MADISON, Wis. — Yesterday, Ron Johnson doubled down on his support for cutting Social Security and Medicare, benefits that older Wisconsinites have earned after paying into the programs for decades.
See what they’re saying:
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Wisconsin State Journal: Saying programs like Social Security and Medicare suffer from improper oversight, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson on Tuesday called for turning every government program into discretionary spending programs, meaning Congress would have to allocate funding for the programs each year.
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson indicated Tuesday that Medicare and Social Security should be subjected to annual budget deliberations, a move that could upend guaranteed benefits relied upon by millions of Americans … During the interview, Johnson was asked about the PACT Act — aid to veterans who have been exposed to toxic burn pits — and a controversy over discretionary vs. mandatory spending. In his answer, Johnson suggested that he seeks to turn everything in the federal budget into discretionary spending — including Social Security and Medicare — so that programs can be evaluated and fixed.
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The Washington Post: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has suggested that Social Security and Medicare be eliminated as federal entitlement programs, and that they should instead become programs approved by Congress on an annual basis as discretionary spending…In an interview that aired Tuesday on “The Regular Joe Show” podcast, Johnson, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, lamented that the Social Security and Medicare programs automatically grant benefits to those who meet the qualifications — that is, to those who had been paying into the system over their working life.
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Business Insider: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin suggested putting Social Security and Medicare up for potential spending cuts every year in an effort to rein in the national debt…Both programs form the linchpin of the safety net. Social Security provides retirement benefits to elderly and disabled people while Medicare provides health coverage to Americans over the age of 65. Congress isn’t required to reauthorize Social Security and Medicare spending every year.
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Heartland Signal: In an interview on The Regular Joe Show Tuesday, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R) said that all congressional spending should be only discretionary, which would open the door for things like Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security to be defunded… If everything were under discretionary spending, that would give Congress the ability to defund current mandatory spending programs like unemployment, Social Security and student loans. As reported earlier by Heartland Signal, Johnson is also on record calling social security a “Ponzi scheme.”
