VIDEO: Scott Taylor Wants to Cut Social Security and Medicare 

VIDEO: Scott Taylor wants to cut Social Security and Medicare 

RICHMOND, VA — Scott Taylor debated the other two candidates running for the Republican nomination in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District last week, and took a number of hyper-partisan and dangerous positions that reminded voters why they fired him in 2018. Perhaps most dangerous of all, Taylor proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare when asked a question about balancing the national budget.

“The biggest driver of the debt is entitlements…If my generation and beyond want it to be there when get ready to take those things, there has to be reformation to reduce the trajectory and the spending in that,” said Taylor.

Beyond calling these programs “entitlements,” a mischaracterization of earned benefits Americans receive after a lifetime of paying into the programs, Taylor’s comments are a clear sign that his priorities are far out of line with the people of VA-2.

Instead, Taylor is siding with the corporations and wealthy Americans who he gave a massive tax cut to in 2017. After passing the massive tax giveaway that added $1.9 trillion to the debt, Taylor’s fellow Republicans floated cutting Social Security and Medicare to pay for it. Now Taylor is on board. He’s also right in line with Donald Trump, who proposed cuts to these same programs earlier this year. Trump’s latest budget cut $1.9 trillion from safety-net programs like Medicaid and Medicare, and slashed another $26 billion from Social Security, according to the New York Times.

Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Social Security Administration show that over 100,000 seniors in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District would be affected by the cuts Taylor is proposing.

“Scott Taylor and Donald Trump are sending a clear message: if they get elected in November they’ll cut Medicare and Social Security. After helping pass a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans in 2017, Scott Taylor now wants to balance the budget on the backs of seniors in his district. This is the exact reason why his own constituents fired him in 2018 and elected Elaine Luria, someone who will actually fight for them in Congress,” said DPVA Communications Director Grant Fox.