President Trump
Donald John TrumpDemocrat calls on White House to take back ambassador to Belarus nominated TikTok to collect data from mobile devices to track Android users: Peterson report wins Minnesota House primarily in crucial swing district MOREThe promise to “end” the tax burden that Social Security finances has the conventional wisdom of staying away from what is known as the “third track” of politics.
A major Social Security reform proposal shortly before an election has traditionally been seen as the political equivalent of touching on the highly electrified railway that powers metros.
The last president to be elected, George W. Bush, took a similar step shortly after winning a convincing reelection in 2004, and he was stopped dead in his tracks. Bush’s difficult attempts to reform social security scattered Democrats and provided the political momentum of the beginning of his second term.
However, the danger of overspending the funding stream for a program that in turn provides payments to seniors does not deter Trump from supporting major battlefield states like Florida.
Trump on Saturday, and again on Monday, said his goal is to evade the tax system altogether, increasing the likelihood that Social Security will be funded from general fund revenue instead of wide funding as it has been for decades.
‘I have drawn up guidelines for giving a tax break, with the understanding that after the elections – with the assumption that it would be victorious for an administration that did a great job – we will end this tax. We will end that tax, “Trump told the White House on Monday.
The dangerous promise to scrap a tax that funds Social Security could have dire effects for Trump among older voters, who already have Vice President Joe Biden
Joe BidenNAACP seeks to encourage Black voter turnout in six states. Biden touts Trump and said Harris would be ‘good choice’ for VP pick Kamala Harris: The conventional (and predictable) choice is MUCH MORE with a substantial margin.
“Biden has been doing better with seniors than with any Democrats since before 2008 and this is changing game,” said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.
“Seniors think overwhelmingly that politicians just have to hold hands [Social Security] trust fund, “she added, claiming that Trump” wants to break the trust fund. “
“That’s crazy,” she said.
Lake said Social Security is thought of as the third track of politics because “people love the program” and “they think it’s their money – they pay in, so do not touch.”
Social security is funded by a 12.4 percent tax that is evenly distributed – 6.2 percent each – between employers and employees. The $ 2.2 trillion CARES Act, which became law at the end of March, stopped paying taxes to employers through December.
The Biden campaign quickly jumped on Trump’s instruction to the Treasury Department over the weekend to stop collecting payroll taxes for employees through Dec. 31. A new ad sent to Florida, which has a large population of seniors, accuses the president of “directing funding for social security.”
“Nearly 4 million seniors in Florida rely on Social Security, and again, the failed leadership of Donald Trump seniors hits the hardest,” says the narrator of the ad.
Biden’s Social Security Plan calls for the application of payroll taxes on payroll income above $ 400,000. Currently, tax only applies to the first $ 137,700 of income.
Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist who worked on Al Gore
Albert (Al) Arnold GoreWill Pence choose partisanship over state member when counting ballots? Willie Brown: Kamala Harris should ‘politely’ decline ‘any offer to be Biden’s running mate Marquita Bradshaw, strikes Mackler on institutional support in Tennessee Democratic Senate primarily MOREThe 2000 presidential campaign said that the issue of Social Security that year almost plagued Florida for Democrats.
Gore opposed Bush’s proposal to allow younger workers to invest a percentage of their income tax in advance.
Bush made a gaffe late in the campaign when he blamed Democrats for attacking his plan “because they want the federal government to control Social Security, as it is a kind of federal program,” and appeared to forget that it is in fact a federal program.
“This is a very similar situation because Trump has opened himself up to a fusillade of attack on Social Security and Medicare,” Devine said.
A poll by the University of Monmouth published Tuesday that Biden Trump leads 58 percent to 41 percent nationally among people 65 and older.
Trump’s move on Social Security is making some congressional Republicans uneasy.
