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John,
20% of the government will shut down on Friday if Congress doesn’t take action this week.
Next Friday, the rest of the government shuts down.
For nearly a year, extremist MAGA Republicans have resisted doing the bare minimum of their jobs: ensuring the federal government can pay its bills and provide the services we count on it for.
Extremist Republicans have been grasping for anything they can attach to these must-pass bills to make them palatable to their members. They’ve tried draconian immigration changes. They’ve floated further restrictions on abortion and LGBT+ Americans. Hanging over all of it is the potential for a so-called “fiscal commission” that could meet behind closed doors and advance cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Here’s why that’s so dangerous: If thrust upon Democrats at the last minute, they may decide that convening a commission that meets in the future is a price they can pay now and then hope they can prevent the commission’s recommendations from becoming law.
But this commission is structured to pass. It differs from the Obama-era Bowles-Simpson Commission in key ways, all of which make it easier to jam a proposal through—over the wishes of the American people.
This year’s commission can approve its plan with a simple majority vote―rather than the two-thirds majority required under Bowles-Simpson.
This year’s commission lays out its timing such that the likeliest outcome is for a full vote in Congress during the post-election lame duck session, where members who were just rejected by their voters will decide the fate of these critical programs. And there would be a MAXIMUM of 11 days between the release of the commission’s recommendations and when Congress votes on them―meaning that it will be more difficult for groups like ours to mount an opposition (especially if the vote falls during the holidays).
That’s why we’ve said all along: The best time to defeat a commission is before one is convened.
We’re carrying this urgent message to members of Congress every day, making sure they all know: A vote for a fiscal commission is a vote to destroy Social Security and Medicare! Donate today!
Thank you,
Alex Lawson
Social Security Works
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