It keeps coming up, because Republicans say they won’t cut Social Security

The “Made in America” Initiative: Preventing Inflation and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Families in the 21st Century

Over the past nearly two years, we have made enormous progress. The economy that my administration is building will grow from the bottom up and middle out.

The unemployment rate has been low since the 50’s. Over a million jobs have been created, including almost half a million manufacturing jobs. My watch shows that “Made in America” is a reality.

We have more work to do. Inflation – driven by the pandemic and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine – is a global challenge. A lot of people are struggling to pay for groceries and gas, even though they have a job. That’s why I’m so determined to lower costs for families.

I’m working to reduce the burden on working- and middle-class people by bringing down the costs of everyday things they need for their families, such as health care premiums, prescription drugs and energy bills. The act was passed despite the fact that there was only one Republican vote for it.

Gas prices are decreasing partly because of the actions we have taken. They have been down since their peak this summer and took a 10 cents hit this week. That’s adding up to real savings for families.

Republicans in Congress believe in trickle-down economics and are against it. The plan was very clearly laid out. It would raise your costs and make inflation worse.

My administration finally gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices. We capped seniors’ out-of-pocket prescription costs at $2,000 a year, as well as capped seniors’ monthly injections at $35 a month. Big Pharma and scores of lobbyists spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to prevent health care savings for Americans. They did not succeed.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/opinions/american-people-face-a-choice-joe-biden/index.html

The American Dream Comes to an End: Senator Biden’s Campaign for Corporate Taxes and the Future of Social Security and Social Security

Democrats are trying to make sure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes. In 2020, 55 of the wealthiest corporations in America paid zero dollars in federal income tax. No longer. I signed into law a 15% corporate minimum tax. And, I’m keeping my campaign commitment: no one earning less than $400,000 a year will pay a single penny more in federal taxes.

Most older voters don’t like Social Security or Medicare because they like the GOP messages on cultural change and resistance to Donald Trump, but they do like the GOP messages on other issues. The grooves are cut so deeply that it’s not hard for Biden to change them no matter how much he tries to get Republicans to change their minds.

The fact is, this is not your father’s Republican party: Many Republicans in Congress want to pass a national ban on abortion. I would veto it right away, and if we elect more Senate Democrats and keep the House, I’ll move to codify Roe v. Wade in January.

America is putting the democracy to the test. Nothing about democracy is guaranteed and we are learning what we have to learn. You have to fight for it. Protect it. Choose it.

The American people voted record numbers in 2020 and I am absolutely certain that they will vote even more in a couple of years.

Over the last few years, we’ve faced some of the most difficult challenges in our history, but we did not relent. And, I have never been more confident about our future. In 14 days, the American people will decide whether we keep moving forward or go backwards.

In the absence of a concrete plan, which Republicans have broadly said will focus on spending cuts, White House officials have pressed for the political upper hand in calling into question McCarthy’s commitment to leave Medicare and Social Security untouched given the position of some members in the conference.

McCarthy is set to meet with President Joe Biden on Wednesday in a face-to-face that has already been subject to positioning and political messaging, moves that both sides hope will shape the fight to raise the debt limit over the next few months. White House officials have been very clear that there will be no negotiations on the issue and House Republicans have stated that the meeting will be the beginning of debt ceiling talks.

Even though they have a united front against any negotiations, the White House and congressional Democrats worked closely to get Republicans to unveil their own proposal.

The White House’s response to the Bates-Bates ultimatum on raising the debt ceiling and taking control of the runaway spending

Bates was referencing McCarthy’s appearance on CBS’ The California Republican said on the show that he wanted to find a reasonable way that we can lift the debt ceiling, but take control of this runaway spending.

“If you read our Commitment to America, all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security,” McCarthy said. “I know the president doesn’t want to look at it, but we have to make sure we strengthen those.”

There is a window into political dynamics that House Republicans are confronted with as they press for negotiations while still trying to coalesce around a proposal to put on the table.

White House officials closely monitored House Republican preferences and immediately responded, saying they were not suitable for policy and politics.

More broadly, there remain significant questions about whether House Republicans can find the necessary 218 votes for anything given the strident opposition held by some in the conference about raising the debt ceiling at all.

Still, the focus on Medicare and Social Security even as McCarthy has moved to take changes off the table underscores the view inside the White House of the political salience of the programs.

