U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

House GOP makes it official: Ending Social Security and Medicare is the goal



Republicans are never going to be known for their eco-friendliness, but there is one thing they are very good at recycling: plots that combine ending Social Security and Medicare with schemes to cut taxes for the rich. They’re at it again with a new fiscal blueprint for the next 10 years reconstituted from the stuff they’ve been scraping up for the last few decades. The Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus in the GOP with around 175 members, just released what they’re calling a budget.

This is not the official 2024 Republican budget—there isn’t one, and while this group has the majority of the Republicans in it, it is not an actual congressional committee that has power to do anything. But this is what the majority of Republicans think should happen: cutting Social Security and Medicare and slashing domestic spending programs to the bone.

Their plan starts with raising the retirement age from the current age of 67 to 69, but wouldn’t kick in until people now aged 59 retire. They’d have to wait three months longer to retire than under the current system. The wait increases incrementally until the people who are now 52 years old retire. They—and everyone younger—would have to work until they turn 69 to get full benefits. Republicans don’t want to risk alienating seniors now, so they’re going after Gen X.

That’s a benefit cut, any way you slice it, for future retirees. “These changes would transform Social Security from an earned insurance benefit, which replaces wages lost in the event of old age, disability, or death, into a subsistence-level welfare benefit,” says Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works.

The plan resurrects the old Paul Ryan Medicare voucher scheme, calling it “premium support.” As Altman explains it, seniors would be forced to “fend for themselves on the open market with nothing but a coupon to offset as much of the cost of the insurance that they can find.”

Meanwhile, the 2017 GOP Tax Scam, with its “eye-popping payouts for CEOs,” would be made permanent. It’s set to expire in 2025. Enough said.

The White House was quick to respond:

Andrew Bates @AndrewJBates46

@PressSec: "The hardcore MAGA budget just released by @RepublicanStudy – which represents a majority of House Republicans – amounts to a devastating attack on Medicare, Social Security, and Americans’ access to health coverage and prescription drugs."

They are "taking aim at the Medicare benefits all Americans pay to earn by repealing the new power President Biden gave it to negotiate lower drug costs, to address rapid drug price increases, and to cap the price of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries."

Read Here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/06/14/statement-from-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-republican-study-committee-budget/

https://twitter.com/AndrewJBates46/status/1669124807768563713

That’s true. In addition to ending Social Security and Medicare as we know it, the Republicans would roll back the new authority Medicare has for negotiating lower drug prices and to force drug makers to curtail price increases. They also want to repeal the cap on insulin costs for Medicare enrollees. Yes, Republicans are the party of unaffordable insulin.

These are the same Republicans who booed and hissed at President Joe Biden in his State of the Union speech for telling the truth about their plot against Social Security and Medicare. The same Republicans who cheered and leapt to their feet when Biden asked them to “​​stand up and show them we will not cut Social Security. We will not cut Medicare.”

No one expected that to last, to be honest. It kept the programs out of the debt ceiling negotiations, which was great. But they’re never going to give up their goal of destroying the social safety net. Just like they’re not giving up on cutting taxes, slashing services, and privatizing whatever remains for personal profit. It’s all they got.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/15/2175584/-House-GOP-makes-it-official-Ending-Social-Security-and-Medicare-is-the-goal

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

Federal investment attracts private investment.

Because of our historic CHIPS and Science Act, semiconductor companies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars across America to bring chip production back home.

That's a game changer.

Under my predecessor, Infrastructure Week became a punchline.
 
On my watch, we’re making Infrastructure Decade a headline.



Microchips power almost everything in our lives. America invented these chips, but over time, we went from producing nearly 40% of the world’s supply to producing over 10%.
 
I signed the CHIPS and Science Act so America could lead the way in chip manufacturing again.

Because of our Investing in America agenda, I believe we’ll own the future of the automobile market.
 
American manufacturing is back.



Instead of exporting jobs for cheaper labor costs like we did for decades, we’re creating American jobs and exporting American products.

Under Bidenomics, Made in America is not a slogan. It’s actually happening.

Here’s the simple truth about trickle-down economics: it represented the moment we walked away from how this country was built.
 
Bidenomics is just another way of saying restoring the American dream.

Every American willing to work hard should be able to get a good job and afford good health care no matter where they live.
 
That’s the American dream.
 
That’s Bidenomics.



We will keep standing up to Big Pharma.
 
And we will stand up to Republicans in Congress who have been trying for years to get rid of the Affordable Care Act and deny tens of millions of Americans access to quality, affordable health care.

Imagine you choose an "in-network" hospital to receive care but are charged for an “out-of-network” doctor that you did not choose – or even know was consulted.
 
We're closing these surprise billing loopholes.
 
Evading the law to charge patients outrageous prices must end.



Today, @HHSgov reported that 1/3 of Medicare Part D beneficiaries – nearly 19 million people – will save an average of $400 a year when our insulin cap goes into effect in 2025.

That'll reduce out-of-pocket spending for Americans by nearly $7.5 billion annually.

It matters.

Over the past few months, my Administration has cracked down on junk fees across different industries – banking, hotels, concerts, airlines, cable, and internet.

And today, we're adding health care to that list.



On too many nights, too many Americans lay in bed staring at the ceiling worrying what will happen if a loved one gets sick.

Do they have enough insurance?
Will they have to sell their house?

For all of you out there: I get it. And I will never stop fighting for you.



When I got elected, I promised I’d be a president for every American – whether you voted for me or not.