Chairman of the First Chamber of Finance Chuck Grassley
Charles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyOn The Money: McConnell says it’s time to start coronavirus talks again | New report finds majority of Americans support merger moratorium | Corporate Bankruptcies at 10-Year High McConnell: Time to Set Up New Coronavirus Talks GOP Finance President Concerns Trump Push to Make Taxes Pending Permanently MORE (R-Iowa) on Tuesday said it would only think about supporting a permanent tax cut if it is part of a broader effort to reform social security.
“I would not entertain that question unless … it would go hand in hand with the Social Security reform,” Grassley said. “We need to make sure we keep our promises to seniors.”
Grassley told reporters last month that he would not support including a pay cut in the next coronavirus relief package because it would create a “public relations problem” for Republicans.
“Go to the fact that people from Social Security think we are attacking the Social Security fund. And we plead it, but we have always put general fund income in it, so that it is made whole. But that creates – it can create political problems, but it causes a public relations problem, “Grassley said on July 20.
Grassley, when asked Tuesday if Republicans have a public relations issue after Trump’s executive actions over the weekend, said, “I have those concerns.”
However, he noted that Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin
Steven Terner MnuchinOn The Money: McConnell says it’s time to start coronavirus talks again | New report finds majority of Americans support merger moratorium | Corporate Bankruptcies in Time for 10-Year-Old McConnell: Time to Renew Coronavirus Talks Employers of Color Demonstrate Democratic Leadership to Protect Inferior Communities in Coronavirus MORE Talks has indicated that the White House is looking for ways to supplement the Social Security trust fund if the holiday tax break for 2020 is made permanent or if the tax break is completely eliminated.
“The president did not make it clear, but I think, once before, Secretary of State Mnuchin thought about it, made it clear that you are supplementing it dollar for dollar,” Grassley said.
Grassley notes that Congress approved the Social Security Fund from general fund revenues in 2011 and 2012 when then-President Obama signed three tax cuts into law after Congress passed legislation to do so.
Following the 2010 by-elections, Obama signed a contract with Republicans in law that extended the Bush-era expiring tax cuts by two years and reduced the payroll tax on one-year staff from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent.
Congress then extended the tax cut at the end of 2011 for two months. In February 2012, Obama signed a measure that extended the 2 percentage point austerity tax by another 10 months.
Congress included language in all three bills to supplement the Social Security Trust Fund with general revenue.
Other Republicans in the House Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Social Security, have tried to weigh Trump’s tax ambitions so close to election day.
“I’m not a fan of that, I’ve been very clear about it,” Republican Whip of the First Chamber John Thune
John Randolph ThuneDavis: The Hall of Shame for GOP Senators Silence over Donald Trump Trump says he will accept White House nomination as Gettysburg Meadows says he wants Trump’s nomination speech ‘miles and miles away’ from White House MORE (SD) told reporters last month.
Thune warned that a tax holiday for workers would have less economic impact than other ideas on the table.
‘If it’s a choice in between [stimulus] controls and a tax cut, I think it’s pretty clear that the controls have a direct immediate benefit to the economy, “he said, predicting that workers will receive a” slight plus-up “in the fourth quarter of this year. . ”
Leader of the First Chamber Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMcConnell warns First Chamber of Deputies ‘could go both ways’ in November On The Money: McConnell says it’s time to start coronavirus talks again | New report finds majority of Americans support merger moratorium | Corporate bankruptcies on pace for 10-year-old high McConnell: Time to start coronavirus talks MORE (R-Ky.) Declined to answer when asked Tuesday if he would support reducing the austerity tax permanently, as Trump has suggested.
Ross K. Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University, said Trump was trying to separate his tax cuts without mentioning the effect on Social Security.
“I think the fact that the tax authorities support both Social Security and Medicare is not well known to many people. I think probably most people, when they think a lot about the tax bill, think about it when something goes to the general fund. But it is a dedicated tax, ”Baker said.
“He has been very careful not to associate it with Social Security. I’m a little surprised Democrats did not jump this aggressively, because you can rightly say that the imposition or reduction of the tax service is a robbery on the trust fund Social Security. “
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