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VIDEO: Speaker McCarthy throws Social Security cuts on the table

VIDEO: Speaker McCarthy throws Social Security cuts on the table

VIDEO: Speaker McCarthy throws Social Security cuts on the table

Republican House Speaker McCarthy may well have just reelected President Joe Biden.

Well, that’s nice of him.

On Wednesday afternoon, during an interview on Fox News, McCarthy emphasized that bipartisan talks on the debt ceiling are only the beginning.

Indeed, McCarthy looked the MAGAs’ favorite cameras right in the eye and said that he planned to start a commission with Democrats to — in his words — further cut spending.

Even if his commission could cut spending, it likely won’t because of McCarthy’s proposed targets.

He wants to cut from Social Security, Medicare, and SNAP — programs for the poor and middle class. He also just lost his audience at “bipartisan.”

Ask Lauren Boebert or Jim Jordan about their enthusiasm regarding working on a bipartisan commission with Democrats on anything. 

It might make Democrats look like “woke real people!”

And yet there he was, on Fox News, looking almost giddy, talking about cutting budgets.

“And now we’re cutting, and you know what? It’s gonna make some people uncomfortable by doing that, but I’m not going to give up on the American people,” said McCarthy on the Fox propaganda network. “I’m going to announce a commission coming forward from the speaker — from bipartisan, both sides of the aisle,” said McCarthy. “The majority driver of the budget is mandatory spending; it’s Medicare; it’s Social Security, interest on the debt.” He concluded:

“Now we have to look at the entire budget”

The entire budget is known as GOP code words for social security and Medicare.

Speaker McCarthy genuinely sounds positive, and that is genuinely sad that a person can be so displaced from reality.

He will be lucky to find 20% of Americans that want to cut money out of Medicare, and Social Security — “the entire budget” — particularly among the GOP’s target demographic of senior citizens.

He will be lucky to find 20% of Republicans willing to cut a dollar from the Defense Department.

From all the gnashing of teeth over the debt ceiling talks, McCarthy won’t retain his speakership if he proposes such a committee.

He loses on the bipartisan side, and he loses on the cutting Social Security side.

It is not just that Freedom Caucus members (and many others) don’t want to work with Democrats.

No, the GOP has yet to figure out that when they go toe to toe with President Biden, the President always gets the best of them.

President Biden had one of the most consequential first two years in office because he wasn’t afraid of being called an FDR Democrat.

The President’s “Build Back Better” program, an attempt to drag the country into the 21st Century, was so big that the bipartisan concessions he won were huge when it passed with its final name, the Inflation Reduction Act.

His programs will have lasting effects for the next two decades.

No, let’s be realistic here. There is almost no chance that Speaker McCarthy can put together his commission.

There is even less chance he can get spending cuts from Social Security and across the board.

But he will try. 

It will intensify GOP infighting, ensuring a less unified party at the same point in time that Moderates want no part of them.

So long as the GOP plays by the rules in 2024, a disorganized, self-righteous, self-obsessed, and divided party will ensure that Biden enjoys a second term.

Especially if the President is the only one willing to protect programs that Americans refuse to give up!

If Biden has both Houses… well, we know he’s willing to go big.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker!

Here’s the video: 

I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com and on Twitter @JasonMiciak.

Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.

Jason Miciak
Jason Miciak is an associate editor and opinion writer for Occupy Democrats. He's a Canadian-American who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He is a trained attorney, but for the last five years, he's devoted his time to writing political news and analysis. He enjoys life on the Gulf Coast as a single dad to a 15-year-old daughter. Hobbies include flower pots, cooking, and doing what his daughter tells him they're doing. Sign up to get all of my posts by email right here:

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