Sen. Rubio tells a secret: After giving a tax cut to the rich, GOP will cut SS and Medicare

[octoberlib]

Advocates for seniors and the middle class have been warning for weeks that the Republican drive to cut taxes for the wealthy is the prelude to a larger attack on Social Security and Medicare.

In a videotaped interview with two Politico reporters Wednesday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said the quiet parts out loud. Asked by interviewers Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman how to address the federal deficit, he replied: “We have to do two things. We have to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future.”

The only thing that’s new here is the explicit admission by a Republican officeholder that this is the GOP’s master plan to eviscerate the welfare and retirement of American workers. Budget analysts have seen it coming with all the subtlety of a freight train. As we reported earlier this month, the damage begins with the so-called Paygo law (for “pay as you go”), which requires Congress to offset any increase in the federal deficit with spending cuts. The law limits Medicare cuts to 4% of its budget per year, or $25 billion of its $625-billion budget. Because the tax cut proposals the Senate was preparing to vote on late Friday would expand the deficit by about $1.5 trillion over 10 years, it’s likely to trigger the cuts.

https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-gop-social-security-20171130-story.html


First off, get rid of the pay go law. Their strategy is nothing new. They've been saying this crap forever.

[angstlessk]

1. ANOTHER tax cut????????

WHY? If we need money DON'T cut taxes...sounds simple to me?

[JHB]

9. It's from 2017. It's what's playing out.

It's part of why they back him at every turn.

[octoberlib]

11. Lol , I didn't even realize the article was from 2017. It came floating through my Twitter timeline.

It just goes to show how they try this crap every year.

[qazplm135]

10. you ever noticed the guy who only has one move on the dance floor?

That's the Republican Party and tax cuts.

We are two months away from someone saying we need tax cuts to cure the coronavirus.

[spanone]

2. that should pave over the republican's tombstone

They have to pay off their donors and take money from the old folks (Of which I'm one)

[Mariana]

6. Nope. It won't make a bit of difference.

Here is what he said:

That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future.

That means they plan to leave current recipients' benefits alone, and fuck over the younger people. Trump voting seniors don't have any problem with that. They think that's just fucking dandy.

[TheFarseer]

3. This is the #1 reason

I just can’t vote for any Republican.

[Sherman A1]

4. They have been trying to destroy Social Security

for the last 85 years. This is nothing particularly new, but some folks simply will not accept that reality.

[smirkymonkey]

5. Why can't they cut the defense budget?

And roll back tax cuts for the rich and corporations? Problem solved!

[PSPS]

8. It's now become an off-the-shelf money laundering scheme

It works like this:

* Oligarchs give a million dollars to the GOP
* GOP crafts policy to allow the oligarchs to dodge $100 million in taxes
* Oligarchs launder $10 million back to the GOP as a "campaign contribution"

[global1]

7. So That Makes It A Real Clear Choice In November....

Vote for a Party that is for Medicare For All - OR - Vote for a Party that wants to cut and destroy Medicare and Social Security.

It couldn't be a clearer difference between the Parties. It couldn't be a more obvious reason for the Dems to campaign on this and label the Repug Party and Trump as the killers of Medicare and Social Security.

We just need to make sure that the young adult voters that are in the work world and contributing to these programs from their paychecks - understand the importance of both the Medicare and Social Security programs - and how it impacts on them and how it they will greatly enhance their retirement years.

We have to make sure that the Repugs don't create a negative issue for these young voters about these programs and why they should support doing away with them.

[jimbobboy18]

12. The Republican Party is pure Reverse Robinhood!

Steal from the poor and give to the rich!

[WyattKansas]

13. No shit Rubio...

You Republicans have been cutting taxes for the wealthy elite for decades, while financing it with the Trust Funds. Eventually you gave enough tax cuts to the wealthy elite, while financing them and NEVER paying the Funds back, so improvements could not be made to the Fund Benefits for those who paid in unless the beneficiaries paid a lot more for any improvements. But still you Republicans were not happy enough and have decided to just raid the entire Trust Funds to give to the wealthy elite, just to hand the real beneficiaries the biggest load of excrement the world has ever seen.

All Republicans are criminals for supporting this for all these decades, just like the bank embezzlers and frauds who redirect the money. This country needs to immediately slam back to the 1950s tax rates, where the top tax rate was 92%. For those of you who do not understand, it forced the wealthy elite to reinvest that 92% into the real economy of the United States by expanding businesses, hiring more people and paying them more, building more things for Main Street in the economy, or investing in a charitable trust that would benefit the American People. That is how to make America great again, not investing it in a hedge funds, Number 7, and other ways to screw over the lower classes. All those wealthy elite tax cuts for decades are also the reason why the Trust Funds didn't have the ability to help finance infrastructure improvements the last four decades, nor has the U.S. done anything Great after going to the moon... Just stagnate decay of the United States, where business and constant conflict replaced that greatness the U.S. once produced.

[moose65]

14. Social Security used to be the "third rail" of politics

Now I’m not so sure - Republicans have become so brazen in their perceived power that they’re actually saying this stuff out loud.

I used to wonder why they would want to undermine SS and Medicare, then I had an epiphany one day: they resent the fact that businesses and employers have to match SS and Medicare taxes. They would rather everyone have a 401k and a “health savings account.”

They are greedy, immoral assholes.