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. …
Read More »Social Security Trustees Predict Benefit Cuts In 2033 Without Congressional Action
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 …
Read More »Sanders-Warren Plan Would Tax the Rich to Increase Social Security by $2,400 a Year
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 …
Read More »Biden Makes Case For Medicaid Expansion In Florida; Protects Social Security
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 …
Read More »Biden White House Blasts Manchin-GOP Push for Social Security ‘Death Panel’
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 …
Read More »‘Republicans Keep Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud’: Pence Calls for Privatizing Social Security
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 …
Read More »Justifying Attack on Social Security, House Republican Claims People ‘Want to Work Longer’
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 …
Read More »House GOP Says Pentagon Budget Is Safe—But Social Security and Medicare Aren’t
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 …
Read More »A GOP Showdown Over The Debt Limit Could Grip Congress And The Nation Next Year
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, …
Read More »Biden Vows to Fight Any GOP Attack on Social Security, Medicare
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 …
Read More »‘Believe Him,’ Say Critics, as McCarthy Signals GOP Plan to Attack Social Security, Medicare
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 …
Read More »House GOP Agenda Signals Push for Social Security and Medicare Cuts
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.), …
Read More »Social Security Benefits Will Have To Be Cut By 2034 Unless Congress Acts
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 …
Read More »IRS Says Social Security Recipients Should Get Stimulus Checks On April 7
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 …
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