Republicans seek to flip the script on Social Security

Published

2 years ago

March 17, 2023

admin

Republicans are seeking to flip the script on Social Security as they dial up the pressure on President Biden.

Democrats for months have been on offense on Social Security, accusing Republicans repeatedly and publicly of wanting to make cuts to the entitlement program. But now some in the GOP are hitting back and trying to put the onus back on Biden to address the insolvency threat facing the program.

The dynamic was on full display in a pair of hearings this week that saw Republicans criticize White House officials and key in on the absence of a plan to shore up Social Security in the 2024 budget proposal the president released last week.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) was among other Republicans to broach the issue in a charged line of questioning against Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during a Finance Committee hearing Thursday.

“Of the $4.5 trillion in taxes he has proposed, not a dime is going to shore up Social Security,” Cassidy said, before asking moments later “why doesn’t the president care” about threats to the program’s funding.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated last month the program’s fund risks running a shortfall in 2032.

Yellen responded that Biden “cares very deeply,” before Cassidy interjected to ask for the president’s plan to extend solvency for Social Security.

Yellen said that Biden “stands ready” to work with Congress on the matter, but Cassidy called the statement a “lie.”

“Because when a bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly requested to meet with him about Social, so that somebody who is a current beneficiary will not see her benefits cut by 24 percent, we have not heard anything on our request,” he said.

“And we’ve made multiple requests to meet with the president,” Cassidy added.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Cassidy has been leading bipartisan talks with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) to explore potential fixes to shore up funding for the program.

The issue was also subject of a heated exchange during a hearing before the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday, when Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) pressed White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young about Biden’s plans for the program, and his accusations against Republicans.

“I know of no Republican or Democrat in the House or the Senate who is proposing cutting Social Security benefits, and it’s dishonest to keep saying it,” he told Young. “It’s offensive and dishonest and not realistic.”

“This president believes the biggest threat to Social Security are those who want to cut it,” Young said moments later. “His budget says no.”

Romney called the response “offensive in the extreme,” while doubling down on his argument that “no one” on the Republican side “is proposing cutting Social Security benefits for our Social Security recipients.”

The exchanges are some of the latest shows of frustration among Republicans, as the party has sought to quell concerns they are looking to cut Social Security, despite an onslaught of attacks from the other side.

“We’ll never get those programs reformed and saved without presidential leadership,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told The Hill this week, saying Biden is “not doing anything.”

Democrats have pushed back on the criticisms, arguing the president’s resume speaks for itself on the matter.

“One way of looking at it is through the budget, but I think the president’s got a long record of outlining steps he would take to strengthen Social Security,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) told The Hill on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, the debate around here has been Republicans wanting to make changes or privatize or private accounts, there’s so many different ideas,” he argued. “So, he spent a lot of time pushing back against that, but I think our side has been in the, in the lane of trying to strengthen it.”

The president’s budget request included investments aimed at improving services for recipients. And while he didn’t propose a plan for solvency for Social Security, the request offered a path to plan to shore up Medicare, as some estimates project the program’s Hospital Insurance trust fund will reach insolvency in roughly five years. The budget calls for a higher tax rate on earned and unearned income above $400,000, which the White House says will protect the fund for at least 25 years.

The pitch was instantly met with immediate support from Democrats, though Republicans came out against the proposed tax hike. Others say they were also taken aback by the inclusion of a plan for Medicare, and not Social Security, though it’s not the first time that plans for solvency for either program have been absent from the president’s budget requests.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) on Wednesday called the move by Biden surprising, while arguing changes to Social Security are probably “easier” to tackle than reforms to Medicare, though “harder to do politically.”

Rubio said otherwise on Wednesday, instead arguing that “no one wants to touch” the program, as changes to entitlement programs have long been seen as a tough lift on Capitol Hill.

“In fairness, Republican presidents really haven’t either because it’s a third rail politically. But the math is what it is on those programs,” he said, adding: “Eventually, we’re gonna have to confront it.”

Democrats began to ramp up attacks on Republicans over Social Security months ago, after some GOP members floated linking potential entitlement reforms to a deal to avoid a federal default late last year.

The Republican Study Committee, the biggest conservative caucus in the House, has also received attention for proposals to tighten the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare, an idea many Democrats see as a nonstarter.

And while there has been interest among the conference’s conservative flank toward pursuing changes to the age threshold for Social Security in recent months, GOP leadership has vowed reforms to Social Security or Medicare will be off the table in debt ceiling talks. Dollar Tree pauses egg sales as prices climb SVB parent company files for bankruptcy after bank collapse

However, that hasn’t stopped Democrats from sounding the alarm as House Republicans pushed for plans to balance the federal budget in 10 years — an ambitious goal Democrats say would be extremely difficult without steep cuts to spending across the board, including to Social Security.

