HYGO News Q: Biden’s specific plan? Medicare in 3 years & Social Security in 12 years? A: call out Republicans
Q: Biden’s specific plan? Medicare in 3 years & Social Security in 12 years? A: call out Republicans
On 1/20/2023, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “Back on what you said in your answer to Josh about the debt ceiling and the question of entitlements. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said in the fall that what the President was arguing in the lead-up to the midterms was that Republicans would cut Social Security, cut Medicare, but the President was not offering his own specific plan for how to ensure the stability of those programs. There were a few sentences on the campaign website three years ago. Does the President have a plan to ensure that Social Security and Medicare will remain solvent in the future? This is now the halfway point of his administration.”
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: The President’s plan is that he’s going to protect Social Security, he is going to protect Medicare. And what he is saying very, very clearly here — and we have said this — you heard us — as you mentioned, you heard us say it during the fall — is that, you know, we’re going to continue to call out Republicans who are threatening — they are threatening to force cuts on Social Security … because they want to play this political gamesmanship. And that is something that we’re going to call out. When it — what — as it relates to the debt ceiling, this is something that should be done in a bipartisan way. That’s what the President believes. That’s what he has been saying very, very clearly. We should not put …
Reporter: So, I guess, my question, though, is: What they say is that Medicare, in three to five years, will not be able to meet all its obligations; Social Security, 12 years, will not be able to meet all of its obligations. The President has been president for two years. He hopes to be president for six more years. When is he going to lay out a specific plan? Will we hear it at the State of the Union? Will it come in 2023?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It’s — what we’re saying is, and I just said this: These are programs that the American people pay into … when you have a — you know, these MAGA Republicans in the House who are saying they’re going to hold the debt ceiling unless those things are cut, that is — that is a problem … we should not be doing this with conditions. It should be done without conditions. And we should not be negotiating around it.
Reporter: Does the President have any concern about the number of job cuts that are happening in the tech sector? Alphabet announced — that’s Google’s parent company, obviously — announced 12,000 job cuts today. That follows Microsoft earlier this week, following several thousand from last year as well. Is this something the President is concerned about (inaudible)?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, of course, we watch very closely when we hear these types of reports of Americans losing jobs. That is something that the President is certainly aware of … data points exist. We’re seeing that. Layoffs remain record low. According to job opening data, the U.S. economy continues to grow, initial unemployment claims are historically low, and the unemployment rate is at a 50-year low. So, leading analysts have publicly stated that they do not believe the recent layoffs in the tech industry are indicative of trends in the broader economy.
Q: Biden’s specific plan? Medicare in 3 years & Social Security in 12 years? A: call out Republicans