Within the Arizona Senate race, Democrats are attacking Republican nominee Kari Lake’s stance on funding Social Safety and Medicare, arguing that Lake would put the packages in danger.
“Kari Lake is threatening Social Safety and Medicare, taking the advantages we earned,” a Fb and Instagram advert from WinSenate, a Democratic political motion committee, mentioned.
In keeping with Meta’s Advert Library, the advert began working Oct. 24. We beforehand fact-checked WinSenate in October for a special declare concerning the Pennsylvania Senate race.
This declare about Lake wants context.
On one hand, Lake has vowed to not contact funding for Social Safety and Medicare, based on reporting from The Arizona Republic. She additionally mentioned she’s going to “by no means vote to scale back or damage Social Safety” throughout an Affiliation of Mature American Residents discussion board in Might.
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On the identical occasion, nevertheless, she proposed overhauling the federal price range.
“I feel we are able to slash the federal authorities by 50%. Most of it’s grossly overweighted with workers which might be doing nothing,” Lake mentioned.
In July, Lake raised her proposed price range cuts to “50% to 75%” in remarks to the Payson Tea Social gathering in northern Arizona, based on the Payson Roundup, an area information outlet. Later that month, Lake gained the Republican main to face off towards Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego.
It’s unclear whether or not Lake meant that fifty% to 75% reduce to discuss with the complete federal price range, or every little thing left over after retaining Social Safety. Lake’s marketing campaign didn’t reply to PolitiFact’s a number of requests to make clear her place.
In 2023, the federal price range was about $6.1 trillion, based on the Congressional Finances Workplace. Of that, Social Safety accounts for about 14%, with Medicare accounting for an extra 21%. So, if she meant reducing 50% to 75% of the complete federal price range, it could be arduous to keep away from reducing one or each packages.
Even when she supposed to guard Social Safety in full and reduce 50% to 75% of every little thing else, then these cuts can be huge. The discretionary a part of the price range, which doesn’t embody obligatory packages, corresponding to Social Safety and Medicare, exceeds $1.7 trillion, roughly half for protection packages and half for every little thing else the federal government does.
Steve Ellis, the president of nonprofit price range watchdog Taxpayers for Frequent Sense, mentioned in an emailed assertion that “it’s arduous to see the mathematics work” for Lake’s proposal.
“If she was speaking about reducing the first deficit by these percentages, it could nonetheless be an enormous leap, however one thing that may very well be carried out with arduous selections on each the spending and income aspect,” Ellis mentioned.
Our ruling
A professional-Democratic groupsaid Lake “is threatening Social Safety and Medicare.”
Lake has mentioned on a number of events that she gained’t reduce the 2 packages.
Nonetheless, she has known as for a 50% to 75% discount within the federal price range, with out specifying how that matches together with her intention to guard Social Safety. On the excessive finish of that vary, Social Safety and Medicare funding can be in danger for cuts.
We charge this Half True.
