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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" donkey/9fb49d2164e23dbc3d8299201ed77fd9.jpg\\") ![](\\" donkey/c2a323e8cb0d2e436abe02b98d099343.jpg\\") Democratic Party of Wisconsin stated on May 2, 2022 in News release: Republican politicians are pushing a plan \"that could raise taxes on almost one in three Wisconsinites and sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-false/6a6ef6075c162fdccf5eb960e683dcd1.jpg.\\") ![\\"barely- true\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Medicare * Social Security * Taxes * Wisconsin * Democratic Party of Wisconsin ![\\"Social](\\" Social security is vital to many senior citizens, and is a point of contention in the Democratic primary. (AP) By D.L. Davis June 15, 2022 # Democrats still exaggerating GOP backing of Scott’s plan on Social Security, Medicare, taxes #### If Your Time is short * There is a mixed bag among Republicans when it comes to U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s 11-point Rescue America plan — some openly support it, others demure on saying whether they back it. * Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has flatly said neither part of the Democrats’ claim will be on the GOP agenda. * Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, himself has said \"It’s not the Republican plan. It’s more what I believe in.\" See the sources for this fact-check Social Security, Medicare and taxes are among the hair-trigger topics in American politics. Even a hint of trying to modify, change or raise any of the three can ignite a firestorm. Enter the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which had this to say in a May 2, 2022, news release: \"Wisconsinites are fed up with Republican politicians pushing a disastrous agenda that could raise taxes on almost one in three Wisconsinites and sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years. The Republican agenda would threaten the hard-earned benefits that Wisconsin seniors rely on and hurt working families across the state.\" That sounded a tad familiar. We previously rated Mostly False a claim from Alex Lasry, a Democrat hoping to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, that said Johnson \"is supporting the Republican plan that phases out Social Security and Medicare.\" The election is still about five months away. Can the campaign already be in reruns? Let’s look again: Are Republicans pushing a plan \"that could raise taxes on almost one in three Wisconsinites and sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years\"? \"Rescue America\" plan rises again When asked for backup, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin staffers pointed – as Lasry did – to the \"Rescue America\" plan, released in February 2022 by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida. Scott is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. His 11-point plan addresses a range of issues, including education, crime and safety, immigration, government finances and what it labels \"fair, fraud free elections\" and \"Religious liberty/Big tech.\" Point number five in the plan – \"Economy/Growth\" — states: \"No government assistance unless you are disabled or aggressively seeking work. If you can work, but refuse to work, you cannot live off of the hard work and sweat of your fellow Americans. All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently, over half of Americans pay no income tax.\" So, that’s where the tax portion of the Democrats’ claim comes from. A May 13, 2022 CNN report says that — if enacted — that would mean a tax increase for millions of people. According to estimates from the Tax Policy Center think tank, about 75 million American households in 2022, or 42% of the total, did not pay federal income tax. Americans who don’t pay federal taxes include the jobless as well as employed people who don’t earn enough money to file tax returns; and some retirees, people with disabilities and stay-at-home parents. A state-by-state analysis released March 7, 2022, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said it found that in Wisconsin, 32% of residents would see their taxes go up under the proposal. Meanwhile, as we have noted before, point number six in the plan — \"Government Reform and Debt\" — states: \"All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.\" The proposal does not specifically say Medicare and Social Security would be phased out, but does refer to \"federal legislation.\" And both programs were created generations ago through federal legislation. So, that’s the Social Security and Medicare piece. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Eric Hovde stated on August 13, 2024 in Public appearance Says U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin “has done absolutely nothing” about the fentanyl crisis. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Laura Schulte • August 22, 2024 Taken together, the two areas show there’s at least some truth to the claim. Republicans and the plan The biggest problem with the claim, however, is not whether the details can be extracted from the plan – it’s whether the document is, as stated, broadly endorsed by Republicans. For his part, Scott — his position as head of the Senate GOP campaign arm notwithstanding – has said: \"It’s not the Republican plan. It’s more what I believe in.\" He also told The Washington Post that \"everybody’s got a different approach. That’s mine.