See below for video from a press conference a few minutes ago, in which Reps. Elaine Luria (D-VA02), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10) ripped Republicans’ plan to cut Social Security and Medicare. Here are a few highlights.
- Rep. Luria: “This plan that the Republicans have…essentially to gut Social Security and Medicare, you know Seniors have echoed to me time and again how concerned they are about this issue…We stand firmly behind protecting Social Security and Medicare…[Jen Kiggans] has repeatedly says she’d vote against all of these things…The [Republicans’ plan]…talk about gutting the economy, do you want to take away the sole safety net that our Seniors have…that they rely on? That’s my opponent’s patients who she sees and claims to care for, she wants their drug prices to stay high and she wants to take away their benefits, so it’s really just unconscionable to me…[House Republicans are even talking about] conditioning aid to Ukraine based off of seeing these cuts in Social Security and Medicare…They’re trying essentially every tactic to hold hostage the benefits that our Seniors deserve and they rely on and have paid into their entire adult working life.”
- Rep. Spanberger: “This issue is…one more issue…where we see Republican candidates who are running on platforms that are really out of touch with the needs of the people that we represent…Unfortunately, in our race, my opponent has pledged to join the House Freedom Caucus, which has always wanted to strip away hard-earned benefits of Virginians who have paid into Social Security throughout the entirety of their working lives. You’ve got folks like Ted Cruz and Louie Gohmert and Jim Jordan who are not going to protect Virginians and their Social Security. And yet my opponent, Ms. Vega, will stand with these extreme politicians who have endorsed her…and will threaten the very financial security and health security of the people that I represent. Earlier this year, we know the Republican Study Committee released a budget that would cut Social Security by raising the retirement age eventually to 70…[Kevin McCarthy’s caucus] would use raising the debt limit as leverage for forcing spending cuts, meaning that Social Security and Medicare would be on the chopping block…literally jeopardizing the full faith and credit of the US economy in order to be able to force changes to Social Security and Medicare. That’s what we’re talking about…[It’s] absolutely unconscionable.”
- Rep. Wexton: “We’re here today because Virginians deserve to know the truth; at a time when many Virginia families are hurting from the fallout of the pandemic and inflation, our extreme Republican opponents are planning to gut Social Security and Medicare. My opponent in particular he boasted that Sen. Rick Scott, who authored the so-called plan to end Social Security and Medicare in five years, was his mentor. He personally reviewed this plan and called it perfect. He said, quote, ‘I couldn’t have asked for anything better.’ There’s nothing better in my opponent’s opinion than gutting Social Security and Medicare…Republicans want to kick [Americans] when they’re down, taking away crucial health care and economic benefits from over 1 1/2 million Virginia Seniors…[Republicans] have no plan for inflation…for the economic security of families…protecting American healthcare…They’re going to destroy our economy in the process…threatening to default on our debt…[America’s] full faith and credit is at risk…We need to build on progress rather than destroying it.”
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