Rep. Lois Frankel calls out Rick Scott, Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump on Social Security and Medicare

Democrats nationally and in Florida spoke about their continued support for Social Security and Medicare on Wednesday, exactly a year after U.S. Sen. Rick Scott called for Congress to sunset those powerhouse federal programs every five years.

Just recently, Scott backtracked on his plan to reevaluate Social Security and Medicare every five years, but U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel remains concerned.

“All of us have to be very, very vigilant because Social Security and Medicare are under attack. They are under attack by Republican leaders and Democrats are going to fight back,” Frankel, a Palm Beach County Democratic, said at a Zoom conference call Wednesday.

Frankel added that Social Security and Medicare programs are “probably the two most significant programs in the history of our country that keeps literally millions of Americans out of poverty, and not only does it keep our seniors secure and healthy, but it helps the rest of our economy.”

President Joe Biden criticized Scott’s plan as “outrageous” when he visited Tampa earlier this month. And Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Unfortunately, that was the Scott plan, that’s not a Republican plan,” according to USA Today.

Scott’s amended plan shows that Social Security, Medicare, national defense and benefits for veterans would now be exempt from his proposal to require all federal spending programs to be reauthorized every five years.

However, Democrats aren’t letting go of Scott’s original plan, and they’re calling out former Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis for their previous stances on the two entitlement programs. (Trump is running for the 2024 Republican nomination for president; DeSantis has not yet made an announcement.)

CNN reported that the Florida governor expressed support for privatizing both Social Security and Medicare when he was a first-time candidate for Congress in 2012.

“It’s no wonder that he’s received a zero percent rating (in 2014) from the Alliance of Retired Americans for his time in Congress,” said Bill Sauers, the president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans on the Zoom call, referring to DeSantis. “Florida is home to the highest percentage of seniors and the highest percentage of seniors on Social Security and Medicare than any other state in the country.”

Trump warned all Republicans in a video last month not to cut Social Security or Medicare. That’s a reversal of what he advocated for when he was in office, Frankel says.

“When he was president, President Trump continually threatened to cut Medicare and Social Security and he promised if re-elected he would do that, so I think there’s some political reading the tea leaves, but I would say that is why it is very important especially us in Florida to be very vigilant,” she said Wednesday.

After the Zoom call, a Florida Democratic Party official emailed the Phoenix a link to The Washington Post about Trump’s record as president, with the Post reporting that: “Each of his White House budget proposals included cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs.”

Meanwhile, another potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, former Vice President Mike Pence, told CNBC Wednesday that while he respected U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s recent call to take Social Security and Medicare “off the table” during the current debt ceiling negotiations, “we’ve got to put them on the table in the long term.”

Democrats are using the issue to gain traction with seniors well ahead of the 2024 election. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that nationally, seniors 65 and older favored Donald Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Frankel and Sauers said that they both support legislation that would raise the Social Security payroll tax cap to those who make more than $400,000. Currently, the maximum earnings subject to the payroll tax is capped at $160,200.

“I’ve been a co-sponsor of legislation that would do that,” Frankel said. “It says that people who are wealthy should pay their fair share of Social Security and payroll tax.”

“Protecting Social Security and Medicare will be one of the most important issues in the 2024 election cycle, and every Republican candidate must answer whether they support their party’s extreme agenda to cut these programs,” said a joint statement issued Wednesday morning from the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governors Association. “Democrats stand united in our fight to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.”

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