House GOP Decides Slashing is the New Saving
From the Speaker's Press Office:
Today, House Republicans attempted to rebrand their plan embraced by 3 out of 4 of their Members to slash seniors' Medicare and Social Security benefits as "save and strengthen" in their new Commitment to America. And who better to show their extreme MAGA Members the true meaning of those words than the original architect of Republicans' "Slash, um, I mean save Medicare" playbook: special House GOP guest former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Remember him? Let's check the archives.
From the Los Angeles Times (October 26, 1995):
"Despite repeated GOP assurances that it is out to ‘preserve, protect and strengthen' Medicare, House Speaker Newy Gingrich (R-Ga.) said this week that Republicans believe the traditional Medicare system now serving 37 million seniors will ‘wither on the vine' under the far-reaching reforms about to be enacted by Congress. […] …a senior aide and press secretary to Gingrich, confirmed the Speaker's remarks but downplayed their significance."
When extreme MAGA House Republicans say they want to "save and strengthen" Medicare and Social Security, they mean cut them. Don't take it from us:
- Last year, the 158 House Republican Members of the Republican Study Committee said that "Social Security, and the federal health care programs are the main drivers of our bleak fiscal outlook."
- This year's Republican Study Committee's FY2023 Budget openly calls for slashing and privatizing Social Security, raising the retirement age to 70 and ending Medicare as we know it.
Slashing Social Security and Medicare is an open, long-standing goal of the extreme GOP.
From Punchbowl News:
"Grabbing the third rail: The agenda says Republicans will ‘save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.' From 2010 to 2016, House Republicans were all about reforming Medicare and Social Security. Remember Speaker Paul Ryan? It was his thing. From 2017 to 2020, Republicans dropped it because Trump thought it was unwise to mess with entitlement programs. McCarthy is again putting it center stage."
No wonder House Republicans' internal slides put "save and strengthen" in air quotes.