Sanders Bill Would Fight Trump Effort to ‘Dismantle Social Security’

Yves here. It’s become fashionable, at least in the commentariat, to exhibit the cognitive bias called “halo effect” with respect to Bernie Sanders. “Halo effect” is the tendency to see people as all good or all bad. This is the distortion that also leads pretty individuals to be viewed as smarter and more trustworthy than they are. Yet where is the rest of the feckless Team Dem when Social Security, once a third-rail issue, is under Trump assault? Sitting on their hands because they stoopidly believe they’ll be rewarded when Trump succeeds?

So while the press is keeping the headlines full of Trump gaslighting, like his blowing hot and cold on the Ukraine war and tariffs, his fake peace deals (see the Azeris and Armenians), his personal war with Jerome Powell and against truthful reporting on the state of the economy, Trump efforts to dismember social programs that are critical for tens, even hundreds, of millions of American are not getting the attention and outrage that they warrant. For instance, when a post mentioned that Trump was cutting Medicare, a reader acted as if that was an error and I meant Medicaid. Nope. This extract from the Center for American Progress on the “big beautiful bill” buries the lead, so I highlighted the key section:

The OBBBA prohibits the implementation of two finalized rules until October 1, 2034. The rules would have made it easier for very low-income Medicare enrollees to access Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs), which help cover premiums and cost-sharing for their Medicare benefits. This will disproportionately affect disabled people, as they are more likely to have lower incomes than nondisabled people. Second, the bill eliminates Medicare eligibility for people with lawful immigration status who have already paid into the program. Lastly, according to the CBO, absent future congressional action, the bill will trigger $490 billion in cuts to Medicare from 2027 to 2034 due to the Statutory Pay‑As‑You‑Go Act of 2010.

That’s $70 billion a year in Medicare cuts, sports fans.

So even thought Sanders’ efforts to hold the line on Social Security may prove to be quixotic, at least he is doing what he can to hold the line. Where is our feckless press? Supposedly “progressive” pundit and pols?

So the least you can do is call or write your Congresscritters, particularly if you are in a purple state or district. Tell them you deplore the Medicare cuts (cite the CBO estimate to make clear you are not confusing it with Medicaid) and the effort underway to wreck Social Security, and you expect them to back the Sanders bill.

By Jessica Corbett, a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday introduced the Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act, legislation intended to thwart President Donald Trump’s attacks on the agency that administers benefits for millions of seniors and other Americans.

In a statement introducing his bill, Sanders (I-Vt.) called out not only Trump but also Elon Musk, who is the richest person on Earth and led the president’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) until he left the administration in May.

“Since Trump has been in office, he has been working overtime with the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, to dismantle Social Security and undermine the faith that the American people have in this vitally important program,” Sanders said. “Thousands of Social Security staff have lost their jobs, seniors and people with disabilities are having a much harder time receiving the benefits they have earned, field offices have been shut down, and the 1-800 number is a mess.”

“That is beyond unacceptable,” the senator declared, just days before a key milestone for the law that led to the Social Security Administration (SSA). “On the 90th anniversary of Social Security, our job must be to reverse these disastrous cuts, expand Social Security, and make it easier, not harder, for Americans to receive the benefits they have earned and deserve. That’s precisely what this legislation will do.”

As Sanders’ office summarized, the bill aims to defend Americans and their benefits by:

• Protecting and improving Americans’ access to Social Security offices—prohibiting closures, relocations, and service reductions, reversing Trump’s layoffs, and ensuring Americans can speak to real people to get their benefits;
• Increasing funding by $5 billion to improve customer service, modernize technology, and reduce backlogs;
• Restoring assistance for vulnerable and disabled people to access their benefits;
• Safeguarding Americans’ data and stopping Trump’s politicization of Social Security; and
• Removing DOGE’s authority and calling for an independent investigation into DOGE’s actions at SSA.

The bill is backed by 20 other members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and several organizations, including Social Security Works, Alliance for Retired Americans, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.

Sanders introduced the bill on the same day that he joined former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley, U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and John Larson (D-Conn.), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)—a co-sponsor of the new legislation—for a Protect Our Checks town hall, hosted by Unrig Our Economy, Social Security Works, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Late last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “openly bragged about plans to use a back door to privatize Social Security and hand the benefits of working families over to those folks on Wall Street,” Wyden pointed out. “Trump’s so-called promise to protect Social Security, in my view, is about as real as his promise to protect Medicaid—no substance, big consequences for American seniors and families walking on an economic tightrope.”

The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Republicans passed and the president signed in July is expected to strip Medicaid and other key assistance, including food stamps, from millions of Americans in the next decade.

Wednesday’s town hall also featured testimony from Social Security recipients, including Judith Brown, who explained that “at 37, I became disabled. It was devastating, because I was a young mother to two sons [that] are on the autism spectrum.”

“When my sons needed additional medical support, I was able to get care for them because of their Social Security benefits. Without those benefits, we would have been homeless on the street,” Brown continued. “Social Security has always been there for us over all these years. Right now, this administration is bent on stripping us of our benefits that we paid into during our working years… We cannot allow this to happen. Social Security must be protected and expanded. Our entire existence is on the line, and we must fight to protect Social Security.”

Unrig Our Economy spokesperson Saryn Francis said that “Republican tariffs are driving up prices at the grocery store, their bills are raising the cost of healthcare and electricity, and they’ve even found time to hand out more tax breaks to billionaires, and now they want to mess with Social Security, and we are not going to let them take that away from us.”

Francis noted that “this weekend, with over 50 events across the country, Americans are rallying in a massive effort to support Social Security and calling on congressional Republicans to stop threatening what hardworking people have earned and need to survive.”