For Immediate Release
Friday, July 8, 2022
Contact: Aida Ross, aross@azdem.org
1 Question the Arizona GOP Must Answer Today
PHOENIX — A group representing the majority of House Republicans, including three from the Arizona Congressional delegation, just released their proposed agenda for next year – and Arizonans aren’t going to like it. The plan, which gives a preview of what Republicans would try to do if they controlled Congress, includes cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Which raises the question: Do Arizona Republicans in Congress agree with these proposed cuts – or will they disavow their caucus’ agenda?
Mother Jones: “A little-noticed budget document, the Blueprint to Save America, released in June by the Republican Study Committee, details the group’s priorities. Since nearly 75 percent of Republican House lawmakers are RSC members, these priorities are shared by a majority of the GOP caucus. The 122-page manifesto, containing a laundry list of longstanding conservative desires, calls for significantly reducing the size of America’s social safety net, drastically limiting abortion access nationwide, effectively throwing in the towel on combatting climate change, raising the age requirement to receive full Social Security benefits, cracking down on transgender rights, and making it easier for Americans to carry concealed weapons.”
Mother Jones: “The RSC calls for raising the retirement age by three months per year through 2040, at that point the new age requirement to receive full Social Security benefits for people born after 1978 would be 70.”
“Arizonans deserve to know where Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko, and David Schweikert stand on the latest extreme GOP agenda. Do they support putting Arizonans’ hard-earned Social Security and Medicare benefits at risk, banning abortion, and obstructing legislation to help our working families?” said Arizona Democratic Party spokesperson Aida Ross. “Democrats make it clear every day that they’re laser-focused on lowering costs and restoring abortion rights. It’s past time that Arizona Republicans answer the question of how far they’ll go in taking away Arizonans’ benefits and freedoms.”
This proposal is just the latest threat to Social Security and Medicare from Republicans in Congress. Earlier this year, Rick Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, put forward a plan that was supported by RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel and other prominent Republicans that could put Arizonans’ Social Security and Medicare benefits on the chopping block. If Republicans get their way and Medicare and Social Security benefits are cut, it would have a significant financial toll on the nearly 1.4 million Arizonans who rely on Medicare for their health coverage and over 1.4 million Arizonans who receive Social Security benefits each month to help cover everything from rent to putting food on the table.
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