Andy Surabian, the super PAC’s chief strategist, told Axios that Banks “truly gets how President Trump remade the Republican Party for the better.” Surabian said the super PAC will help elect Republicans who share Banks’ vision of the GOP as “working-class” conservatives defending values against an “authoritarian left.”
The party of “working-class conservatives” eh? Under Banks’ leadership last year, the Republican Study Committee outlined its plans for slashing the social safety net in a budget plan titled, Reclaiming Our Fiscal Future. No one will feel those cuts worse than older working-class Americans, many of whom consider themselves conservatives.
The study committee, which boasts the bulk of the conference at more than 150 members, proposed slashing the federal budget by $14 trillion over the next decade—an ode to former Speaker Paul Ryan, the supposed “ideas” guy who had some math challenges.
Essentially, all of those proposed savings came in the form of raising the age of eligibility for both Medicare and Social Security to 69, replacing Medicare’s guaranteed coverage with a subsidy, and turning Medicaid into a block grant program run by the states.
The name of the study committee plan, Reclaiming Our Fiscal Future, is vaguely reminiscent of the 11-point plan from Sen. Rick Scott Florida, which also included big plans to overhaul Medicare and Social Security… by sunsetting them.
At the outset of the year, Senate Minority Mitch McConnell worked hard to keep the GOP agenda under wraps. Shortly after Scott released his plan, McConnell rebuffed it, saying his caucus had no plans to raise taxes on half of Americans or sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years.
But over and over, congressional Republicans have fixated on either entirely overhauling Social Security and Medicare or ending them altogether. In fact, several House Republicans have been secretly plotting the steps they would take to destroy the two wildly popular, life-saving programs.
But over and over, mainstream press keeps ignoring the story. The general sentiment among mainstream reporters seems to be, that’s insane, Republicans will never blow up two of the most popular programs in the country.
That’s exactly what everybody said about abortion—they’ll never overturn Roe v. Wade and then pass a national abortion ban. Well, guess what, Republicans accomplished the first part of that equation and are strategizing about the second.
Banks as Majority Whip would put one more Republican in a leadership position who has been scheming for years about slashing the social safety net that tens of millions of Americans depend on. In fact, Republicans are so giddy about that prospect, they simply cannot stop talking about it. Believe them.
Donald Trump and his MAGA allies came close to overthrowing our democracy on January 6, and they will try again if they win in 2022. The best thing you can do is to help get out the Democratic vote for the midterms, and we need everyone to do what they can. Click here to find all the volunteer opportunities available.
We cannot let Trump-endorsed election deniers to gain the power to administer elections. Can you chip in $1 to each of these Daily Kos-endorsed Democrats for secretary of state?
