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MAGA Republicans’ Plan to Force Social Security and Medicare Cuts [1]

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Date: 2023-02

For decades, the conventional wisdom in American politics has treated cuts to Social Security and Medicare as a political third rail due to their vital role in ensuring more than 60 million Americans’ economic security. This is to say nothing regarding the substantial sway beneficiaries of these programs have in U.S. elections. However, the situation has changed. Today’s Republican Party is no longer making plans behind closed doors to gut these safety net programs—instead, they are running on this platform in the most competitive races across the country. It is yet another sign of how extreme the party has become. In fact, House Republican leadership publicly boasts that they are planning extreme tactics to force Social Security and Medicare cuts. They are threatening to force the United States into a potentially catastrophic default on payments it owes—including interest payments on the debt and the wide array of regular payments, such as veterans’ or Social Security benefits, that Americans rely on—if they don’t get their way. A U.S. default would have catastrophic consequences not only for individual families but also for the economy as a whole. In assessing the consequences of a U.S. debt default, Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics forecasts that the economic downturn could be similar to that experienced during the financial crisis, with real GDP plummeting, millions of jobs being lost, and the unemployment rate skyrocketing. Put simply: The extreme positions of MAGA Republicans and the extreme tactics that they are willing to use pose grave risks to all Americans.

When MAGA Republicans say that they will cut Social Security and Medicare, the American people and the media should take their threats seriously.

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[1] Url: https://www.americanprogressaction.org/article/maga-republicans-plan-to-force-social-security-and-medicare-cuts/

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