WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The news that 70 million people will next year came just weeks before Election Day, but it is unlikely to give Democrats the edge they are desperately seeking at the polls.
In fact, the promise of bigger payments could call even more attention to the that have been 鈥� and the reason behind Thursday's announcement of the the program's largest in four decades.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to bring more money to people鈥檚 pockets, but it primes people to think about high inflation,鈥� said Marty Cohen, a James Madison University political science professor.
鈥淭his is being done because inflation is bad, and that鈥檚 the reason for the large adjustment. It鈥檚 not an issue that Democrats want on the front burner for voters.鈥�
Voters have ranked the economy as a higher priority than Social Security, for the president and Congress versus 57% saying the same about ensuring the Social Security system is financially sound.
The 8.7% boost in benefits brought a one-word response from 76-year-old retiree and genealogy hobbyist Paul Phelps: 鈥淥uch.鈥�
In Phelps鈥� mind, the increase is so large because inflation is so bad.
Rising costs will not have any bearing on how he votes in the Nov. 8 election. Neither will the boost he will see in his monthly checks beginning next year.
鈥淣o, it鈥檚 a good example of the government running as the government should,鈥� said Phelps, of Alexandria, Virginia.
Mary Browning, a 69-year-old Social Security recipient in Minneapolis, said she credits Democrats and the Biden administration entirely for the revved up checks she will get starting in January. But that did not change how the self-described 鈥渄ie-hard progressive鈥� she plans to vote.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that people understand how difficult it is to get these changes through. And Biden is getting them through,鈥� Browning said.
Yet Biden and his administration played no role in the calculation of the cost-of-living adjustment. It is arrived at by a
The White House messaging on Social Security highlights how older people will save hundreds of dollars next year thanks to the 8.7% Social Security increase, a roughly $5 monthly decrease in Medicare premiums and a new law -- which Republicans unanimously opposed -- that that will cut some prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients.
鈥淪eniors are gonna get ahead of inflation next year,鈥� President Joe Biden said Thursday. 鈥淔or the first time in 10 years, their Social Security checks will go up while their Medicare premiums go down.鈥�
by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that only 36% of people in the United States approve of Biden's handling of the economy. But they are not putting all the blame for inflation on him, with 55% saying higher than usual prices are mostly because of factors outside Biden鈥檚 control and 44% saying that鈥檚 happening mostly because of Biden鈥檚 policies.
Republicans have been quick to point out other ways costs are up for older people, highlighting private retirement plan losses over the last year, high gas prices and rising costs at the grocery store.
鈥淪eniors are having to delay their retirement, retirees on fixed incomes are struggling, retirement funds are plummeting and Biden and Democrats have only themselves to blame,鈥� said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Emma Vaughn.
Some Democratic candidates have put Social Security at the center of campaign ads attacking their opponents. In some cases, the ads have made misleading suggestions about Republican plans for Social Security, echoing recent claims from Biden that Social Security will be 鈥渙n the chopping block鈥� under a Republican-controlled Senate.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., proposed plan earlier this year that would require Congress to come up with a proposal to adequately fund Social Security and Medicare or consider phasing them out.
That idea has won little public support from Republican lawmakers. It will 鈥渘ot be part of our agenda,鈥� said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
To Jaime Harrison, the Democratic National Committee chair, Republicans 鈥渨ant to cut Social Security and they鈥檙e openly plotting to raise prescription drug prices on millions of seniors.鈥�
Nowhere has Social Security become more of a campaign issue than the Senate race in Wisconsin, where Democrat Mandela Barnes, the lieutenant governor, is challenging Republican incumbent Ron Johnson.
Johnson, one of a few politicians who expressed support for Scott鈥檚 plan, has repeatedly criticized Social Security over the years, calling it a 鈥淧onzi scheme.鈥� He has proposed moving Social Security from mandatory spending into the discretionary fund, which would mean the money spent on the program would not be automatic and require Congress to approve the funds every year.
Thursday, Johnson defended his comments on Social Security.
鈥淚 never said I wanted to cut or put Social Security on the chopping block,鈥� Johnson said.
Barnes pushed back.
鈥淗e鈥檚 coming for your retirement,鈥� he said.
It is unlikely that with such meager support to overhaul Social Security that anything will be done in the coming years, said Cohen, the James Madison political scientist. The that the program鈥檚 benefits should not be reduced in any way.
鈥淪aying is one thing, and getting things done is another,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a program that鈥檚 broadly popular, for the reason that it benefits people. It鈥檚 somewhat untouchable.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis and Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.
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Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics
Amanda Seitz, The Associated Press
