Alex Lawson writes for The Hill about Senator Mitt Romney’s ongoing quest to gut Social Security. In October 2019, Romney introduced the TRUST Act, which would create a secret fast track for cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits. It’s a bill that flies in the face of the needs of Americans, the overwhelming majority of whom support strengthening Social Security.
The TRUST Act is designed to enable Congress to quickly starve Medicare and Social Security of funds, weakening these programs. Romney’s vision for shoring up Social Security for future generations is to reduce people’s benefits. You might call it the DISTRUST Romney Act.
The TRUST Act would appoint “bi-partisan” commissions to look at Medicare and Social Security Trust funds and recommend actions to Congress on how to “simplify” them. Romney and other co-sponsors would like to make changes to them in ways that would cut benefits.
As Lawson explains, ‘Republicans don’t want to “save” Social Security. They want to, in Norquist’s famous words, “drown it in the bathtub.”’
In sharp contrast, the Social Security 2100 Act would increase Social Security benefits while strengthening the program for future generations. It provides greater benefits to the most low-income people receiving benefits. And, we can easily afford it.
To promote equity in the Social Security program, it lifts the cap on Social Security contributions so that wealthy Americans pay their fair share. Right now, wealthy Americans only contribute to Social Security on the first $137,700 of their income.
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