\" In an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said many GOP candidates across the country have declined to explicitly repudiate Scott’s plan. But that’s different than endorsing it. As we noted in our March 18, 2022, fact-check of the Lasry claim, there is dissension among Republicans. Notably Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky opposes key parts of of the plan. \"Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda,\" McConnell said, according to The Associated Press. \"We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half of the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years.\" Here’s a sampling of what some GOP senators have said about the plan. Mike Braun of Indiana: \"I’m glad Rick did it. Nothing is going to be perfect\" but \"we’ve got to be for something.\" Marco Rubio of Florida: \"I have not seen the plan. I’ve read about it, but I think it’s good that people offer ideas. I’m not sure I agree with all of them. I don’t know all of the details of the plan.\" John Cornyn of Texas: \"This is not an approach embraced by the entire Republican conference. We’re going to keep our focus on inflation, crime, the border and Afghanistan. And some of these other things are things to think about … after the election is over.\" Tommy Tuberville of Alabama: Said he’s \"on board\" with Scott’s blueprint and said Republicans need to be thinking about \"a universal plan that we need to sell to the American people.\" Finally, in a news release, Johnson offered praise to Scott for presenting a plan, but stopped short of endorsing it: \"I think it’s important for elected officials to tell their constituents what they are for, and I support Senator Scott for doing so.\" Johnson has said elsewhere he does not agree with all of what is in the plan, and his staff noted that in the past Johnson has said Social Security and Medicare need to be preserved for future generations. Our ruling The Democratic Party of Wisconsin said Republican politicians are pushing a plan \"that could raise taxes on almost one in three Wisconsinites and sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years.\" There is an element of truth to the claim, in that the plan from Scott has those elements. But the claim goes awry by framing it as a plan endorsed by Republicans. Far from it. Scott has said it represents his ideas, not a platform. And McConnell has explicitly said the two areas the Democrats hammered on will not be part of any GOP agenda. For a statement that contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, our rating is Mostly False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Democratic Party of Wisconsin, \"Wisconsin seniors blast GOP plan to sunset Medicare and Social Security,\" May 2, 2022. Email, Julia Hamelburg, Democratic Party of Wisconsin, May 25, 2022 Florida Politics, \"Rick Scott promotes 11-point plan to ‘rescue America’ in national TV spot,\" Feb. 24, 2022 Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, \"Rescue America\" plan, Feb. 2022 CNN \"Fact-checking the Biden vs. Rick Scott argument over Scott’s tax proposal,\" March 13, 2022 PolitiFact Wisconsin \"Ron Johnson has not endorsed plan to phase out of Social Security, Medicare, March 18, 2022. PolitiFact National \"Democratic ad exaggerates GOP embrace and scope of Scott\'s proposal on Social Security, Medicare,\" April 6, 2022 Sen. Ron Johnson, \"Sen. Johnson: I will continue to expose failures of Democratic governance and the harm it’s causing Wisconsites,\" March 7, 2022. Daily Caller, \"Sen. Rick Scott Lays Out 11-Point Plan To ‘Rescue America’ Feb. 22, 2022 Washington Post \"Republican clash shows the enduring appeal, and dubious benefit, of campaign platforms,\" March 3, 2022. Politico \"McConnell clashes with Rick Scott over Republican agenda,\" March 1, 2022 The Small Business Boom Under the Biden-Harris Administration, \"State-by- state estimates of congressional Republicans’ middle class minimum tax proposal,\" April 2022 The Washington Post \"Dissecting White House spin that most Republicans want to raise taxes,\" May 12, 2022 PolitiFact \"No proof for Val Demings claim that Marco Rubio backs tax hikes like those indicated in Scott’s plan,\" March 9, 2022 Daily Caller \"Sen. Rick Scott Lays Out 11-Point Plan To ‘Rescue America,’ Feb. 22, 2022 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by D.L. Davis ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on May 16, 2024 in News release: \"The Trump administration handed out taxpayer dollars to a foreign company. Hundreds of homes and farms were bulldozed, and over $500 million in taxpayer dollars were wasted preparing for Foxconn.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • July 13, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ron Johnson stated on April 15, 2024 in Podcast: \"Every Senate Democrat has voted to support unlimited abortions up to the moment of birth.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By D.L. Davis • May 17, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Lisa Subeck stated on February 16, 2024 in X, formerly Twitter: “The United States is an outlier, one of only about half a dozen countries, without any guarantee of paid leave for new parents and/or other health care needs.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By D.L. Davis • April 16, 2024 ![](\\" new/e5f81dc43ebbfab7c9d9b56cfba2f398.jpg\\") ![](\\" new/9fbc38bd9f4148c4e7374ecdd8d95da4.jpg\\") Tammy Baldwin stated on February 1, 2024 in Facebook post: “Big drug companies charge as little as $7 for an inhaler overseas and nearly $500 for the exact same one here in the US.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • February 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Robin Vos stated on January 7, 2024 in TV interview: “The law in Wisconsin (on abortion time limit) is 20 weeks. That is way outside the international bounds.