Republican Leader Eric Cantor has recently said the Republican budget proposal would include “bold reforms” to overhaul Medicare and Social Security. What would Mr. Cantor’s “bold reforms” look like? Look no further than Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s “Roadmap for America’s Future,” which would privatize and cut Medicare and Social Security:
Republican Leader Cantor thinks this roadmap is “something we need to embrace” and his Republican colleagues agree – sitting in the passenger’s seat on the path to insecurity for our seniors and navigating a course toward instability for future retirees.
Speaker Boehner has repeatedly refused to take Social Security privatization off the table and has described the GOP’s alternative budget proposal – which will privatize Social Security and end Medicare as we know it – as “a pretty good list of options” when it comes to dealing with the deficit.
The Washington Post reports “some GOP lawmakers also have endorsed Ryan’s alternative budget plan, which would wipe out deficits in part by privatizing Social Security and replacing traditional Medicare benefits with an insurance voucher…”
And CQ reports Republican Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam joined the fray: “I think it’s an open question at this point as to whether Social Security is there or not” in the budget resolution. “If I had to predict, I’d say it’s more likely true than not true that it is.”
Today, Democrats asked Republicans: will you stand with America’s seniors or are you going to turn a guaranteed benefit into a guaranteed gamble and cut benefits for seniors? Rep. Mark Critz (D-PA) offered a Motion to Recommit that protects the Social Security and Medicare benefits Americans have earned through a lifetime of work by ensuring none of the funds in the short-term Continuing Resolution can be used to privatize and cut Social Security, reduce Medicare and turn it into a voucher program, or roll back health coverage for seniors. The motion:
MOTION TO RECOMMIT H. J. RES. 48
Mr. Critz moves to recommit the joint resolution H. J. Res. 48 to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report the same back to the House forthwith with the following amendment:
Page 20, line 2, strike the final period and the preceding quotation marks.
Page 20, after line 2, insert the following:
“SEC. 295. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to develop or implement a system that cuts Social Security benefits, or that privatizes Social Security.
“SEC. 296. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to develop or implement a system that cuts Medicare benefits, eliminates guaranteed health coverage for seniors, or establishes a Medicare voucher plan that limits payments to beneficiaries in order to purchase health care in the private sector.”.
The motion failed by a vote of 190-239 with Democrats unanimously voting aye and just one Republican voting in favor, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC). The GOP has said “so be it” to jobs. Now they’re saying “so be it” to seniors too.