And I’ve kept my promise.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1677426637673988096

Tune in as I deliver remarks on lowering costs for hardworking Americans.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1rmxPkgXnmbJN

https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1677403452249448449


President Biden Delivers Remarks on Lowering Costs for Hardworking Americans

Watch:

[Richard Smith]

Biden might actually lose the election.  I thought with the leftist media, corrupt political establishment, and changes in the voting laws to his advantage that it wouldn't be possible, but his disastrous presidency is hitting rock bottom with stripper grandchildren who he disowns, cocaine, topless parties at the WH and the collapse of the economy,  Crime, open borders, record drug deaths, and COVID continues even though the media now ignores it because it served its political purpose.  Maybe results will matter once again and outweigh ideology.  Old Joe was deemed unfit to be president even by the majority of Dems in recent polls.  He is a mess. Even when he had some of his marbles he was a corrupt imbecile.  Now he doesn't have a clue where he is or what is going on.  There is no way that he is physically and mentally capable of serving another term. 

[Richard Smith]

Old Joe is trying to rig the 2024 Dem primary by changing the traditional order of the primaries.  He wants S. Carolina to go first instead of Iowa and NH because he believes he will do better in SC. How bad must the polling numbers be when he is struggling against RFK Jr and has no legitimate primary opponent?   The kicker is that he might not be allowed on the NH ballot because of this effort.  And if he does get on the ballot, he has alienated voters in that state.  What an idiot.  The clown show rolls on and on.

Politico:

"Biden is unlikely to appear on the ballot if New Hampshire goes first, creating an awkward situation in which the president could lose an unofficial early contest to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Marianne Williamson, both of whom have indicated they’re planning to compete in New Hampshire regardless of its status or sanctions. But Democrats could wage a write-in campaign for Biden, to help him avoid an early embarrassment en route to his inevitable renomination."

[Rick Plant]

It's refreshing to have a president once again who is competent, respected, and liked around the world when he attends NATO summits and G7 meetings instead of clown who embarrassed the United States and is extremely unpopular like Trump is.


7 in 10 Britons hold an unfavourable opinion of Donald Trump
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/7-10-britons-hold-unfavourable-opinion-donald-trump

Most countries express confidence in Biden, US: poll
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4070638-most-countries-surveyed-have-confidence-in-biden/


Biden lands in Vilnius for upcoming NATO summit



Biden landed at the airport in Vilnius, Lithuania, and was greeted by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. Also attending Biden's arrival was Lithuania's ambassador to the United States, Audra Plepyte, and the U.S. ambassador to Lithuania, Robert Gilchrist, the White House said.

The summit will take place tomorrow and Wednesday.

Biden will meet with King Charles III and Rishi Sunak in Europe ahead of NATO.

President Joe Biden kicked off the first full day of his trip to Europe with a visit to London, where he met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III.

The war in Ukraine topped the agenda for Biden and Sunak ahead of a key NATO meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, although Biden has said the war will need to end before the alliance can consider asking Kyiv to join.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/live-blog/biden-europe-russia-ukraine-live-updates-rcna93358


Biden meets U.K. PM Sunak in London and has a sit-down with King Charles before heading for a NATO summit
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joe-biden-king-charles-uk-sunak-nato-europe-ukraine-russia-war-cluster-bombs/


US President Joe Biden arrives in the UK

Watch live as US President Joe Biden arrives in the UK.

He will meet Rishi Sunak and King Charles during the visit.

Watch:

[Richard Smith]

Even kooky RFK Jr. is surging in the polls against Ukraine Joe.  What a clown show.  Even the leftist media is turning on him.  The Atlantic just published an article indicating that he is finished:

Let me put this bluntly: Joe Biden should not run for reelection in 2024. He is too old.

Biden will turn 80 on November 20. He will be 82 if and when he begins a second term. The numbers just keep getting more ridiculous from there. “It’s not the 82 that’s the problem. It’s the 86,” one swing voter said in a recent focus group, referring to the hypothetical age Biden would be at the end of that (very) hypothetical second term.

[Rick Plant]

Donald Trump's and the right wing media's favorite pollster Rasmussen, currently has President Biden with 46% approval rating.

Brand new polling from two national polls shows President Biden with a commanding lead.

Let's also not forget that if the election was held today, President Biden would easily be reelected.

Larry Sabato, the most accurate election forecaster in the business, already has President Biden with 260 Electoral Votes. The most recent poll out of Wisconsin, from the highly respected Marquette University Law School Poll, has President Biden with a commanding 9 point lead. That would give President Biden exactly 270 Electoral Votes to win. 

And if Republicans want to make age an issue in the race, go for it. The guy they support is just 3 years younger than Biden, overweight, senile, and can't even walk without the aid of a golf cart.           


Trump rode golf cart while G7 leaders walked through Sicily
05/27/17
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/335424-trump-rode-golf-cart-while-g7-leaders-walked-through-siciliy/









The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, for Monday shows that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Biden’s job performance.

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/prez_track_july10
 

2024 Presidential Poll

Cygnal:

Biden 48 (+8)
Trump 40


Echelon Insights:

(D) Biden: 47% (+5)
(R) Trump: 42%


The most reliable election forecaster and political scientist, Larry Sabato shows President Biden with 260 Electoral Votes. The Marquette University Law School Poll has President Biden with a commanding 9 point lead which is 270 Electoral Votes. That means if the election was held today, President Biden would easily be reelected. With the booming economy and the Biden manufacturing boom, his lead will be even bigger next year.





https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2024-president/