Bad news, boomers: Trump's tax plan would doom Social Security

An elderly couple walks down a hall on Nov. 6, 2015, in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s tax plans would mean benefit cuts for millions of Americans receiving Social Security and lead to the popular program’s bankruptcy by 2031, a new report reveals.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released a report on Monday warning about Trump’s proposals, which feature reduced taxes on the ultrawealthy and large corporations.

“President Trump’s proposals to eliminate taxation of Social Security benefits, end taxes on tips and overtime, impose tariffs, and expand deportations would all widen Social Security’s cash deficits,” the report said.

The group said if it became law, Trump’s proposed tax plan would create a $2.3 trillion shortfall for the Social Security program. The Committee also determined that Trump’s plan would result in a 33% across-the-board benefit cut—meaning millions would see the checks they rely on significantly reduced.

“Donald Trump’s agenda poses an imminent threat to Social Security, and seniors could have their benefits cut by a third,” Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement. “This is yet another reason that Americans simply cannot afford the risk of another Trump term.”

The campaign said that Vice President Kamala Harris is committed to protecting the program signed into law by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935.

Trump has proposed further tax cuts skewed in favor of the wealthy, similar to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act he signed into law in 2017. That legislation failed to spur the economic growth Trump promised when first campaigning for the presidency.

At a June event with a group of wealthy donors led by billionaire John Paulson, Trump promised that he would push for more tax cuts for them if he is elected and asked the roomful of tycoons and billionaires to donate to his campaign to make that happen. He received over $50.5 million in donations from that dinner.

Similarly, billionaire Elon Musk is in the process of spending millions on his shady push to elect Trump and is in the elite class of the super-rich who would disproportionately benefit from Trump’s tax cuts.

While in office, Trump proposed budgets that would have cut Social Security benefits for Americans. He also proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, popular safety net programs put in place by Democratic presidents.

Before he was elected, Trump falsely described Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” and supported efforts to privatize the program.

President Joe Biden and Harris have backed efforts by congressional Democrats to expand and increase Social Security benefits. The Biden-Harris administration has called for tax increases on the ultrawealthy to protect the integrity of the Social Security program, while opposing benefit cuts for middle-class families.

Democratic presidential nominee Harris has echoed these positions as part of her “New Way Forward” agenda.

“Vice President Harris will protect Social Security and Medicare against relentless attacks from Donald Trump and his extreme allies,” her agenda states.

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