Joe Biden on Social Security Former Vice President; previously Democratic Senator (DE)

Never let Republicans cut Social Security 

• Trump proudly says he plans to "terminate" the Affordable Care Act for 45 million Americans.
• When asked about cuts to entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, Trump said: "Oh we'll be cutting," and later doubled down, saying, "There's a lot you can do…in terms of cutting."  It's not a surprise--every one of Trump's budget proposals as President included cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
• Trump's Project 2025 and congressional allies called for raising the retirement age, which would significantly cut Social Security benefits. 
• Trump has called Social Security a "Ponzi Scheme," supported raising the age for eligibility, and has been open to privatizing it.

If Congress tries to raise retirement age, I will stop you

The working people who built this country pay more into Social Security than millionaires and billionaires do. It's not fair. We have two ways to go. Republicans can cut Social Security and give more tax breaks to the wealthy. I will… [interrupted by Republicans booing]. That's the proposal. Oh, no. You guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut? I kind of thought that's what your plan was. Well, that's good to hear you're not going to cut another $2 trillion for the super wealthy. That's good to hear. I'll protect and strengthen Social Security and make the wealthy pay their fair share.

Won't allow Social Security or Medicare to be taken away

Some Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare

"Anybody who doubts it, contact my office," Biden said. "I'll give you a copy of the proposal." The president was referring to a proposal last year from Republican Senator Rick Scott that would have required Congress to reauthorize the programs every five years and would have made Medicare and Social Security vulnerable to cuts.

On Tuesday, the president suggested that Republicans in the chamber were agreeing not to cut Social Security and Medicare. "So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?" Biden said. "We got unanimity!" Biden shouted over cheers in the chamber.

Public commitment from both parties: no cuts to entitlements

During his speech [Republicans shouted "No!" when Biden mentioned a sunset plan, and Biden responded], "As we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?" Biden said. "We got unanimity!" Biden shouted over cheers in the chamber.

That moment led to praise from social media users, who argued that Biden had successfully baited Republicans into making a public commitment not to cut Social Security and Medicare. [One OpEd writer] wrote: "Dark Brandon gets Republicans to cheerily promise not to cut Social Security and Medicare live during the #SOTU speech!"

"This rather savvy usage of the public bully pulpit, in a nutshell, is the argument for continuing to have and televise SOTU," tweeted 2020 Pulitzer prize nominee Soraya McDonald, sharing a video of the moment.

Increase benefits for widows/widowers instead of cutting

Protect Social Security & Medicare: "You have my word"

Biden pointed his finger at the camera when he called Social Security a sacred promise. "If I'm your president, we're going to protect Social Security and Medicare, you have my word," he said.

Social Security is a sacred obligation

Increase Social Security benefits without cuts

Joe Biden: No.

Sanders: You never said that?

Biden: No.

Sanders: All right. America, go to YouTube right now. You were not a fan of the balanced budget amendment, which called for cuts in Social Security? Why don't you just tell the truth here? We all make mistakes.

Biden: I am telling the truth. Why am I rated 96% by the Social Security organizations? I have laid out how I will increase Social Security benefits. I have laid out how I'm going to make sure that it is in fact, paid for. Look at my exchange with Paul Ryan on his desire to try to privatize and/or cut Social Security, and understand how he manipulated it. Are you saying PolitiFact is wrong? In terms of the negotiations on how to deal with the deficit, everything was on the table. I did not support any of those cuts on Social Security.

6.2% FICA tax on all earnings over $400,000

BIDEN: There's two pieces to the protection. #1, I'm going to make sure that we are able to have Social Security for the students here when their time comes. #2, I'm going to make sure that those folks who lost a spouse, or Social Security payment was reduced, or they're outliving way beyond their coverage, that they can have it raised.

Q: How are you going to do that?

BIDEN: Right now, we pay about 6.2 percent out of our salary, up to roughly $130,000. I have been proposing for some time that we do the same thing for everybody making over $400,000. So, for example, you, in fact, make 60 grand, you get 6.2% taken out of your salary. If you make $130,000, you get 6.2%. If you're making a million, you pay the exact same amount as someone making $130,000. By moving to keep the tax at 6.2% for people making every dollar over $400,000, we can pay for everything I'm talking about. And we can make it solvent, for all of these kids here.

Restructure tax code while protecting Social Security

Sanders pointed to a speech Biden gave to the Brookings Institution in April 2018. Biden's overall message was that the tax code "is widely skewed toward taking care of those at the very top." Sanders plucked out what Biden said about Ryan, but ignored the complete passage which showed that Biden wanted Social Security and Medicare protected, and to accomplish that goal would require making changes to the tax code.

The Sanders campaign omits what Biden said next: "We need a pro-growth, progressive tax code that raises enough revenue to make sure that the Social Security and Medicare can stay. It still needs adjustments, but can stay."

Freeze entitlements; don't favor special interests

Where would elderly be now if funds were in stock market?

BIDEN: We will not privatize it. If we had listened to Romney and the congressman during the Bush years, imagine where all those seniors would be now if their money had been in the market. Their ideas are old, and their ideas are bad.

Raise the $97,500 cap, but don't raise retirement age

A: The answer is yes. The truth is, you're either going to cut benefits or you're going to go ahead and raise taxes above the first $97,000

Q: Would you also, considering now life expectancy is 78, consider gradually raising the retirement age?

A: Well, we did that once, I supported that. That's what got it solvent to 2041. By simply raising the cap, you can solve the problem.

Prevent senior fraud by educating seniors about caution

The best way to fight senior fraud is to prevent it from happening. Seniors should be cautious when making an investment. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. They should be careful not to give their credit card or checking account number to someone they don't know. They should never give their social security number to anyone.

Let's not let heartless criminals victimize a generation of Americans who have already given so much to preserve and protect this nation. Rather, let's put our justice system to work to keep every senior safe & secure.

Rated 89% by the ARA, indicating a pro-senior voting record.

The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security. The Alliance believes that all older and retired persons have a responsibility to strive to create a society that incorporates these goals and rights and that retirement provides them with opportunities to pursue new and expanded activities with their unions, civic organizations and their communities.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.