J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick, might be a smart man, but he does not appear smart enough to recognize the value of Social Security and Medicare. He also strongly opposes a woman’s right to an abortion. While he says he supports negotiating prescription drug prices, so did Trump at one time and then he didn’t. In short, we’re playing with fire if Donald Trump and JD Vance become our next president and vice president.
Social Security and Medicare: To quote Nancy Altman, “Donald Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance to be his vice president is more evidence that our earned Social Security benefits are not safe if they are elected. Though Trump said in 2016 that he would not cut Social Security, every one of his budgets included cuts. Moreover, he unilaterally undermined its dedicated revenue (fortunately only temporarily), but promised that he would make those cuts permanent, if re-elected. Cutting Social Security’s dedicated revenue produces automatic benefit cuts. As president, Trump surrounded himself with Mike Pence, Mick Mulvaney and a long list of others with long anti-Social Security histories. Vance is no different: he praised former Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to make massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and called Social Security and Medicare “roadblocks to any kind of real fiscal sanity.”
Prescription drugs: Back in 2022, Vance said he supported Medicare drug price negotiation. It’s not clear if he continues to hold that position, given that Trump does not appear to do so any longer. Vance and Trump also say they support allowing companies to import drugs from abroad.
Abortion rights: Vance strongly opposes a woman’s right to choose. His expressed position against abortion rights is even stronger than Trump’s.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Blame President Trump if people with pre-existing conditions lose their health insurance guarantee
- Insulin costs: Biden v. Trump
- Donald Trump’s threat to Medicare and Social Security
- Biden brought down the price of insulin significantly; a Trump presidency could undo that
- Drug prices: Biden v. Trump
Leave a Reply