Letter writer Joe Angelucci (“Democrats repeating a lie on entitlements”) needs to turn off Fox News and pay attention to the real world. He wrote that he has “never heard one Republican ever mention eliminating … (Social Security and Medicare) . . . .”
Consider these examples:
“Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has suggested that Social Security and Medicare be eliminated as federal entitlement programs, and that they should instead become programs approved by Congress on an annual basis as discretionary spending.” (Washington Post, Aug. 3).
Also, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in March of this year, proposed a plan that would have “sunset” all federal programs after five years, presumably including Social Security and Medicare. He modified it after it was rejected by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who criticized Scott’s plan because it would raise taxes and cut Medicare.
So, now Mr. Angelucci has heard of at least two GOP mentions of possible elimination of these programs. Once the programs become discretionary, just how long does Angelucci believe they would be funded if the GOP runs Congress?
If the letter writer is worried about Social Security running out of money, how about making ALL income taxable for it — and not excluding income from any source or above any amount. (Currently, annual earnings above $147,000 are not subject to Social Security tax; the cap increases to $160,200 for 2023.)
And, if we quit reducing the size of the IRS, think of how much more hidden…
