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Coronavirus: Trump demands Social Security cut in next stimulus bill

Written by

Diane Archer

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Jake Johnson writes for Common Dreams about Trump’s plan to cut Social Security and Medicare. He is privately warning Republican members of Congress that he will not sign off on any new COVID-19 legislation that do not include cutting Social Security and Medicare payroll contributions. Republicans in the US US House of Representatives and Senate have signaled that they will do Trump’s bidding.

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, explains that Trump and his fellow Republicans are “hostage-taking.” They are refusing to act to address the horrifying conditions in the US–the evictions that millions of Americans are facing, the lack of COVID-19 testing, the dearth of personal protective equipment for health care workers, the 57,000 nursing home deaths–unless Congress weakens Social Security.

Moreover, by the end of this week, 30 million Americans will lose the $600 a week additional unemployment benefit they received as a result of an earlier stimulus bill if Congress does not act immediately.

To be clear, the Republicans’ proposed cut in the payroll tax is of no benefit to people who are unemployed. And, it will be of little benefit to people whose hours of work have been reduced. The tax is only paid by working people. And, a cut is of little value in boosting the economy, now in a deep recession.  Still, Trump said back in April that he “would love to see a payroll tax cut,” and “there are many people who would like to see it as a permanent tax cut.”

Of note, a payroll tax cut would be a huge windfall to employers, particularly the biggest employers in the US. Employers match people’s payroll contributions dollar for dollar. Senate and House Democrats oppose a payroll tax cut.

Because Senate Republicans are insisting on a payroll tax cut as part of the next stimulus legislation, it’s not at all clear that more stimulus money will pass in Congress. It is one of many big sticking points between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats also oppose protections from liability that Republicans want to give businesses. Other issues where there is not yet a meeting of the minds include whether Congress will continue to expand people’s unemployment benefits, how much aid cities and states will get, and the amount that Congress will give to support education.

Update: Both the House and Senate Republicans are including provisions of The Trust Act, which allows Republicans to slash Social Security behind closed doors and quickly, in their stimulus legislation.

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Comments

One response to “Coronavirus: Trump demands Social Security cut in next stimulus bill”

  1. BC Shelby Avatar
    BC Shelby

    …this is what is known as “poison pill legislation”, which is the attaching of a regressive and/or undesirable bill that on it’s own would likely fail to one that either has popular support or is needed, just to get it passed. This rubbish needs to stop as it is little more than “legislative blackmail”. For the citizens of this nation it is a total “lose lose” situation, Either the much needed Stimulus package isn’t passed (even in spite of its own flaws), or Social Security and Medicare are threatened with rollbacks in the only funding they receive The latter will not only hurt current recipients with the possibility of lower benefits and fewer living cost adjustments, but primarily younger generations who will have even less to look forward on retirement than we receive.

    Thanks to rising living costs and chronic low wages in many occupations,it has become difficult to near Impossible to put anything away for retirement. Meanwhile pensions in the private sector a pretty much a thing of the past. What retirement plans tat do exist are tied to the volatile Wall Street market and tend to enrich fund managers and banks more than the individual holder (particularly so with the partial repeal of the Dodd–Frank act). It is all a win-win for the big banks, Wall Street, teh corporate sector, and the wealthy while the rest of us lose.

    So either way a Senator or Representative votes on this measure, it will be seen as being against the needs of the nation and its citizens., lumping it those we consider the “good guys” in with the “bad” ones.

    I sould amend an earlier statement. It isn’t “legislative blackmail”, it is “legislative terrorism” on the part of the ReTrumplican Party, as terrorists often take hostages to get their demands met. In this instance the hostage is the Cares Act and the “gun to it’s head”, the the Trust Act.

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