The Hill News

It’s no secret that Republicans have worked for the better part of the last decade to cut Social Security and Medicare. The party’s roadmaps, plans, and bills all point in the same direction: smaller, privatized Social Security benefits for American retirees and the dismantling of the Medicare guarantee.

Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has said of Social Security, “We’re going to have to come to grips with the fact that these programs cannot exist if we want America to be what we want America to be.”
 
“Cannot exist.” That’s not tinkering around the edges, that’s radical government. The question is why should we agree to it.
 
The latest justification â€" repeated like a mantra to make it sink in â€" is deficit reduction. So is cutting Social Security and dismantling Medicare the answer to putting our country back on track? Are these programs really the financial elephant in the room, as Republicans claim?

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