But despite distrust among some Democrats, a number of senators in the party have signaled a willingness to explore bipartisan solutions to help shore up funds for Social Security and Medicare in recent weeks.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who’s been among the most vocal Democrats pushing for bipartisan funding fixes for the entitlement program, said on Wednesday that he wants Congress to “take care of both.”

World

Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to ‘sit down and sign a deal’

Published

4 mins ago

April 28, 2025

admin

Trump 'very disappointed' in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to 'sit down and sign a deal'

Donald Trump has said he’s “very disappointed” with Russia as he continues to push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

On Saturday, the US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican for their first face-to-face meeting since their explosive White House summit.

The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.

Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainian leader was “calmer”.

“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.

“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.

However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.

He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.

“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.

It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.

State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”

It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.

Last June, Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after a state visit – his first to the country in 24 years.

The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.

World

40 killed in blast at Iran’s biggest port as Tehran denies explosion ‘linked to fuel for missiles’

Published

4 mins ago

April 28, 2025

admin

40 killed in blast at Iran's biggest port as Tehran denies explosion 'linked to fuel for missiles'

At least 40 people have been killed and several hundred more injured after an explosion and fire at Iran’s largest port, according to state media.

The blast, at the Shahid Rajaei container hub near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, happened on Saturday as Iran held a third round of talks with the US in Oman about Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Shipping containers burned, goods inside were badly damaged and the explosion was so powerful that windows several miles away were shattered, reports said.

Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the blaze and by Sunday afternoon it was 90% extinguished, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society told state media.

Officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaei.

Out of the 752 people who had received treatment for their injuries, 190 were still being treated in medical centres on Sunday, according to Iran’s crisis management organisation.

Chemicals at the port were suspected to have worsened the blast, but the exact cause of the explosion was not clear.

Iran’s defence ministry denied international media reports that the explosion may be connected to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.

The reports were “aligned with enemy psyops [psychological operations]”, according to a ministry spokesperson, who told state TV the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.

According to the Associated Press, British security company Ambrey said that the port in March received sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and the mishandling of which could have led to the explosion.

The Financial Times previously reported two Iranian vessels had shipped from China enough of the ingredient to propel up to 260 mid-range missiles.

It was reportedly to help Tehran replenish stocks after its missile attacks on Israel in 2024.

Iran’s military has sought to deny the delivery of sodium perchlorate from China.

Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas to provide help.

World

Pilgrims travel to Pope Francis’s tomb to remember the late pontiff

Published

5 mins ago

April 28, 2025

admin

Pilgrims travel to Pope Francis's tomb to remember the late pontiff

Anna and Irene have already been queuing for an hour or so, and they know they have a long wait still to come.

“Two hours, three hours, ten hours – what does it matter?” says Irena. “This is about eternity.”

They have come to Rome from Slovenia, Catholics who felt “Papa Francis would have wanted us to be here”.

And under the sun outside Santa Maria Maggiore, they are awaiting the opportunity to visit his tomb.

Francis, says Irena, “was like a rainbow” who lit up the world. Anna nods along: “We are so happy to be here.”

The Pope’s tomb has become a new source of pilgrimage.

More than 30,000 people came to view it during the first morning after the Pope’s funeral, the queue snaking from the front of the mighty basilica and then up and down across the square at the back.

Some were curious visitors, others were devout followers – priests and nuns mixing in the queue with tourists and devoted locals.

All of these admired Francis; a very few actually knew him.

Father Alessandro Masseroni is a deacon who came to Rome to train to become a priest. On his phone, he shows me a photo of him and Francis, with the Pope offering words of encouragement.

He says: “I had the honour to serve Pope Francis and to talk to him many times and it was a special experience. I understand why he was so loved by all the people – he was simple and direct.

“He was sunny. St Francis was his role model and when I saw the first picture of the Pope’s tomb, the first thing I thought was of the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.

“Pope Francis will leave a legacy – it doesn’t end with his death but will continue.”

What are your emotions now, as you wait to visit his tomb, I ask. Father Alessandro pauses and smiles.

“Many emotions of course, but mainly, I think… thankfulness.”

That has been a recurring aspect among so many of the people we have met in Rome over the past week – the sense that sadness for Francis’s death is outweighed by the sense that his was a life that should be celebrated.

Volodymyr Borysyak flew in from London on the morning of the Pope’s funeral to make his third pilgrimage to Rome.

Barely had he arrived than his phone was stolen, a crime he responded to by praying for the thief.

Volodymyr is a refugee from western Ukraine who worries that his home country’s plight is being forgotten by some of the world.

Now, the Pope who inspired him has died.

You might imagine that he would be resentful and angry. Instead, he is full of smiles.

“We are happy to be the pilgrims of the world and this is a special day,” he tells me. “I know the pope used to pray in this basilica so that is why we will stay so long here to visit Santa Maria Maggiore.

“I think Pope Francis was, is and will be the pope for the world, because of the mercy of his heart and his love for everybody.”