At President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Speech, congressional Republicans tried to distance themselves from plans to cut Social Security. Don’t believe it. Plenty of Republicans are determined to cut Social Security — even though 84% of Republicans and 86% of Democrats want those retirement benefits to increase. Things are already bad enough for retirees and older workers. Benefit cuts would only make them worse.
Make no mistake: House Republicans want to take advantage of the debt limit vote due this spring to cut Social Security. That’s behind their proposal to create a commission to explore ways to trim Social Security costs. And last week, former Vice President Mike Pence said in a private meeting that the government should partially privatize the program — which will cut benefits for most families, including those who most rely on them.
It seems Republicans have forgotten the lessons of 2005, when newly reelected President George W. Bush proposed privatizing Social Security only to abandon the idea after his ratings plunged further each time he brought it up.
