While we at the National Committee extend warm holiday wishes to all our readers, the joy of the season is overshadowed by the knowledge that the coming year is full of unprecedented peril for our cherished income security programs – and our health care.
Throughout the year, we warned about the dangerous positions Trump and the GOP had taken on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. As early as March, we exposed Trump’s past statements in favor of raising the retirement age to 70 and privatization. At the same time, we warned about renewed GOP plans to slash Medicare benefits. In June, we predicted that Speaker Ryan and Donald Trump would eventually join forces to privatize Medicare. After Donald Trump locked up the nomination, we flagged the dangers to Social Security in the Republican platform. When Trump picked his running mate, we shined a harsh light on Mike Pence’s long history attacking Social Security and Medicare. After the election, the National Committee began pushing back against the GOP’s race to dismantle our income security programs, beginning with a benefit-slashing bill by House Social Security Subcommittee Chair Sam Johnson, and Trump’s naming a notorious privatizer for Health and Human Services Secretary.
Make no mistake about it, the GOP-led 115th Congress will waste no time implementing their plans to destroy Medicare and Social Security as we know it – and repeal the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Trump has offered no assurance that he will stand by his campaign promise not to touch Social Security and Medicare, and as we reported, his past statements on both programs are not comforting. Pending legislation on Capitol Hill could cut Social Security benefits by 1/3, raise the retirement age, and decrease COLAs. If Paul Ryan gets his way, Medicare will be turned into “Coupon Care” and seniors will be given vouchers to fend for themselves in the private insurance market. Thirty million Americans could lose health insurance (including a disproportionate number in areas that Trump won in November) if the Affordable Care Act is repealed (not to mention the lost improvements to Medicare included in the ACA). Americans who depend on any of these programs could sink into poverty.
Working Americans, the disabled, seniors, and their families should know what’s at stake – and they must participate in the movement to stop Republicans from snatching away their earned benefits and health care. The National Committee will vigorously lobby members of Congress, gather millions of petition signatures, and encourage working Americans to contact their elected representatives about these critical issues. We will partner with our allies to promote an agenda that protects – and boosts – our earned benefits instead of slashing them. So, by all means enjoy the holidays and ring in a peaceful New Year. Then… let’s shift gears into battle mode and stop the war on the working class together.