Question: If SS and Medicare benefits were cut for the rich, would DU agree or disagree?

[emulatorloo]

The top 5% don't need social security, nor do they need medicare.

I am trying to get a feel for where DU is these days.

[RebelOne]

1. I definitely agree. Just so my benefits aren't cut.

I am 72 and have been collecting since I turned 65 and I need every cent of that monthly check.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND YOU ARE RIGHT, THE MEGA-RICH DON'T NEED SS OR MEDICARE

What's going on in our country is insane. I can't believe how efficiently this country is being turned into a 3rd world nation.

[jtown1123]

19. NO. Please reconsider. Means Testing is a back door way to privatize these programs

[Romulox]

21. Talking points malfunction! Means testing is supposed to make SS "welfare"

Not privatize it. :hi:

[Sarah Ibarruri]

30. Why are we allowing privatization to begin with? nt

[LiberalAndProud]

28. Have you paused to consider why Republicans have favored means testing?

This argument comes up repeatedly and is always divided along party lines. It is a stealth measure to destroy the program. Period.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

31. We need to stop the Repukes from the constant undermining of our country nt

[tosh]

3. SS, okay but...

I want Medicare for ALL!!!

[Big Blue Marble]

4. Here we go again.

Cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits undermines the entire system. This would turn it into a welfare system.
Asking the rich to pay more in is a far more effective solution. Raise the cap.

And by the way, are you aware that the rich are required to return one third of their benefits to the treasury as taxes?

Remember Social Security is well-funded to pay out to all beneficiaries regardless of their income. We need to repay
the borrowed funds back into treasury with higher taxes on the rich.

And the problem is not with Medicare; the problem is a bloated ineffective health care system that is bankrupting
us all one way or another.

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. I'll up you on that one.

Remove the cap.

[Big Blue Marble]

9. I suggested that too.

[bananas]

10. Yup. nt

[coalition_unwilling]

18. Thank you. I would oppose any plan to make Social Security or

Medicare need-based. The programs' strength is its universality. Take that away and it becomes easier to fray the safety net for anyone.

[jtown1123]

20. Thank you. Everyone read this response. Sums it up nicely

[woo me with science]

23. +1 Thank you. nt

[Ian David]

5. Programs that only poor people get are more vulnerable to being unpopular. n/t

[Hosnon]

6. Remove the cap on Social Security and means test it. Enact Medicare-for-All.

That should do the trick.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. I disagree. Anyone who has paid into the system is entitled to receive the benefits. If not, it

becomes a welfare program.

[kiva]

11. Turning SS into welfare would be a bad move,

and pretty much guarantee its demise. Medicare should be for all.

[rucky]

12. How will you measure "rich"?

Not by income, if we're talking about retirees. So we'd have to do some form of means testing? Not sure if that's a can of worms we need to open up.

[denverbill]

13. I say means test SS, not Medicare.

I know some people think that means testing SS makes it a welfare program, but I think SS should really be considered insurance. Those lucky enough to have accumulated enough that they can get by without it are like people whose homes don't catch on fire. Yes, they paid in all their working years, and they still received the benefit of having old age insurance even though they didn't need it.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

14. I would disagree.

If a person paid into it, they must have thefull benefit. It is called being fair.

[Edweird]

15. Everyone participates and everyone is entitled. No means testing.

[RegieRocker]

16. "Only a fool concerns himself with financial details of a person who could

or does own a jet plane"

[jtown1123]

17. DISAGREE. Means Testing will affect the middle class. There aren't enough wealthy seniors

We cannot turn these programs into welfare, it's ridiculous. Why would you suggest it?

[daa]

25. +1 it then turns into a welfare program not universal nt

[Liberal In Texas]

22. No, stupid idea. Don't let them get their nose under the tent flap.

The uber-wealthy aren't probably going to use medicare anyway and SS shouldn't be changed at all.

[Jackpine Radical]

24. Means testing these social benefits is a good way to kill them.

I'm willing to let the rich share in SS & MC as long as that means that the rest of us can have it. And, on a basic level of fairness, it's only right because they too paid for these benefits.

The problem with means testing is that people then think of the benefit as "just another handout for the poor," and it becomes a lot easier to cut. If we retain the sense that these are benefits that we paid for, and that we all share in them, then it is psychologically harder to tamper with them. Just remember the history of welfare and welfare "reform" (i.e. decimation).

[LiberalAndProud]

26. Disagree.

You cannot require taxpayers to contribute to a program that they can have no expectation of receiving a benefit from. It's a ludicrous idea. It is a measure that will ultimately destroy the program in very short order. It makes absolutely no sense.

[Recursion]

27. I'm for means-testing. A lot of the board isn't

I used to be against it, but I think the argument against it is kind of outdated now: it's seen as welfare already.

[Ganja Ninja]

29. No I wouldn't agree.

[mmonk]

32. I'd rather they be taxed again and payroll taxes put back where they

were so they can't bleed it to claim it unsustainable and continue the attacks on it because billionaires don't want to pay the interest.

[kenny blankenship]

33. The day you start means-testing SS+Medicare you start countdown to the day rich ppl refuse to pay in

And if you search your memory, you will agree that when rich people say they want something from their Congressional representatives they generally get it.

A Social Security system that rich people can exempt themselves from paying into will not work for long.

Actually the top 5% absolutely DO need Medicare. So, this is a crazy bad idea that should CONTINUE to be shunned as the death knell for the national safety net. Those who want to offer apologies and rationalizations for the coming cannibalization of Social Security and Medicare can do us all a service by identifying themselves right now.