The GOP’s Stomach for Cruelty:
Social Security and Medicare in the Crosshairs
It should come as no surprise that the Republican Party has Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in its crosshairs, cloaked in the insincere rhetoric of deficit reduction. The latest example came from Rep. Richard McCormick, who recently told Fox Business:
“We’re going to have some hard decisions. We have got to bring the Democrats in to talk about Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. There are hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved, and we know how to do it; we just have to have the stomach to actually take those challenges on.”
The “stomach” for these so-called hard decisions, according to the GOP, means slashing the programs millions of Americans rely on to live with dignity. What McCormick fails to mention is that there’s another, far more just solution to addressing the deficit—one that doesn’t involve gutting social safety nets.
The Cost of the Trump Tax Cuts
In 2017, Donald Trump championed and signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a $1.9 trillion giveaway over ten years. This legislation was yet another failed experiment in trickle-down economics, promising economic growth that never materialized while ballooning the deficit Republicans now feign concern about.
Where did that $1.9 trillion go? Not to middle-class Americans. Consider the breakdown:
40% of the cuts went to corporations.
20-25% benefited the top 1% of earners.
29% went to the upper-middle class.
Only 10% went to lower-income earners.
Adding insult to injury, the individual tax cuts are set to expire in 2025, but corporate tax breaks are permanent. By 2027, 83% of the benefits from the Trump tax plan will go to corporations and the wealthiest 1%.
So, while the GOP scrambles to dismantle programs that keep vulnerable Americans afloat, they remain silent about tax breaks for billionaires and mega-corporations. They’ve prioritized a permanent windfall for the rich over the livelihoods of everyday people.
The GOP’s True Plans
Republicans in the Republican Study Committee have made their intentions clear. Instead of asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share, they’ve proposed:
Cutting Social Security benefits.
Halting cost-of-living adjustments.
Raising the retirement age yet again.
Raising the retirement age is particularly insidious. The goal isn’t to give people “more time to work” or “greater opportunities to save.” The cold, hard calculation is that more people will either die before they can collect their benefits or collect them for fewer years.
The Social Security Wage Cap: A Fix Republicans Ignore
Here’s a fact that Republicans conveniently leave out: 94% of Americans earn below the Social Security wage cap of $168,600. For income above that cap, no Social Security tax is paid.
This means that while the vast majority of Americans pay 6.2% of their income into Social Security, the wealthiest enjoy a massive tax cut on earnings above the cap. Millions—and even billions—of dollars in income escape the system entirely.
Ending the wage cap would shore up Social Security for generations. It’s a common-sense solution. But the GOP won’t touch it. They lack the “stomach” for a hard decision that would inconvenience their donors.
A Personal Story: What These Cuts Really Mean
In 2011, my grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at 70 years old. A single mom who worked her entire life in hotel hospitality and waitressing, she didn’t have private health insurance. Without Medicare and Medicaid, her care would’ve been impossible.
Those programs gave her access to:
Chemotherapy and radiation.
Medication to manage side effects.
Emergency surgery when her heart was at risk.
Experimental drugs and regular blood transfusions.
Because of Medicare and Medicaid, my family had one final year with her—a year to make memories, tell stories, and say goodbye on her terms.
Cuts to these programs would rob countless families of these precious moments. They’d turn manageable health crises into financial catastrophes, forcing families to choose between medical care and survival.
The GOP’s Morality in Question
What the GOP proposes isn’t fiscal responsibility. It’s a moral failing. They are asking us to choose between the lives of our grandparents and the bloated profits of billionaires.
The question is simple: Should CEOs with offshore accounts and sprawling estates pay slightly more, or should working families suffer? Any just society would choose the former. But this GOP isn’t just.
Where Do We Go from Here?
This isn’t just a policy debate. It’s about who we are as a country. Are we a nation that values human life and dignity, or one that sacrifices both at the altar of corporate greed?
The solution is clear:
End the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy.
Lift the Social Security wage cap.
Invest in the programs that protect vulnerable Americans.
Americans deserve leaders with the stomach to stand up to greed—not the stomach to take away lifelines. It’s time for Democrats and all concerned citizens to call out the GOP’s cruelty for what it is and fight for a future where morality guides our decisions—not profits.
Because in the end, a nation that prioritizes the rich over the lives of its people isn’t just broke—it’s broken.