan support as did the bill in 1983 for taxing benefits. In 1983 the trust fund was facing a looming shortfall and action was necessary. Also in that bill was the provision to gradually increase full retirement age to 67.

Members of the Republican party have made numerous statements about cutting, privatizing or eliminating Social Security and Medicare over the years. One Democrat sums up their position nicely.

"88 years ago, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law and made a sacred promise to American workers that they have the right to retire with dignity. And 88 years later, Republicans are still trying to rip away Americans' hard earned Social Security benefits. They might hope the American people don't notice, but their shameless admissions and their detailed plans to gut Social Security benefits make their true intentions perfectly clear." --Congressman Brendan Boyle

Rick Scott famously wanted to sunset all laws every five years, saying that if a law was worthwhile Congress could repass it.

Not to be outdone Ron Johnson suggested every year. With Republicans gridlocking themselves in the House, unable to pass legislation, neither of those ideas have any merit.

In 2010 Mike Lee called for eliminating the Social Security program entirely: "It will be my objective to phase out Social Security, to pull it up by the roots and get rid of it. There's going to be growing pains associated with doing this. We can't do it all at once."

Other Republicans who have spoken in favor of restructuring Social Security and Medicare are Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Jodey Arrington, Mike Pence and Ted Cruz, among others.

The first reasonable thing to do is to raise the cap on how much income is subject to Social Security withholding, not talk about making cuts. As Ronald Reagan said, Social Security is not what's causing the deficit. At the end of 2023 there was 2.8 trillion dollars in the Reserve Fund. There are fixes necessary to ensure future solvency. But nothing as drastic as suggested by Rick Scott, Ron Johnson and Mike Lee.

Notes:

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/republican-budget-social-security-medicare-trump-rcna144699

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/donald-trump-map-social-security-medicare-rcna143475

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v74n1/v74n1p27.html#:~:text=Under%20current%20Social%20Security%20rules,may%20not%20meet%20eligibility%20requirements.

https://www.dataforprogress.org/insights/2024/2/29/voters-want-congress-to-expand-social-security-not-cut-it-behind-closed-doors

https://thehill.com/business/3850036-republicans-social-security-medicare-debt-ceiling/

https://www.ssa.gov/history/35acviii.html

https://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths.html

https://time.com/6254832/republicans-sunset-social-security-medicare/