Dems question Trump’s motive behind tax deferral

• Democrats claim that President Donald Trump’s temporary payroll tax deferral will eventually put an end to Social Security and Medicare.
• Trump had promised “permanent cuts to the payroll tax,” which was questioned by Democrats and other advocacy groups.
• The Democrats argued that such a plan could rehaul the budget in a way that would cut out entitlements for seniors entirely.

Democrats have accused President Donald Trump of using the temporary payroll tax deferral as a ploy to eventually put an end to Social Security and Medicare.

The executive order on Saturday would apply only to the Social Security payroll tax and not to Medicare, and will last until the end of the year. After that, however, employers will be required to pay up again unless Congress makes the deferral permanent as Trump hopes.

Trump had said during a press conference on Saturday that he would “forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax” were he to be reelected.

Such a plan could rehaul the budget in a way that would cut out entitlements for seniors entirely, the Democrats claimed.

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez told reporters on Monday afternoon, “One of [Trump’s] biggest broken promises was the assurance that he would defend Social Security and Medicare. We know now that that was another lie.”

Other groups echoed similar concerns.

Protect Our Care, a group that advocates for Obamacare and other health care programs, said that Trump’s payroll tax policy was a “part of a much larger war on seniors’ health care.”

The president unveiled the executive order on Saturday evening from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denounced the choice of location in a joint statement that read: “We’re disappointed that instead of putting in the work to solve Americans’ problems, the president instead chose to stay on his luxury golf course to announce unworkable, weak, and narrow policy announcements to slash the unemployment benefits that millions desperately need and endanger seniors’ Social Security and Medicare.”

According to White House spokesperson Judd Deere, however, the payroll deferral “poses no risk to the Social Security Trust Fund and puts more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans.”

Marc Goldwein, of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said that if there is any actual hit to Social Security’s trust fund, it should be “negligible.”

Trump’s other promises included boosting unemployment insurance, pausing student loan repayments, and addressing evictions.

These policies have since been questioned by Democrats, who plan to take legal action to question the authority of the White House to implement such sweeping policies.

Source: POLITICO