After winning a second term in 2004, former President George W. Bush intended to use the "political capital" he earned after illegally invading Iraq to privatize it.
His whirlwind sales pitches across the country eventually stopped when it became obvious the majority of the American people disagreed with him.
Fast-forward to today.
In 2015, while still a presidential candidate, Donald Trump told the conservative Heritage Foundation-affiliated publication The Daily Signal:
"I'm not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I'm not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid."
Like all the other ways he opposed conventional Republican positions when standing amid other GOP wanna-be's, this was just a ploy to get elected.
The fact it worked indicates how popular Social Security is and how many voters--even Republicans--favor keep it intact.
Yet at the World Economic Forum summit ensconced a Davos, Switzerland mountaintop retreat this week, Trump boasted to the other global elites--if re-elected--he would entertain cutting funding for crucial social programs that include Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare.
Executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, Richard Fiesta, said in a statement:
"After a day of hobnobbing with billionaires in Davos, President Trump publicly revealed that cuts to earned Medicare and Social Security benefits will be on the table as soon as the end of this year. The cruel irony of this scene cannot be overstated.
"While Davos billionaires may not understand the importance of Social Security and Medicare, millions of Americans who rely on the health and retirement benefits they have earned through a lifetime of hard work do. Social Security and Medicare are vital for a secure retirement. Americans pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world. This burden and affording other basic necessities make it harder for retirees to make ends meet. Cutting Social Security and Medicare would be a cruel disaster."
Social Security Works communications director, Linda Benesch, told Common Dreams:
"His budget proposals include Social Security cuts. Now, he's flat-out saying that he plans to target 'entitlements' (AKA earned benefits.) We need a Democratic nominee who can draw a clear contrast with Trump on Social Security. That will be far more difficult for Joe Biden, who has a history of being open to cuts, than it would be for Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren."
Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, said:
"President Trump and the GOP can't seem to help themselves: their core goal is to cut taxes for the rich and corporations, then turn around and try to pay for those cuts by slashing vital public services working families depend on and have spent years paying into. But this time the American people are wise to the trick and won't put up with it."
No we won't.
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