Democrats seize Trump’s tax bill proposal as attack on Social Security, Medicare


The news about Medicare jumps out of Trump’s press conference on Saturday when the president said if he won reelection, he planned to “forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the tax bill.”

“One of [Trump’s] biggest broken promise was the guarantee that he would defend Social Security and Medicare, ”Tom Demere told the Democratic National Committee on Monday afternoon in an interview with reporters. “We now know that this was another lie.”

Several liberal advocacy and research groups have issued similar statements. Protect Our Care, which defends Obamacare and other health care programs, called Trump’s Trump tax policy “part of a much larger war on seniors’ health care.”

The accusation that Trump used his tax plan – part of his response to the damage the coronavirus pandemic has inflicted on the economy – began in the gut immediately after Trump unveiled the order on Saturday night from his golf club in Bedminster, NJ

‘We are disappointed that instead of putting in the effort to solve the problems of Americans, the President chose instead to stay on his luxury golf course to announce unworkable, weak and narrow policy announcements to reduce the unemployment benefits that millions desperately in need and endangering seniors ‘Social Security and Medicare,’ said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a joint statement.

White House spokesman Judd Deere said the proposed pay cut “does not pose a risk to the Social Security Fund and puts more money in the pockets of hard-working Americans.”

The actual hit of the directive on the Social Security trust fund should be “negligible,” according to Marc Goldwein of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “In principle, insolvency could have occurred a week earlier,” Goldwein said. “And probably less.” But that prognosis can be lost in the enlightenment field battles.

Trump’s executive actions followed a division of negotiations with Congress. Along with postponing tax cuts, the president also said he would increase unemployment insurance, repay student loan breaks and address evictions. But the efforts are widely seen as symbolic, and Democrats are also threatening legal action in the midst of questions about White House authority to implement the whip policy.