Tag Archives: Social Security

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams A group of House Democrats on Tuesday began rolling out legislation to strengthen and expand Social Security as their Republican counterparts’ debt ceiling brinkmanship threatens to disrupt the program’s monthly payments, which keep millions of seniors and children across the U.S. out of poverty each year. …

Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix Social Security will no longer be able to pay full benefits in 2033, a year earlier than previously expected, according to a report released Friday. The updated projections, in the annual trustee report, mean that without action to stabilize the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, Social …

Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams As congressional Republicans threaten to cut Social Security and other key federal programs, progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren led a group of lawmakers Monday in unveiling legislation that would increase Social Security benefits by at least $200 per month and prolong the program’s solvency …

Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Two days after delivering a spirited State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden appeared in Florida on Thursday before an intimate crowd at the University of Tampa, where he pledged to protect Social Security and Medicare and push for Medicaid expansion for …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams The Biden White House made clear on Monday that it opposes the creation of commissions to devise changes—and possible cuts—to Social Security and other U.S. trust funds, rejecting an idea embraced by Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin amid a dangerous standoff over the nation’s debt …

Jake Johnson Former Vice President Mike Pence, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, has voiced support for a Social Security privatization scheme that the George W. Bush administration unsuccessfully pushed nearly two decades ago. In a closed-door event Thursday hosted by the National Association of Wholesale-Distributors, a corporate trade group, Pence …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Republican Rep. Rick Allen of Georgia suggested last week that he would support raising the Social Security retirement age—a policy change that would slash benefits across the board—because people have approached him and said they “actually want to work longer.” Confronted by an advocate in the …

Republicans who have pledged to use their narrow majority in the House to pursue steep federal spending cuts have sent a clear message in recent days: The bloated Pentagon budget is safe, but Social Security, Medicare, and other key government programs are not. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) expressed that sentiment …

Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix Republicans are eyeing the debt limit and government funding deadlines as a way to force Democrats to the negotiating table for spending cuts, should the GOP regain control of Congress following the midterm elections. Republicans unhappy about government spending could move to shut down the government, …

President Joe Biden pledged Friday to defend Social Security and Medicare from Republican attacks but rejected calls to support a full repeal of the debt ceiling, an arbitrary federal borrowing limit that the GOP is threatening to use as leverage to enact spending cuts. “The Republican leadership in Congress has …

Progressives on Tuesday warned that U.S. voters should take House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans at their word when they threaten to enact cuts to Social Security and Medicare despite the cost-of-living crisis that already has Americans struggling to afford healthcare and other essentials. In an interview with …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled parts of a policy agenda that indicates the party would push for cuts to Social Security and Medicare if it retakes the majority in November. A one-page summary of the agenda that House Republicans, led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), …

On Tuesday, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released an annual report that details the program’s long-term funding shortfall and how benefits will have to be cut by 2034 unless Congress acts. The report attributes the program’s issues to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic recession. Data from the Census …

After a delay in issuing checks to about 30 million Social Security and other government program recipients, the IRS said it has a date for when they’ll at last receive their $1,400 stimulus payments. The IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department has said that stimulus payments from the $1.9 trillion …