Republican demands to cut Social Security and Medicare are 'extensively documented': report

09 February 2023

“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans — some Republicans — want Medicare and Social Security to sunset," President Joe Biden said during his 2023 State of the Union address.

Biden's remarks sparked knee-jerk reactions from GOP lawmakers seated in the United States House chamber, such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who stood up in objection and shouted "liar" at Biden while he was speaking.

Elsewhere, conservative pundits and commentators accused Biden of not telling the truth.

"Right-wing media responded aggressively to the speech, with figures like The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro and Newsmax's Sean Spicer calling Biden's comments 'demagogic lies' and a 'total flop of a moment,' respectively. Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich labeled Biden’s comment an 'attempt to attack the Republicans on Medicare and Social Security' that was 'totally dishonest,'" Media Matters for America noted on Thursday.

Media Matters then demonstrated why these allegations are completely meritless.

"Multiple GOP politicians — some of whom said Biden’s claim was a lie — have been on the record pushing legislation that would cut entitlement programs or have stated their opposition to the programs in their entirety," including Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah, Media Matters pointed out.

The outlet provided a bakers' dozen instances of Republicans unambiguously demanding the dismantling of the federal social safety nets. These examples, Media Matters wrote, were "extensively documented" and "serve to fact-check anyone who says otherwise."

Meanwhile, the White House also published a lengthy press release identifying numerous occasions upon which Republicans championed slashing taxpayers' benefits.

"President Biden has taken action to strengthen Medicare and protect Social Security – bedrock programs that Americans have paid into and that tens of millions of seniors depend on to support their livelihoods. Congressional Republicans, however, have a different record," the Thursday statement said.

"For years, Republican Members of Congress have repeatedly tried to cut Medicare and Social Security, move toward privatizing one or both programs, and raise the Social Security retirement age and Medicare eligibility age," it continued. "And just last week, House Republicans introduced legislation to repeal President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which would give tens of billions of dollars in subsidies back to Big Pharma, raise seniors’ prescription drug prices, and raise taxes on an estimated 14.5 million people – all while increasing the deficit."

Media Matters' full report is available at this link.

From Your Site Articles