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • February 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Cindi Duchow stated on November 9, 2023 in Wisconsin Assembly: \"Unfortunately during COVID, the clerks in Madison and Milwaukee told their constituents that they were actually indefinitely confined and did not have to come and vote, which was incorrect.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • January 26, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ron Tusler stated on September 12, 2023 in X, formerly Twitter: Wisconsin Republicans are backing “a nonpartisan redistricting plan based off the Iowa Model. ... Republicans, Democrats, and the Governor pushed this plan last time redistricting happened in 2020.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • December 8, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rebecca Cooke stated on September 1, 2023 in X, formerly Twitter: \"Derrick Van Orden is one of the only members of Congress who participated in the deadly January 6th insurrection. He now serves in the building he tried to burn down.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • October 11, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" LaKeshia Myers stated on June 6, 2023 in News release: During the spring 2020 election in Milwaukee, a reduction to only five polling locations “came days before the election and was done without proper notice to voters.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • September 8, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kelda Helen Roys stated on April 26, 2023 in Twitter: Infertility is treated differently than other issues and \"often excluded from insurance coverage\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By D.L. Davis • May 26, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Robin Vos stated on March 9, 2023 in Podcast: “When a basketball player or football or baseball player from another team plays in Wisconsin, that one game\'s salary, they pay Wisconsin income tax on it. ... So, if for some reason we do not have the Brewers in Wisconsin all of those player salaries that generate dollars for the State of Wisconsin go away.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By D.L. Davis • May 12, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Paul Ryan stated on February 23, 2023 in TV interview: \"WOW county swing suburban voters (in Wisconsin) don\'t vote for Donald Trump.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By D.L. Davis • April 18, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tony Evers stated on March 8, 2023 in Twitter: The money for upgrades to the Milwaukee Brewers stadium in Evers’ budget is \"a bipartisan plan.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • March 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joan Ballweg stated on January 24, 2023 in Twitter: \"Wisconsin has seen over 63 billion dollars of federal pandemic-related funding funnel into our state over (Gov. Tony Evers\') tenure.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • March 14, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tony Evers stated on December 27, 2022 in Twitter: \"During my time in office, we\'ve increased per pupil aid by more than $300 per student. Now, our schools have returned to the top 10 in the country after falling to 17 under the previous administration.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By D.L. Davis • February 7, 2023 ### Democrats still exaggerating GOP backing of Scott’s plan on Social Security, Medicare, taxes * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention: Former President Donald Trump \"intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax ... that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 27, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Kurt Russell forms a new non-woke actors alliance with Roseanne Barr and Tim Allen.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 23, 2024 in an X post: Photo of former President Donald Trump after an assassination attempt was generated by artificial intelligence. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on August 28, 2024 in an X post: C-SPAN captions for a JD Vance speech said, “Single person clapping.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Elizabeth Warren stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview: “JD Vance actually sent a letter last year to the Department of Justice saying, ‘enforce the Comstock Act.’” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on August 26, 2024 in una publicación en Instagram: El director general de la Organización Mundial de la Salud \"dice que ya no es emergencia sanitaria la viruela del mono\" en 2024. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 21, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: El Dr. Juan Rivera lanza \"una pastilla revolucionaria\" para curar la diabetes. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Marta Campabadal Graus • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2024 in a Facebook post: Image shows Fox Business graphic titled “Tim Walz’s Communist Agenda.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Loreben Tuquero • August 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Ron DeSantis stated on August 28, 2024 in a press conference: The proposal to put golf courses, hotels in Florida state parks “was something that was leaked. … a lot of that stuff was half-baked and was not ready for prime time.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. 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Republican politicians are pushing a plan that could raise taxes on almost one in three Wisconsinites and sunset Social Security and Medicare in five years