Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:11 pm
Multiple reports out this evening suggest that Donald Trump has selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence – the man most well-known for signing a discriminatory anti-gay bill into law last year – to be his running mate.
Although Trump has postponed the official announcement due to the horrific attack in Nice, France, it is reportedly only a matter of time before Pence is formally introduced to the country as Trump‘s not-so-exciting running mate.
One Social Security advocacy group, Social Security Works, is especially upset with Trump‘s likely choice, issuing a tough statement on Wednesday about the Indiana governor.
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Statement:
“Governor Pence has a long history of fighting to cut and privatize Social Security. In 2005, he was the leader of a group of House Republicans who criticized George W. Bush’s Social Security privatization plan for not being extreme enough! He supports raising the retirement age and other cuts to Social Security benefits. This despite the fact that the nation is facing a looming retirement income crisis, which is likely to be harshest for younger Americans.
Pence has shown his desire to dismantle Social Security brick by brick, or even faster. He insultingly calls our Social Security system an “entitlement†rather than the earned benefit that it is. This attitude towards Social Security, the people’s pension, fits in perfectly with Donald Trump’s outrageous claim that Social Security is an illegal Ponzi Scheme. This name calling is an insult to every worker and Social Security beneficiary. It is an insult to all of us.
Poll after poll shows that voters — regardless of age, race, gender, ethnicity, or political party — support expanding, not cutting, Social Security. The reported Trump–Pence ticket is radically out of step with the American people.â€
The orange-skinned man at the top of the ticket repeatedly said during GOP primary debates that he wouldn’t cut Social Security, but he seems to have changed his tune since becoming the presumptive GOP nominee. In May, a campaign adviser said Trump is now open to taking the ax to both Medicare and Social Security.
Trump is officially onboard with the standard Republican policy toward the social safety net, and his likely VP pick of Mike Pence is even further evidence of that.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, just finished drafting its 2016 platform, which vowed to expand the important social program.
“We will fight every effort to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security,” the platform states. “Democrats will expand Social Security… and we will make sure Social Security’s guaranteed benefits continue for generations by asking those at the top to pay more.”
The contrast between the two parties was already clear. Trump‘s probable choice of Pence as his running mate will make it even clearer.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
