Over the weekend, Donald Trump signed an executive order deferring payroll taxes, saying, “If I’m victorious on November 3rd, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax…If I win, I may extend and terminate. In other words, I’ll extend it beyond the end of the year and terminate the tax, so we’ll see what happens.”
The payroll tax funds Social Security, an entitlement program that helps more than 1.8 million Georgia residents stay afloat. In response, Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Director Scott Hogan released the following statement:
“Donald Trump has already broken promise after promise towards America’s seniors, but this betrayal might be one of the worst ones yet. More than one million Georgians depend on Social Security to make ends meet and plan for a safe retirement — by cutting off the funding stream in the middle of an economic crisis, Trump is guaranteeing empty pockets and missed payments for the most vulnerable among us. Georgians who rely on these hard-earned benefits will not allow Donald Trump another four years in the White House.”
Additionally, Vice President Joe Biden released a statement on Donald Trump’s executive order, saying in part, “Unable to deliver for the American people in a time of crisis, Donald Trump offered a series of half-baked measures today. He is putting Social Security at grave risk at a time when seniors are suffering the overwhelming impact of a pandemic he has failed to get under control. And make no mistake: Donald Trump said today that if he is re-elected, he will defund Social Security.”
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