After granting corporations trillions of dollars in COVID bailout funds, the Trump administration is looking for ways to reduce government spending. One proposal the administration is considering a plan that would provide cash payments to U.S. citizens BUT at the expense of their Social Security benefits.
White House conservatives, including new chief of staff Mark Meadows and acting budget director Russ Vought, are who are pushing for this possible plan. It would basically allow citizens to receive checks up to $5,000 but would then get a delay or cut of their Social Security benefits.
But, according to The Washington Post, officials say they are likely to face much more skepticism from President Trump himself. Trump has shown little interest since becoming president in shrinking the deficit and has so far stood firm on his campaign pledge not to alter Social Security.
There is also the “Eagle Plan” senior administration officials are considering, which would give Americans $10,000 upfront but would curb their federal retirement benefits that would include Social Security.
“The Trump administration is obsessed with using the coronavirus crisis to undermine our Social Security system. Social Security is an earned insurance benefit. It is not a piggy bank. This plan, and any plan that raids Social Security, is a moral abomination. Instead of trying to steal the earned benefits of desperate people, the government should be sending $2,000 a month to everyone in America, as Democrats in Congress have proposed,” says Alex Lawson, executive director of advocacy group Social Security Works.
This global pandemic has left more than 30 million Americans jobless. According to Common Dreams, Trump’s top economic stimulus idea has been cutting the payroll tax, which funds Social Security and Medicare. The president said during a Fox News town hall last week that he would not sign any future Covid-19 stimulus package that does not include a payroll tax cut.
COMMENTS