Republicans want to end Medicare and Social Security as we know it. Ron Johnson and other MAGAs are openly talking about it.
Johnson steps on political land mine with Social Security, Medicare comments
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a stalwart Senate ally of former President Trump, is facing fresh uncertainty in his race for reelection after telling a podcast last week that Social Security and Medicare should be classified as discretionary spending, with Congress authorized to set their budgets every year.
Johnson is on the defensive as Democrats have political ammo to claim that he wants to cut the two popular entitlement programs, a strategy they used effectively against Republicans in the past.
Johnson has landed in hot water before for making provocative comments on conservative media, most notably when he said he didn’t feel threatened by protesters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, because he believed “those were people who love this country” while adding that he would have been “concerned” if they were Black Lives Matter protesters instead.
Now Johnson is being asked to defend his comments to “The Regular Joe Show” podcast calling for Congress to review and approve the annual budgets of Medicare and Social Security, instead of letting them rise automatically, which they do as mandatory spending programs.
And he says he’s been calling for making Medicare and Social Security discretionary programs subject to an annual budget for years.
“I’ve been saying for as long as I’ve been here that we should transfer everything, put everything on budget so we have to consider it if every year", he said.
Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) said Johnson has stepped on a political land mine.
“These are the programs that have taken several generations of seniors out of poverty,” she said.
Baldwin noted that Johnson told Breitbart News Daily in an interview earlier this year that he viewed a 12-point plan unveiled by fellow Republican Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.) calling for all federal legislation to sunset after five years as “a positive thing.”
Johnson said he agreed with “most of it.”
"Not only has he made those references,” Baldwin said, referring to “The Regular Joe Show” podcast. “But back when Rick Scott put out his Republican agenda, which sort of abolished both of them and start over, Sen. Johnson had voiced support for that.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tried to tie Johnson’s comments to House Republican candidates.
“Putting Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block every year is no way to help working families — it is a way to devastate them. Unfortunately, most House Republicans agree with Sen. Johnson,” Pelosi’s office said on its blog.
Former longtime Fox News anchor Chris Wallace called Johnson’s remarks “suicidal politics.”
Ben Nuckels, a Wisconsin-based Democratic strategist, said Johnson had grabbed the “third rail” of American politics by calling for annual congressional review of Social Security and Medicare spending.
“Ron Johnson never misses an opportunity to stick his foot in his mouth. Johnson opened up this big new line of attack on his radical, extreme positions on Social Security that voters 55 and over are going to be acutely aware of,” he said.
"When you have 60 to 65 percent of the electorate above the age of 50, that’s going to be a big problem for him,” he said. “Johnson grabbed the third rail with both hands on that one.”
A Senate Republican strategist said Johnson’s latest comments on Social Security and Medicare are “not good from a campaign perspective.”
AFP
