Collins has backed Republican plans that threatened “deep cuts” to Social Security
Last night at the Republican National Convention, Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow previewed the Republican economic agenda, including their proposal to terminate the payroll tax — which would entirely deplete the Social Security Trust Fund by 2023 according to a report by the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration.
When Trump issued his executive orders that threatened to “blow a hole in Social Security and Medicare’s finances,” Senator Susan Collins not only failed to meaningfully oppose him, she indicated support for the strategy and suggested that his executive orders could be “just what the negotiations” over a coronavirus aid package needed.
Collins has a history of backing plans that threatened “deep cuts” to Social Security. In 2011, she voted for a Republican spending plan that would have required “draconian” spending cuts including slashing Social Security and Medicare. Then, after she backed the GOP tax giveaway in 2017 which added nearly $2 trillion to the national deficit, Collins’ Washington allies pushed for Social Security cuts to address the debt they had generated with a giveaway to the ultra wealthy and corporate special interests.
“Trump’s economic plan would be disastrous for the hundreds of thousands of Mainers who count on their Social Security benefits to make ends meet. We need a Senator who is fighting to protect older Americans, but Senator Collins has been a reliable vote for Trump and Mitch McConnell’s agenda and its threats to Social Security,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “Maine can’t afford another term of Trump attacks on our retirement and Senator Collins’ continued failures to oppose him.”
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