The White House argues that the framing of “strengthening” is a way of camouflaging structural changes they oppose. That has become the central line of attack in the debate and it is not clear whether it will get worse or better in the future.

Marty Walsh, the labor secretary who was supposed to stay away from the chamber in case of a catastrophe at the Capitol but is rumored to be stepping down soon, was not present.

A Video of Biden and a New Generation of Republican Leadership: The Right Way to Make America Great Again, the Right Way… and What It Is Worth Seeing

In one video from 2005, Biden said he wanted to see what the president had to offer. “I wanna see if it represents a solution, raising the cap, raising the retirement age for people who are now 30 years old, raising the tax on Social Security, cutting benefits. They’re all things that have to be discussed, quite frankly.”

He struck notes of his traditional unity message, pledging to work with the new Republican House leadership and touting his legislative accomplishments in the past year, but Biden also laid out an Average Joe America vision for 2024 full of poll-tested, middle-of-the-road issues, as well as a healthy dose of left-wing populism.

As important as his program may be, the president also faced pressure to ensure a smooth performance in front of what was likely to be his largest television audience of the year. He wants voters to give him the White House for life if he gets re-elected. Polls show that even many Democrats are concerned about his age and eager to see a younger generation rise to leadership of the party.

Ms. Sanders directly went after him over his age. I am the youngest governor in the country. And at 80, he’s the oldest president in American history,” she said. She added: “It is time for a new generation of Republican leadership,” without saying whether that meant her former boss, Mr. Trump, who is 76, should be nominated for a third time.

Biden’s State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C.: The Last Chance to Remain in the House of Representatives

Mr. Biden still did not shy from the fight. When he was campaigning for bipartisanship, he was fond of jabbing Republicans. He noted that a lot of Republicans voted against an infrastructure package but still want money from it for their districts.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Biden touted the economic progress and legislative achievements made under his watch, repeatedly saying “Let’s finish the job” – a refrain likely to be heard as his unofficial pitch for reelection.

His first address to Congress was since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. With newly-elected GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sitting over his shoulder, Biden urged Congress to pass a lengthy list of his unfinished priorities.

He called for immigration legislation, codify abortion rights, and capping the price of diabetes drugs at $35 per month, saying there was more to be done.

Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history at 80 years old, has said it his intention to run again in the 2024 presidential election. He’s expected to make an official announcement in the near future.

The State of the Union address is likely to be Biden’s largest television audience of the year, and he used it in part to draw a contrast with Republicans on a number of issues – including raising the debt ceiling.

“Let’s commit here tonight that the full faith and credit of the United States of America will never ever be questioned,” the president said, repeating his call for Congress to raise the debt ceiling with no preconditions.

“So, folks, as we all apparently agree, social security and Medicare is off the books now,” Biden said, after a feisty exchange with some Republicans in the audience. “We have unanimity” he said with joy.

“What happened to Tyre in Memphis, we’re going to do better,” Biden told a White House adviser after the 2022 midterm elections

The George Floyd Policing Act is needed after a young man was beaten to death by Memphis police.

“What happened to Tyre in Memphis happens too often, we have to do better” Biden said, nodding to Tyre’s mother and stepfather, who were in the chamber as special guests.

During the 2022 midterm elections, many Democratic congressional candidates won by connecting their opponents to Mr. Trump and the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election had been stolen. A senior White House adviser said that Mr. Biden has been hampered by not having a well-defined opponent.

He said he has helped push in a historic amount of legislation, from issues such as improving infrastructure, to issues such as boosting domestic chip manufacturing, and improved veterans benefits.

“Already, we’ve funded over 20,000 projects, including major airports from Boston to Atlanta to Portland,” he said. “Alright, we’re just beginning.”

He also reiterated his optimism in finding issues where members of both parties could find common ground, such as supporting veterans, ending cancer, and beating the opioid epidemic.

“If we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason why we can’t work together in this one as well,” Biden said.

And he showed a clear contrast between himself and right-wing House Republicans, who couldn’t help themselves, hectoring Biden repeatedly despite newly minted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy explicitly instructing them beforehand not to do so.

The president didn’t call for a whole lot of new policy initiatives from the new Congress — beyond, for example, ending what he called “junk fees” in travel, entertainment and credit cards. It showed he’s gearing up for campaign mode and that he’s likely going to campaign on what he’s already done by drawing a big-picture distinction between his vision for America and Republicans’.

