Bernie Sanders Exposes repugican Plot To Cut Social Security For 11 Million Disabled People

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is warning that repugicans are plotting to cut Social Security benefits for 11 million disabled Americans through a rule change that would make it more difficult to fund the disability account.

In a statement, Senator Sanders explained what the House rules change will mean for disabled Americans who depend on Social Security:
“Around 11 million Americans, including nearly 2 million children with a disabled parent, rely on Social Security to help keep them out of poverty,” said Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

A new House rule creates a legal obstacle course that would make it harder to shift funds from the Social Security retirement account, which has a big surplus, to the smaller disability account. Such transfers have been done routinely in the past under both repugican and Democratic presidencies, including four times under Reagan.

Without a transfer to shore up the disability fund, Social Security Administration experts say the disability program will run short of money next year, and there will be only enough to cover 80 percent of scheduled benefits.

“Instead of working to strengthen Social Security for all, the House repugicans’ new rule puts America’s most vulnerable at risk,” Sanders said.

The rule change is a part of a repugican effort to kill Social Security. If the disability fund can’t be replenished, Benefits will have to be cut, and some of the most economically vulnerable people in our society will be pushed deeper into poverty. According to experts, the problem with the Social Security disability cash assistance programs is that it limits the earnings of disabled individuals to just above the poverty line. This creates a trap that makes it impossible for individuals who can’t work to escape poverty.

The ideal solution would be the exact opposite of what repugicans are trying to do. Instead of cutting benefits, lawmakers should raise the income limit, so that disabled individuals can keep their benefits while also possessing an avenue to potentially escape poverty.

The repugican rule change that would lead to more benefits cuts will only push millions of Americans with no source of income further into poverty. House repugicans are repeating a pattern of attacking those who most need assistance. Since they have stolen the majority, repugicans have tried to cut benefits for the unemployed, children, wounded veterans, the elderly, and the disabled.

Senator Sanders is using his position as the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee to sound the warning about what repugicans intend to do. The repugican agenda is all about taking from those at the bottom in order to give more to those at the top. The repugicans want to carry out a massive upward redistribution of wealth. John Boehner rejected the idea of a $2,000 tax cut for middle-class families but has long been a champion of permanent tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

The repugican desire to remake America into an oligarchy knows no limits. Senator Sanders is leading the charge against the oligarchs, and the economic future of millions depends on his warnings being heeded.