This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated February 17, 2023
The state of the union address from President Biden on Tuesday, February 7 is still causing reverberations. Chief among the topics that have continued to be discussed following the annual address have been the lack of decorum from some congressional members of the opposing party, as well as the exchange Biden had with Republican members in real time over the topic of Social Security and Medicare.
In President Obama’s first year in office, during a 2009 address to a joint session of Congress, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” during Obama’s speech. GOP senator John McCain called it “totally disrespectful” and the leader of the House Republicans, John Boehner condemned the outburst. Wilson apologized that same night, stating that his “comments were inappropriate and regrettable” and extending his “sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”
In 2022, it seems that one side is no longer concerned about civility and respect for the office of the president. Throughout Biden’s address, GOP members of Congress heckled him and screamed that he was lying, yet no apologies followed and though the GOP Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, attempted to shush his fellow Republicans several times, he offered no rebuke of their behavior following the state of the union.
The most talked about incident during the speech was when Biden brought up how some Republican members have proposed that Social Security and Medicare should sunset. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), in response, stood and yelled “Liar!” at the president, while shaking her finer at him.
“All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”
From the 12-point “Rescue America Plan” from GOP Senate Campaign Committee chair Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL),
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fl), who is head of the GOP Senate Campaign Committee, touted his 12-point “Plan to Rescue America” last year, which stated that “All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.” Social Security and Medicare, which currently do not require re-authorization by Congress, are included in all legislation and would end every five years unless new legislation is passed to continue the programs,
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was caught on camera responding incredulously to Bidens’s remarks about Social Security and Medicare. Video of Lee at a fundraiser shows him telling attendees “I’m here right now to tell you one thing that you probably have never heard from a politician. It will be my objective to phase out Social Security, to pull it up by the roots and get rid of it.”
If your employer told you that they plan to sunset your medical benefits in five years, you would immediately understand what that means. They plan to end your coverage. For some Republicans lawmakers, as per their own words, this is their plan.
Many Republicans have tied this issue to the deficit and it appeared they planned to use it as leverage in upcoming negotiations over increasing the debt limit, which exhibits a profound misunderstanding of Social Security and the deficit. Social Security is unable to spend more than current tax revenues and it is precluded by law from borrowing. Though the program has always required planning for its long-term viability, checks being disbursed today are paid for by current tax revenue and it is impossible for it to add to the nation’s debt.
Biden responded quickly and adeptly to Republicans outrage over him pointing out how some of them have called for sunsetting the programs, wryly responding that “We all apparently agree,” thus eliminating what seemed to be the GOP’s plan to hold Social Security and Medicare hostage during the debt ceiling negotiations.
Threatening to not raise the debt ceiling is a dangerous game that Republican appear eager to play. The fact is, the debt ceiling has been raised 78 times in the past, with 49 of those occurrences under Republican presidents and only 29 under Democratic presidents, including twice under President Trump.
This money has been spent and the United States simply needs to make a payment on its latest credit card bill. If the debt ceiling is not raised, we will default on our payments, which will damage our credit and the world economy. To be clear, the payments we need to make now are for money that was spent during the Trump administration, which is responsible for nearly 25 percent of all debt the United States has incurred during its entire 230-year history.