A big part of making Democrats comfortable is the ability to spar with Republicans and depict them in a less than normal light.

The best example of this was on Medicare and Social Security. He deftly riled up House Republicans, accusing some of wanting to cut the popular entitlements. He was careful in that section to note that “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years.”

The exchange took the lid off the information that was known earlier in the evening. Republicans shouted and heckled as they accused Biden of being a liar and others shouted out, “It’s your fault!” Biden decried deaths of Fentanyl.

McCarthy, who took 15 rounds to win his speakership because of far-right rejection and his small majority, could clearly be seen shushing his conference at least three times. It was the look Biden and his Democrats wanted to show to the largest audience the president will speak to this year, a group that will be expected to vote for him in four years.

The Americans love an underdog story with some nationalism in it. Today right- and left-wing populism can be seen as the hot ticket in politics. Both Biden and former President Donald Trump have populism at their core — the little guy vs. the people in power. They are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.

Biden went after corporate stock buybacks, oil and gas company profits, Big Pharma, “wealthy tax cheats” and billionaires (hello, Sen. Bernie Sanders).

It was a heavy dose of left-wing populism with policies that are actually quite popular. He even made news, saying that he is going to “require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America.”

Biden tells the tale of two tragedies: The American Dream of Defending the Law and the Case Against Crime and Explosive Cybercrime

Biden said that he would not make an apology for investing to make America strong. “Investing in American innovation, in industries that will define the future, and that China’s government is intent on dominating.”

But there wasn’t much beyond about 200 words of the more than 7,000-word speech devoted to what’s become inarguably one of America’s top geopolitical threats.

On Ukraine, Biden noted the presence of Ukraine’s ambassador and touted what the U.S. has done for the country over the past year of its war with Russia.

But beyond that, there wasn’t much on either country. It’s clear that Biden’s reelection campaign will be focused on bread-and-butter issues.

It’s a tough line to walk, but it’s one Biden has continuously tried to. Huckabee said that Biden had been taken over by a “woke mob”.

“After years of attacks on law enforcement and calls to “Defund the Police”, violent criminals roam free, while law-abiding families live in fear,” she said.

“It’s up to all of us,” Biden continued. “We all want the same thing — neighborhoods free of violence, law enforcement who earn the community’s trust, our children to come home safely, equal protection under the law. That’s the covenant we have with each other in America. We know that police officers put their lives in danger every day, and we want them to do too much.

At a LiUNA training facility in DeForest, Wisconsin, the vice president spoke to a group of workers about his economic message and legislative accomplishments from the State of the Union.

Biden and his White House targeted Lee on Wednesday over a video clip of Lee saying, “I’m here right now to tell you one thing that you probably have never heard from a politician. I want to phase out Social Security so that it can be pulled up by the roots. A second clip features Lee saying that Medicare and Medicaid need to be pulled up, after he said the clip was going to go viral.

Shortly after Biden’s remarks near Madison, PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff asked him if he was expecting the kind of reaction he got in the House chamber.

“From the folks that did it, I was,” Biden said. There is still a significant element of what I call the “MAGA Republicans,” despite the majority of Republicans being that way.

He was skeptical about last night’s “conversion” of some Republicans. When they put the budget in with the cuts, I will believe it. But looks like we negotiated a deal last night on the floor of the House of Representatives.”

Biden tried to make a bigger argument in favor of working together with GOP lawmakers, citing the successes of his first two years in office.

“People sent us a clear message: Fighting for the sake of fighting gets us nowhere. He began to argue against his Republican colleagues when he said we were getting things done.

And he again called on Congress to raise the nation’s debt limit during his earlier remarks, warning against the “chaos” he said Republicans are “suggesting.”

Biden also fired back at a television commentator he heard aboard Air Force One lamenting his focus on junk fees: “Junk fees may not matter to the wealthy people, but they matter of most folks like the home I grew up in. It’s harder to pay your bills if you have to fork over hundreds of dollars a month. I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you and think they can get away with it.”

Biden and the House Republican Caucus on Tuesday Night: The Importance of Rep. Paul Paulson’s 2012 Vice Presidential Debate with Mitt Romney

Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to Mr. Biden and one of his top communications advisers, said the scrimmage between the president and House Republicans on Tuesday night should provide Americans with a more visceral understanding of what the president has been talking about.

