As debt ceiling negotiations get underway, we’re starting to hear a lot of talk from so-called “fiscal hawks” in Congress about wanting to “save” and “protect” Social Security. But these lawmakers are pretty cagey. In fact, they never come right out and say they’re going to “cut” benefits, but that’s exactly what most of their proposals would do.

So can we really believe Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy when he says Social Security and Medicare should be “completely off the table” in debt ceiling negotiations?

The fact is actions speak louder than words. And the policies that are being promoted by many in the GOP would do the exact opposite of protecting your earned benefits. Because remember, the only way to achieve their austerity goals (without raising revenue) is by gutting Social Security and Medicare.

Fiscal hawks make their proposals sound like technical or procedural changes. But raising the retirement age to 70 is a benefit cut. Means testing Social Security is a benefit cut. Raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 is a benefit cut.

And creating so-called “commissions” or making budget process changes that would result in benefit cuts would help obscure who is responsible for taking away earned benefits.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which includes nearly three-fourths of the House GOP, has released a budget plan that calls for increasing the Medicare eligibility age, setting up a special fast-track procedure to ram through cuts to Social Security, implementing the "chained" Consumer Price Index which would slash the COLAs for current retirees and raising the retirement age to 70.

These are not rational solutions to strengthen the program for beneficiaries. These are proposals aimed at destroying seniors’ retirement security.

These policies are nothing new, but the politicians pushing them in Congress now have unprecedented power to force votes on their harmful proposals.