One Question Georgia GOP Must Answer Today

A group representing the majority of House Republicans, including all eight from Georgia’s GOP delegation, just released their proposed agenda for next year – and if Georgians who earned their Medicare and Social Security benefits want to keep them, they aren’t going to like the cuts Republicans have in mind. The plan, which offers a preview of what Republicans would attempt to accomplish if they controlled Congress, includes cuts to those vital programs – which raises an important question: do all eight of Georgia’s House Republicans really support these proposed cuts, or will they disavow their caucus’ agenda?

Mother Jones: “A little-noticed budget document, the Blueprint to Save America, released in June by the Republican Study Committee, details the group’s priorities. Since nearly 75 percent of Republican House lawmakers are RSC members, these priorities are shared by a majority of the GOP caucus. The 122-page manifesto, containing a laundry list of longstanding conservative desires, calls for significantly reducing the size of America’s social safety net, drastically limiting abortion access nationwide, effectively throwing in the towel on combatting climate change, raising the age requirement to receive full Social Security benefits, cracking down on transgender rights, and making it easier for Americans to carry concealed weapons.”

Mother Jones: “The RSC calls for raising the retirement age by three months per year through 2040, at that point the new age requirement to receive full Social Security benefits for people born after 1978 would be 70.”

“Even before the release of this document, Georgia Republicans had kicked off election season by supporting a unilateral abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest – now they admit they’re cutting Social Security and Medicare next? Georgians need to know if all eight of our Republican members are actually preparing to rubber-stamp this agenda,” said Democratic Party of Georgia spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki.

This proposal is just the latest threat to Social Security and Medicare from Congressional Republicans. Earlier this year, Rick Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, put forward a plan that was supported by RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel and other prominent Republicans that could put Georgians’ Social Security and Medicare benefits on the chopping block. If Republicans get their way and Medicare and Social Security benefits are cut, that effort would confer a significant financial toll on the 1.7 million Georgians who rely on Medicare for their health coverage and the 1.9 million who receive Social Security benefits each month to help cover everything from rent to putting food on the table. 

###