“Clearly, having the House Republican caucus behaving the way they are, and are signaling strongly they will continue to behave, is going to give the president an easy contrast,” she said. The House Republicans are giving him a way to draw a distinction between what he is for and what he is attempting to get done, with the House Republicans.

Times reporters cover politics. Our journalists are independent observers, so we rely on them. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause.

Former President Donald Trump and Democrats have already signaled plans to weaponize DeSantis’ comments against him, should he announce for president, and subsequent votes in Congress for non-binding budget resolutions that privatized Medicare and raised the retirement age to 70.

Generations of Democrats have used their power to portray themselves as the defenders of the social safety net for seniors against Republicans, who they say would undermine it. Biden showed that he was comfortable in his shoes during his 2012 vice presidential debate with Ryan, who was Romney’s choice as his running mate.

“I would embrace proposals like [Rep.] Paul Ryan offered, and other people have offered, that are going to provide some market forces in there, more consumer choice, and make it so that it’s not just basically a system that’s just going to be bankrupt when you have new people coming into it,” DeSantis told the St. Augustine Record in a video that was posted on YouTube at the time.

At the time, DeSantis was a Tea Party fiscal conservative, running with the backing of conservative groups like Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, FreedomWorks, the Club for Growth, and the Madison Project.

Since he hasn’t made a decision if he’s running for president or not in 2024, he hasn’t talked publicly about his views on entitlement programs as governor or Florida.

On Thursday, the president visited Florida to emphasize his support for protecting Medicare and Social Security in the state whose population utilizes these programs more than any other. The White House believes that the Florida visit by Biden will allow him to take on Rick Scott and the plan to end Social Security and Medicare once every five years.

In his interview, he thinks that low income people will be given the same coverage they have now. “I think people like me, who’ve been more successful, it’s not even that I will have to pay more. Premium support is going to guarantee me an amount of coverage.

If you want something over and above that, then I believe it should be for the consumer to choose, rather than being imposed on the taxpayers. “And I just think that that makes sense.”

Reply to DeSantis on Social Security and Medicare During the State of the Union: Why Does the White House Need a Higher-Centric?

After getting elected, one of DeSantis’ first interviews as a newly sworn-in member was on CNN on January 4, 2013, where he said he hoped Congress would take on restructuring entitlements when asked about Social Security and Medicare.

In speeches and tweets this week, Biden and his White House have singled out particular Republican senators – notably including Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin – over proposals from those senators that could affect the retirement and health care programs.

Biden did not tell his audience in Wisconsin about the fact that they were from a decade before he was first elected, but the videos are authentic. Biden didn’t mention that Lee mentioned at the 2010 event that current Medicare beneficiaries should have their benefits left untouched and that those who will retirement in the next few years, also probably have to.

Referencing his “spirited debate” with Republicans at the State of the Union, Biden called Scott’s proposal “outrageous” and vowed he would veto such a plan during a speech in Florida last week.

The White House said that the president reiterated the protection of Medicare and Social Security in his State of the Union speech. He has been very clear the past couple of years. A bill from the 1970s is not part of the president’s agenda.”

Biden has accurately cited Johnson’s remarks this week. Here’s what Johnson told a Green Bay radio show in August: “We’ve got to turn everything into discretionary spending, so it’s all evaluated, so that we can fix problems or fix programs that are broken, that are going to be going bankrupt. As long as things are automatic we will keep piling up debt. When Johnson faced criticism for those remarks at the time, he stood by them and said that was his consistent longtime position.

It’s impossible to definitively fact-check this particular dispute without Johnson specifying how he wants to “fix” and “save” the program. His office wouldn’t answer a CNN request for comment.

Andrew Bates, a White House deputy press secretary, wrote an email to reporters on Thursday that said Johnson was accusing Biden of lying about his stance on Social Security but that he also claimed that Social Security was a Ponzi scheme.

The Future of Social Security, Medicare and Medicare: The Challenges of Legislating During a Biden-Biden Presidential Campaign

The nation needs to raise its debt ceiling by June or the county will default. Republicans, since the rise of the Tea Party, have pushed for spending cuts to offset those increases. Kevin McCarthy has shown he has little ability to corral some of the more vocal members of his conference.

