Social Security: ‘Democrats Want To Expand, Republicans Want To Cut’ Could Be Key Argument in 2024 Election
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Daria Uhlig
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
Social Security is often a political lightning rod during election years, and that’s the way things are shaping up in 2024. Candidates have already staked out positions on how the program should be dealt with ahead of a looming funding shortfall. The current narrative is that Democrats want to expand the program while Republicans want to cut it, but that’s not necessarily accurate.
Much of the focus involves the Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which is expected to run out of money within the next decade. When it does, Social Security will have to depend solely on payroll taxes for funding, and they cover only about 77% of current benefits.
Solutions to the problem tend to fall into two different camps: bolster Social Security through higher taxes, or shrink it through benefit cuts and/or changes in eligibility requirements.
One of President Joe Biden’s better moments in an otherwise challenging year for him came during his State of the Union speech in February, when he promised that “if anyone tries to cut Social Security … I will stop them.” Biden used the moment to publicly call out Republican lawmakers on whether they wanted to cut Social Security.
But now, with Biden’s approval rating sagging near record lows, some progressive Democrats want the president and other Dem leaders to revisit Social Security and make expansion of the program a key theme of the 2024 campaign, Politico reported. Doing so would be “broadly popular” with voters. It also would give Biden a chance to bill himself as the protector of Social Security and his Republican opponent as a threat to the program.
“The only weakness that Democrats have on their Social Security policies is not enough people know that it’s them,” Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, told Politico. “The way to get Republicans even more on the back foot about their plans to cut Social Security is to draw that incredibly clear distinction that Democrats want to expand, Republicans want to cut.”
An example of this “clear distinction” is already taking place in Florida, home to a large population of seniors who care deeply about Social Security. As the Florida Politics website reported, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare PAC has criticized U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican running for reelection in 2024, for his record on the program.
The PAC has instead endorsed U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the “most prominent Democrat” running against Scott.
“Florida seniors deserve a Senator who will defend their earned benefits, not threaten them,” said Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee. “In Congress, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell earned a 100% voting record from the National Committee for fighting to protect and enhance Social Security and Medicare.”
But there’s a potential problem for Democrats when it comes to the Social Security narrative: Former President Donald Trump — the leading GOP presidential candidate and the most dominant force in the Republican party — has been a vocal opponent of cutting Social Security benefits.
“Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security,” Trump said in a January video. “Cut waste, fraud and abuse everywhere that we can find it, and there is plenty of it. But do not cut the benefits our seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives. Save Social Security, don’t destroy it.”
Other Republican candidates have floated different ideas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed cutting benefits for younger people but not for those who currently or will soon claim Social Security. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has similarly proposed raising the Social Security full retirement age for workers currently in their 20s and limiting Social Security and Medicare benefits for the wealthy.
Meanwhile, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another GOP candidate, said earlier this year that cuts to Social Security should be considered to keep the program from going “bankrupt” — an unlikely scenario even when the OASI fund is depleted.
As for Biden: The president has unveiled a four-point plan to fix Social Security that would do the following:
- Tax earned income above $400,000, leaving wages between $160,200 and $400,000 untaxed. Currently, any wages above $160,200 are not taxed.
- Change the calculation for determining annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) so they are no longer based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Biden favors basing the COLA on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E).
- Raise the primary insurance amount (PIA) that determines how much money you’ll receive in Social Security benefits.
- Raise the special minimum benefit for lifetime lower-wage workers to 125% of the federal poverty level for Social Security beneficiaries.
More From GOBankingRates
