The executive director of Social Security Works, which advocates against cuts to the program, said Monday that former Vice President Joe Biden has obfuscated his history of advocating for Social Security cuts.
Alex Lawson, the group’s director, criticized Biden for being in favor of a “grand bargain” that would have traded off reforms on entitlement programs for cuts to defense spending as part of Obama-era effort to reduce the deficit.
“The problem is [Biden] actually was not being honest about his record when it comes to Social Security, the fact that he very much what was pushing for what was called then the ‘Grand Bargain,’” Lawson, who endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in December, said in a Hill.TV interview.
“Back in 2010 they empaneled the Bowles-Simpson commission. They had their BS plan, it was to cut Social Security and Medicare, and Joe Biden was deeply involved in those negotiations.”
Lawson acknowledged that Biden was far from the only Democrat to be considering such policies at the time. The nation was emerging from a recession and financial crisis, and had seen deficits skyrocket.
“So were a lot of Democrats in this town, far too many,” Lawson said of support for such cuts. “The elite consensus in this town at that time was that they were going to cut Social Security, and the only question was, Republicans wanted to cut a lot, and too many Democrats said ‘we’re going to cut a little.’”
–This report was updated at 2:52 p.m.
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