In his 1984 article, Biden also said, “the effect of sunset legislation is to set, for each agency of the federal government, a date certain at which its programs will be terminated unless they are affirmatively revived by Congress.”

All of them raised their hand. So guess what? We accomplished something. Unless they break their word. There aren’t going to be cuts to Medicare or Social Security.

The fight for which party is most in touch with the American people could determine what kind of foil Biden has in this group during his expected run for president.

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota offered Sunday a stark warning about the future of Social Security and Medicare if Congress fails to take action now.

“In the next 11 years, we have to have a better plan in place than what we do today. Or we’re going to see – under existing circumstances – some reductions of as much as 24% in some sort of a benefit. If we start talking now it would be easier to fix it because it would be five years or six years from now.

Scott told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last week that his proposal is intended to eliminate wasteful spending and help ensure the government can “figure out how to start living within our means.”

We think that there are possibilities out there that can be achieved without tearing apart the system or reducing benefits. But it requires management. He said it requires looking at and making things better.

Is Medicare in danger? Reply to Biden’s “Death of the Rick Scott Plan” during the State of the Union

The popular federal health program that provides healthcare to 64 million people of all ages is in danger of being damaged, according to Democrats. In the past, Republicans have successfully pinned Democrats as the threat to Medicare.

The political bomb that went off during President Joe Biden’s State of The Union speech had been building for weeks. Biden threatened to veto any Republican attempts to cut Social Security or Medicare. It was one of only three veto threats he made that night. During a trip to Florida after the speech, he said it more forcefully: “I know a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. I’m your nightmare, if that’s your dream.

“That’s not the Republican plan; that’s the Rick Scott plan,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on a Kentucky radio show Feb. 9, echoing his opposition to the plan last year.

The White House pointed to past Biden votes in the 1980s which stated the president had always been a champion for the program and that the solvency of Social Security had been extended. The White House didn’t propose long term fixes for the solvency of the programs.

But there are many, many intermediate steps Congress could take to at least delay insolvency for both Medicare and Social Security. Some are more controversial than others (raising the payroll tax that funds Medicare, for example), but none are beyond the steps previous Congresses have taken every time the programs have neared insolvency.

This would shift the risk of health inflation from the government to seniors. And while it clearly would benefit the taxpayer, it would disadvantage both providers and the people on Medicare.

Rise in health care costs and program design are some of the factors that result in unsustainable figures. The ratio of workers supporting each retiree, which was about 5:1 back in 1960, will fall to just over 2:1 by the next decade. People who live until age 90, a fast-growing group, will spend one-third of their adult life collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits. The Urban Institute said retirees of the future will receive three times as much Medicare benefits as they did in the past, and that they will also make up for it with more money in Social Security.

Workers have responded, to some extent, by delaying their benefit claim. In 2021, 31 percent of retired worker claims were made by people age 62, down from 60 percent in 1998, according to an analysis of Social Security Administration data by Mr. Johnson. But 84 percent of workers had claimed benefits by age 66.

Just this week, Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts introduced the latest version of their own Social Security proposal. It would extend solvency by 75 years and give almost all beneficiaries an annual cost-of-living raise, and revision of the benefit formula. Current FICA tax rates would be applied to higher incomes, while two new taxes would be levied on investment income.

Social Security 2100 includes a 2 percent across-the-board boost in benefits, and it would shift the annual cost-of-living increase to a more generous formula. It also includes targeted benefit increases such as a new minimum benefit level for very low income seniors, and improved benefits for widows and widowers. It would make it easier for people who take time out of the work force to care for family members.

For nearly 11 minutes during the debate in October 2012, moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC skillfully guided Biden and Ryan through a heated, but civil and substantive, discussion of Social Security and Medicare’s future. Ryan made it clear that current seniors and those near retirement would not see their benefits reduced, even if the programs were changed to preserve their long-term viability.

In fact, no Democratic presidential nominee since Al Gore in 2000 has carried most seniors in a presidential campaign; Obama in 2008 was the only one since Gore to carry most of the older working age adults. In each of the past four elections, the Republican presidential nominee has carried over 40% of both White seniors and those who are nearing retirement. According to exit polls, Clinton lost the election to Trump because of her poor performance with seniors and Whites nearing retirement, but Biden in 2020 improved his performance with both groups. Biden performed especially poorly among older Whites without a college degree – an economically stressed group heavily reliant on the federal retirement programs.

