His Pledge To Destroy Social Security and Medicare

Trump pledged to permanently scrap the payroll taxes used to fund Social Security and Medicare if he wins re-election

Joseph Zeballos-Roig for Business Insider Aug 8, 2020, 5:21 PM

* President Donald Trump vowed on Saturday to scrap the payroll tax, a funding mechanism for Social Security and Medicare, if he wins re-election.

* "If I'm victorious on November 3rd, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax," Trump said at a press conference announcing executive actions on coronavirus relief.

* Experts say the move to cut payroll taxes would further erode the shaky finances of both programs.

President Donald Trump pledged on Saturday to scrap the payroll tax, a key mechanism that's used to fund Social Security and Medicare.

"If I'm victorious on November 3rd, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax," Trump said at a press conference. "I'm going to make them all permanent."

He later said: "In other words, I'll extend it beyond the end of the year and terminate the tax. So we'll see what happens."

The payroll tax funds Medicare and Social Security

The federal government imposes a 15.3% levy on wages known as the payroll tax. It's evenly divided between employers and workers, and most of it goes to fund Social Security. It also helps to finance Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people over the age of 65 and for younger Americans with disabilities.

In an April 2020 Gallup poll, 58% of retirees said they relied on Social Security for a "major source" of their income.

Trump's unexpected comments on Saturday came as he signed an array of executive actions aimed at providing relief to Americans during the pandemic. Among them was a deferral in the collection of payroll taxes, which he is waiving from September through the end of the year for workers earning below $104,000 a year.

But it doesn't forgive workers' payments outright since the power to eliminate taxes or change the tax code rests with Congress. As workers and employers are still legally on the hook to make those payments next year, experts say it's unlikely that workers will see a bump in their wages anytime soon. Companies are more likely to continue withholding the money from paychecks.

Link to original article at BusinessInsider.com
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-said-would-end-payroll-taxes-fund-social-security-medicare-2020-8

The Republican Party has been trying to destroy Social Security and Medicare for decades now. They nurture a special hatred of these programs that help millions and millions of people from falling into poverty, helping them to eat, and helping them to medical treatments and care. It is a typical and transparent move from a party that has no coherent plan of government but now only seems to stand for destruction and punishment.