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| Mike Pence |
My loyal readers will recall that, at the February 7, 2023 State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden accused a few Republicans of wanting to “sunset” Social Security and Medicare. Republican firebrand Marjorie Tayler Greene shouted, “liar!” Republicans backed down, but not for long!
During last night’s (August 23, 2023) Republican primary debate, former Vice President Mike Pence announced that he, unlike (he claimed) any other Republican, was ready to talk about cutting Social Security and Medicare. Yes, a Republican presidential hopeful stepped on the third rail of American politics and didn’t get electrocuted, at least not yet. The question for today is, how could Pence attack his voting bases’ deepest needs and expect to survive politically?
That’s a hard question, and the answer requires us to look at the smoke and mirrors tricks that unscrupulous politicians use to deceive their supporters. Pence presented his position as mature, sober, and courageous:
“I was the first person in this race to say that we’ve got to deal with the long-term national debt issues. You got people on this stage that won’t even talk about issues like Social Security and Medicare. Vivek, you recently said, ‘A president can’t do everything.’ Well, I got news for you, Vivek. I’ve been in the hallway; I’ve been in the West Wing. A president in the United States has to confront every crisis facing America. I will put our nation back on the path to growth and prosperity and restore fiscal responsibility, just as I did in Congress and as governor.” [italics added]For decades, fear-mongering conservative pundits have warned that Social Security and Medicare will go bankrupt at any moment. When I took my new job at the University of Akron in 1982, the dean told me to be grateful for the state retirement system because Social Security would go bankrupt before I retired. Well, I’ve now retired, and I nevertheless receive Social Security and Medicare benefits. So, my dean, like a long line of doomsayers before him, was wrong.
It is no secret that the Republican voting base runs toward the elderly. We all know that elderly Americans depend on Social Security and Medicare. We also know that Republicans will never actually cut Social Security and Medicare; their political movement would drift away like a puff of smoke if they actually tried it. So why do they make these absurd threats?
Let’s speculate:
1. Press reports about the Republican primary debate talked about which candidates seemed strong, their tone of voice, whether they liked Trump, how they raised their hands, and their ages. There was remarkably little reporting about their programs. Knowing this, Pence could advocate ridiculous policies, confident that no one would notice.
2. Although former President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to protect Social Security and Medicare, cutting those programs has dominated Republican economic ideology for years. Sometimes movement conservatives threaten Social Security and Medicare as a ritualistic obligation.
3. Pence did have a point, of sorts. According to the Department of the Treasury, 21% of federal expenditures go to Social Security and 12% to Medicare. Together, they amount to one-third of federal spending. So, if it is your main economic goal to cut federal spending, Social Security and Medicare need to be on the chopping block.
4. Now, yes, Republican voters do tend to favor cutting government spending. However, I cannot conceive that they would support cutting Social Security, Medicare, or national defense, which doesn’t really leave much else. (Relatively tiny programs like the Department of Education, Amtrak, or foreign aid are little more than rounding errors in the federal budget.)
5. Now, no one thinks that Pence is a plausible candidate for 2024, so he may be preparing for a future run after Trump fever dies. Who knows?
In his State of the Union Address, Biden stated that cutting taxes on rich people does not justify gutting Social Security and Medicare. That, of course, is a value judgment on which people might disagree.
So, like a long line of candidates before him, Pence promised an economic policy that he cannot possibly deliver. Aren’t political spectacles grand?
by William D. Harpine
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P.S. Thanks again to the good people at Rev.com, a transcription service, for preparing a debate transcript for the public to read.
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Follow-up post about the debate:
Earlier Post:
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