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare gave President Biden its first ever presidential endorsement because of his decades long support for protecting Social Security and Medicare.

“We all know that whose side you are on is a critical debate point for every election and this debate over Social Security and Medicare really helps crystallize whose side Biden is on versus whose side Republicans are on in a very effective way for him,” said Democratic pollster Matt Hogan, who helped conduct an extensive series of bipartisan polls during the 2022 campaign measuring attitudes among seniors for the AARP, the giant lobby for the elderly.

Politically, “Democrats have used Social Security and Medicare really a lot over the past two or three decades, maybe four decades,” said Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic group. The payoff has been less than anticipated by the Democrats.

“In campaigns I ask myself if the other side is talking about something they don’t want to talk about.” Stevens said. “That’s probably a good sign that they are losing on the issue.”

The Second Half of the Republican Era Revisited: Social Security, Medicare, Income Taxes and the Deficit of the United States

There is no question about the second half of that equation. Polling has consistently found that older Whites, in particular, are more receptive than their younger counterparts to hardline Trump-era GOP messages around crime, immigration and the broader currents of racial and cultural change: for instance, about half of Whites older than 50 agree that discrimination against Whites is now as big a problem as bias against minorities, a far higher percentage than among younger Whites, according to a new national survey by the Public Religion Research Institute. Older Whites are more likely than younger generations to lack a college degree or be Christians, attributes that often predict sympathy for the GOP and cultural arguments.

Over the next three decades, the Social Security system is scheduled to pay benefits $21 trillion greater than its trust fund will collect in payroll taxes and related revenues. The Medicare system will have a $48 trillion shortfall. These deficits are projected to, in turn, produce $47 trillion in interest payments to the national debt. Data from the Congressional Budget Office indicates a shortfall of $116 trillion. Cut these figures by about one-third to adjust for inflation.

A mathematical reality shows the president is wrong about full benefits being paid without taxes for 98 percent of families. Imagine that Congress let the Trump tax cuts expire, applied Social Security taxes to all wages, doubled the top two tax brackets to 70 and 74 percent, hiked investment taxes, imposed Senator Bernie Sanders’ 8 percent wealth tax on assets over $10 billion and 77 percent estate tax on estates valued at more than $1 billion, and raised the corporate tax rate back to 35 percent. The combined federal income, state and payroll marginal tax rates will approach 100 percent for high income taxpayers and America will face some of the highest wealth tax rates in the developed world.

Biden was against partial privatization of Social Security in 2005, but was open to discuss benefit cuts to make sure the program is solvent.

In other clips from the 1980’s uncovered by CNN’s KFile, Biden proposed raising the retirement age up to possibly 70, saying that life expectancy in the United States supported retiring later. Biden also said he was open to raising the retirement age in the mid and late 2000s.

Biden once boasted that he was the first person to introduce a bill to require all federal programs be reauthorized or cease to be funded – including Medicare and Social Security.

“I introduced the Senate’s first ever free-standing sunset bill in 1975,” Biden wrote in an article in 1984 for the Syracuse Law Review, referencing a 1975 bill he introduced that did not include exemptions for Social Security and Medicare. That bill passed the Senate by a vote of 87-1, but later failed in the House.

In his first reelection campaign in 1978, Biden, then a noted critic in the press of his opposition to excessive federal spending, boasted about his efforts at debates and in television ads to enact sunset legislation.

The Biden Expenditure Cuts and the Deficit Why We Are in Funding for Inflation, and How to Reshear

Can you not cut programs and still balance the budget if the reason for inflation is because of deficit spending?

“This bill applies to all authorizations for spending,” Biden said introducing his bill. “It is not just the size of our budget that is staggering, but even more the rate at which it is increasing. We can’t keep up with the rates of growth in expenditures.

The purpose is to make the agencies justify their missions and functions at regular intervals. He wrote that putting responsibility where it belongs would have a tonic effect on keeping agency actions in line with congressional intent.

“Approximately three months per year or every two years, until you reach you either between 68 and 70 depending on what the actuarial tables are at the time and what people’s life expectancy really are, but at least 68. Changing that to 65 is possible with early retirement, now with reduced benefits.