Former Trump Vice President Mike Pence joined Fox News to promote the idea of destroying our social safety nets, beginning with privatizing Social Security.
In a long interview, America's Newsroom brought up the topic of the national debt since Republicans are holding the debt ceiling hostage.
That was the opening Pence was looking for. He admitted we must pay the nation's bills and then claimed Social Security, and Medicare are the only culprits raising the national debt.
They are not.
"We have to have a conversation about reforming entitlements in the days ahead," Pence said. No, Mike. We don't. We have to have one about expanding our social safety net, though.
This is a typical tactic conservatives use as a starting point whenever they discuss our social safety nets. What they actually mean is to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security instead of properly funding the programs, most of which come from employees.
"I think we can replace the New Deal programs with a 'better deal'," he said. "In Social Security, you can keep all the promises you made to seniors, people that will retire within 20 years, no changes, but to give options to younger Americans."
If Social Security is going broke why is it OK to keep it going for the next 20 years, no problem? Pence revealed himself to be a liar. Ever since FDR proposed the New Deal, Republicans have been trying to destroy it. They always pretend it's to give "options" to younger Americans, but they've been telling that like since the day the first check went out.
"To invest a portion of their Social Security in a private savings account and get a better deal," Pence continued. "I think it's an idea whose time will come."
Sandra Smith asked if there was "an appetite for this" because she knows how unpopular that road is and Pence claimed it was all about leadership.
That's another lie. When George Bush won re-election in 2004, he tried to use his newfound "political capital" to privatize Social Security and it failed miserably.
Seniors want to count on their checks being deposited every month in their bank accounts like clockwork. Their lives depend on it.
Can you imagine what would have happened to seniors when the markets collapsed during the pandemic and then later during COVID supply chain problems? They would have been destroyed. Their retirement accounts would have been gutted, and most would have lost anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of their retirement, just like people with 401(k) plans did in those two market crashes. Some of them haven't recovered from it.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have a wildly popular proposal called The Social Security Expansion Act.
Why not take a look at that?
