President Trump’s acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney:
- Advocated for years to cut Social Security and Medicare
- Called Social Security disability “welfare”
He now has the ear of the President.
Analyses and polls showing that most Americans don’t feel the law has benefited them have been seized upon by Democratic presidential candidates. Sen. Kamala Harris said during a recent televised town hall that her very first act as president would be to enact a tax cut that would give working families as much as $6,000 a year. Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants a tax on the super-rich that backers say could raise as much as $275 billion a year.
“I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been complaining about the debt since I ran [for Congress],” he said. “It doesn’t seem to be holding us back from an economic standpoint.”
via Los Angeles Times.
Stay up to date on issues like this by signing up for our free newsletter, Your Morning Read, by clicking here.
via twitter.
Related Reading:
We have been keeping on an eye on this issue and will continue to keep everyone updated on what we find.
For now, we wrote this blog piece about the GOP’s attack on Obamacare:
Trump Re-Ignites Attacks on Affordable Care Act, Rallies Democrats.
For older Americans, the Affordable Care Act mitigated the age rating system that allowed insurers to charge them five times as much as younger people. It extended the financial solvency of Medicare and provided for annual wellness visits at no cost to the patient. Obamacare expanded the Medicaid program so that more Americans – including ‘near seniors’ aged 50-64 – were covered.
via twitter.
The Trump administration has sent a grim message to America’s seniors.
President Trump’s 2020 budget proposal shortchanges seniors by:
- Slashing $845 billion from Medicare.
- Cutting $25 billion from Social Security Disability Insurance.
- Gutting Medicaid by 1.5 trillion.
- Cutting the Social Security Administration’s operating budget by 3.5%.
Another Throwback Thursday – Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney once bragged about trying to convince President Trump that Social Security disability insurance was welfare.
![“Meals on Wheels sounds great,” said Mulvaney during a 2017 press conference, “[But] we’re not going to spend [money] on programs that cannot show that they actually deliver the promises that we’ve made to people.” The millions of seniors who receive...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/29b01f5494514f426021ae52349dffe3/tumblr_pk3az6xGJE1qd3gmvo1_640.jpg)
“Meals on Wheels sounds great,” said Mulvaney during a 2017 press conference, “[But] we’re not going to spend [money] on programs that cannot show that they actually deliver the promises that we’ve made to people.” The millions of seniors who receive hot meals every day from Meals on Wheels might disagree that the program doesn’t deliver on its promises.
Read more about this issue by clicking here.
When challenged to explain how his position was consistent with President Trump’s campaign vows, Mulvaney fudged. He suggested that Trump’s promise to protect Social Security and Medicare can be interpreted to allow any measure that helps both programs meet their obligations — “even and especially if those obligations are reduced.” According to Mulvaney’s contorted logic, we must cut Social Security and Medicare in order to save them.
Read more from this post here.
Did you miss Behind the Headlines yesterday?
We discussed:
- What does a federal judge’s ruling on the ACA mean for seniors?
- New White House Chief of Staff is no friend of Social Security & Medicare.
Watch the full segment here.
The budgets Mulvaney submitted to Congress on behalf of the Trump administration called for some $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and $64 billion to Social Security Disability Insurance.
It’s unfortunate that in a desperate attempt to fill the White House chief of staff position vacated by General John Kelly, President Trump turned to an avowed ‘entitlement reformer.’ The new acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, is an outspoken fiscal hawk committed to cutting Social Security and Medicare. This should be of concern to seniors and their advocates.
Vox called the former South Carolina Congressman, current director of the Office of Management and Budget, and temporary head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “a very ideologically orthodox conservative who hates the idea of spending money on domestic social assistance programs.”
As budget director, Mulvaney pressured the president to cut Social Security and Medicare – despite Trump’s campaign promise “not to touch” either program. In fact, the budgets Mulvaney submitted to Congress on behalf of the Trump administration called for some $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and $64 billion to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Read more from this post by clicking here.
President Trump’s acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney:
- Advocated for years to cut Social Security and Medicare
- Called Social Security disability “welfare”
He now has the ear of the President.
Michael Grunwald’s profile of Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney for Politico starts with an extraordinary anecdote — seemingly sourced to Mulvaney himself — about how he tricked Donald Trump into violating his pledge to avoid proposing any cuts to Social Security.
According to Grunwald, Mulvaney — a very ideologically orthodox conservative who hates the idea of spending money on domestic social assistance programs — knew that Trump’s campaign promises were a problem for him. But he charged ahead anyway by bringing a big list of proposed cuts to a meeting at the Oval Office:
“Look, this is my idea on how to reform Social Security,” the former South Carolina congressman began.
“No!” the president replied. “I told people we wouldn’t do that. What’s next?”
“Well, here are some Medicare reforms,” Mulvaney said.
“No!” Trump repeated. “I’m not doing that.”
“OK, disability insurance.”This was a clever twist. Mulvaney was talking about the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which, as its full name indicates, is part of Social Security. But Americans don’t tend to think of it as Social Security, and its 11 million beneficiaries are not the senior citizens who tend to support Trump.
“Tell me about that,” Trump replied.
“It’s welfare,” Mulvaney said.
“OK, we can fix welfare,” Trump declared.via Vox.
Related Graphic:
Mick Mulvaney was just chosen as Trump’s Chief of Staff. He has a history of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare. He now has the ear of the President.
