Social
Security
was on the ballot in Georgia’s
December 6 run-off election.
Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock’s
re-election is a win for working
families. It is a victory for Gold
Star families, paralyzed veterans,
seniors, and indeed all of Social
Security’s over 65 million current
beneficiaries and all future
beneficiaries.
It is a
loss for Republican politicians and their
Wall Street donors who are determined to
reach into our pockets and steal our hard
earned benefits. If Herschel Walker had
won, he would have rubber stamped the
Republican agenda to cut Social Security’s
modest but vital benefits.
Walker
proudly
campaigned with and took
money
from Senator Rick Scott (R-FL),
the author of a plan
that would put Social Security on
the chopping block every five
years. If Walker had been elected,
he would have been a rubber stamp
for Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI),
whose plan
would put Social Security on the
chopping block every single year.
What
cuts
do Republicans have in mind? The
Republican Study Committee, a
group that counts about 75 percent
of House Republicans as members,
released a detailed
plan
to cut Social Security in multiple
ways: Raising the retirement age
to 70 (a 21 percent benefit cut),
slashing middle class benefits,
and handing billions of dollars of
Social Security’s revenue over to
Wall Street and private insurance
corporations.
Republican
politicians
in Washington have been clear
about how they plan to force those
cuts into law—and Walker would
have been a rubber stamp for that
plan. Republican House Leader
Kevin McCarthy has
announced
the Republican plan to take
hostage the must-pass debt limit
next summer. The ransom to be paid
in exchange for their votes? Cuts
to our earned Social Security
benefits.
Nor is
McCarthy only speaking for House
Republicans. Senator John Thune (R-SD),
number two Senate Republican leader, has
echoed McCarthy’s plan to hold the debt
limit hostage to Social Security cuts.
It is
important to recognize that, as a
self-funded program that has no borrowing
authority and can only pay benefits if it
has sufficient revenue to cover every
penny of the cost, Social Security does
not add even a penny to the federal debt.
It is not contributing a penny to the debt
whose limit must be raised to avoid a
default by the United States on its
obligations. Nevertheless, Republicans in
Congress want to cut our earned benefits
so badly, they’re willing to risk an
economic catastrophe to make it happen.
Fortunately,
Senator
Warnock won, giving the Democrats a clear
majority in the Senate. President Biden
and the Democrats he leads have made it
clear that they are committed to expanding
Social Security, with no cuts, while
requiring the wealthiest to begin to pay
their fair share. And Senator Warnock
himself understands how important our
Social Security system is.
He
recognizes that Social Security embodies
the best of American and religious
values—values that Senator Warnock has
lived by his entire life. Among those
values are that it is our birthright as
human beings to have dignity, freedom and
independence; that hard work should be
rewarded; that we have responsibilities
and concern for ourselves, our families,
and our neighbors; and that we are all
connected, sharing the same risks and
benefits.
Social
Security is as reliable as it is
essential. Through pandemics, wars, and
economic recessions, Social Security has
always continued to reliably pay monthly
benefits, allowing its beneficiaries and
their families to pay rent, buy food, and
fill life-saving prescriptions.
Senator
Warnock understands that Americans of all
political backgrounds rely on our earned
Social Security benefits, and supports
protecting and expanding them. He knows
how important Social Security benefits are
for the people of Georgia, both now and in
the future.
In his
two years in the Senate, Warnock has been
a champion for seniors. As a member of the
Senate Aging Committee, he led the
successful fight to cap the cost of
insulin for seniors. He was part of the
winning vote to finally allow Medicare to
negotiate with Big Pharma to lower drug
prices.
Now,
Georgia voters have re-elected Senator
Warnock. Warnock and his Democratic
colleagues have a mandate to protect
Social Security’s earned benefits.
Fortunately, President Biden and Demcrats
in Congress have made clear that not only
do they oppose cuts, they will not
negotiate over debt limit legislation with
the Republican terrorists who plan to
kidnap it.
To avoid
a dangerous and potentially calamitous
game of chicken when a default is
imminent, Democrats should thwart the
kidnappers by raising or eliminating the
debt ceiling before the end of this year.
That will foil the Republican
hostage-taking plans, a plan to force
highly unpopular and unwise social cuts
that voters in Georgia—and across
America—resoundingly rejected in this
year’s midterm elections.
This
commentary
was produced by Economy
for
All,
a project of the Independent Media
Institute.