Biden: “[Republicans] seem to think that the problem in America today is that working families aren’t paying enough.”
During a speech at the AFL-CIO Quadrennial Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia today, President Biden laid out what Republican control could mean for Americans across the country – increased taxes for working people, lower taxes for the ultra-wealthy, and putting Medicare and Social Security in danger every five years.
Here’s what that Republican plan means for Michigan:
- 2.1 million Michiganders who rely on Medicare would not have affordable access to health care.
- 2.3 million Social Security recipients in the state, including retirees, folks with disabilities, and widowers, would no longer receive the checks they need to pay for housing, food, and other bills
- Nearly 40% of Michiganders would have to pay an extra $1,000 on Tax Day
President Biden also highlighted how working people and unions have built the American economy, and how Democrats are pushing to continue growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up while tackling inflation and lowering costs.
WATCH PRESIDENT BIDEN’S SPEECH HERE
Read a few key highlights from President Biden’s remarks below:
- “Republicans have it all backwards. Their plan literally calls for increasing taxes on middle class and working people and cutting taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.”
- “…The fact is, Republicans in Congress are still in the grip of the ultra-MAGA agenda.”
- “They still refuse to consider changing any part of the Trump tax cuts – which delivered massive windfalls to billionaires and others, and they weren’t paid for. They still refuse to consider a minimum corporate tax of 15%… they seem to think that the problem in America today is that working families aren’t paying enough. Congressional Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida – as my mother would say, god love him – he laid out a plan… it says, this is just one of their ideas, ‘all federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If the law is worth keeping, Congress could pass it again.’
- “Now guess what that is? Social Security. Not a joke – Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid – not a joke. Every five years it’d be put on the chopping block, every five years. And if it’s not reinstated, by a vote in the Senate of 60 or more, guess what? It automatically goes out of existence, that’s what they’re proposing… think about that.
- “Social security, you paid for your whole life. Medicare. Medicaid. Not a joke. Really, ask yourself, how are you going to sleep at night knowing every 5 years, Ted Cruz and the other ultra-MAGA Republicans are gonna vote on whether you’ll have Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? It’s unlikely they’ll be able to wipe it out, but do any of you doubt for a second they’ll find ways to cut benefits and programs? That’s what this is about. They’ve always wanted to cut Social Security. They’ve always wanted to cut Medicare. They’ve always wanted to cut Medicaid.
- “But if you have to start from scratch – the gentleman from Wisconsin, Senator Ron Johnson, is back at it again trying to dismantle the affordable care act, including its protections for pre-existing conditions. 100,000 million people have pre-existing conditions. The only reason the insurance company has to cover it is because of that law, and they’re never going to stop going after it.
- “The bottom line is this: I truly believe we’ve made extraordinary progress by laying a new foundation for our economy – which becomes clear once global inflation begins to recede. There’s so much at stake, but the truth is I’ve never been more optimistic about America than I am today.”
