House Speaker Mike Johnson just lit the fuse on Republicans' politically explosive third rail, and a Salon columnist warned Saturday it's a sign the GOP is gearing up to gut Medicare and Social Security.
"The largest spending items, the reason we're in trouble, are because over 74 percent of federal spending is on autopilot — mandatory spending, that is, your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and things like Social Security — they have to be adjusted and fixed," Johnson told conservative radio host Moon Griffon this week. "We have a plan to do that next year."
Salon columnist Heather Digby Parton argued the remarks confirm President Donald Trump's repeated promises to defend the safety-net programs were "another lie."
Project 2025, the conservative blueprint guiding much of Trump's second term, floated raising the retirement age to 69 or 70, altering benefit schedules, cutting disability payments, and pushing toward total Medicare privatization, Parton noted.
-----------------------------------
Privatizing Social Security means Wall Street gets a cut of everyone's retirement savings. They may also want to privatize Medicare, which means more profits for the big health insurance firms.
Health insurance companies LOVE Medicare Advantage!!