Sanders promises to defend Social Security

WASHINGTON – The Senate Budget Committee faces "fundamental disagreements" this year, especially if Republicans try to cut Social Security, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday.

The Vermont independent, the committee's top-ranking minority member, said he will do everything possible to oppose any Republican budget similar to last year's budget passed by the House. That proposal sought to cut Medicare, Medicaid, education, nutrition and affordable housing programs while providing tax breaks for wealthy Americans and large corporations, he said.

"When you look at a budget, it is imperative that you look at the overarching reality of American life," he said during the Friday news conference. "And today when we look at America, we have to understand that we have an obscene level of income and wealth inequality, the highest of any major country on earth, and worse in America today than at any time since 1929."

Last year's House-passed budget resolution would have balanced the budget within 10 years with $5.1 trillion in cuts. It called for increased military spending and decreased non-defense spending, and it would have cut programs serving the poor while changing Medicare into a voucher program and raising the program's eligibility age over time.

"You can boil the differences down to one question: Who knows better? The people or Washington?" former House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said before the House vote in April. "We have made our choice with this budget."

Sanders said the budget should address the needs of a declining middle class and a wealth gap in which the richest one-tenth of 1 percent own nearly as much wealth as the least-wealthy 90 percent. As poverty among the elderly increases, Sanders said, Social Security benefits need to be protected and expanded.

He assailed a rules change by House Republicans that he said could lead to a 20 percent cut in Social Security disability benefits for 11 million Americans. The rule would make it tougher to transfer money from the entitlement program's retirement fund to replenish its disability fund, something that's been done 11 times. Republicans say the goal is to protect retirees' benefits.

"In the midst of massive wealth and income inequality, the Republicans on their very first day of the new session want to make massive cuts in a program that benefits some of the most vulnerable people in this country, people with disabilities," Sanders said.

Additionally, House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price of Georgia has said increasing the eligibility age for Social Security and other ideas should be on the table. Ryan stayed clear of such proposals last year.

"This is a program that right now on its current course will not be able to provide 75 or 80 percent of the benefits that individuals have paid into (it) in a relatively short period of time," Price said Monday during a speech at the Heritage Action for America Conservative Policy Summit. "Whether it's means testing, whether it's increasing the age of eligibility... all those things ought to be on the table and discussed."

President Barack Obama has previously supported a proposal to slow the increase of Social Security benefits over time, but that plan is not expected to be in the proposed fiscal 2016 budget the White House will release Feb. 2, Sanders said.

Sanders, who is considering a presidential bid, said he intends to use his position on the committee to rally Americans. He will be "extremely aggressive" on social media and work to put together large coalitions of seniors and veterans to help move his agenda, he said.

He said he and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who also serves with Sanders on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, have "very different views of the world."

"I like Mike and we'll work together as best as we can," he said

Sanders said he is working on legislation to expand Social Security benefits. He previously introduced legislation to raise the $118,500 cap on taxable income for contributions to Social Security.

He supports basing the Joint Strike Fighter jet — the most expensive weapons project ever — at the Air Guard station at Burlington International Airport. But he said cost-overruns by defense contractors have "got to change."

The budget also should target profitable corporations and wealthy Americans who are avoiding taxes by stashing cash in offshore tax havens, he said.

"If we are serious about dealing with the massive problems facing our country, this is an issue that must be addressed and certainly addressed before we talk about cutting programs for the elderly and the children," he said.

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Contact Nicole Gaudiano at ngaudiano@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ngaudiano.