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Supporting The 'Scrap The Cap' Bill Helps Save Social Security by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | September 14, 2011
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., today introduced a bill that, if passed by Congress and signed by the president, would insure Social Security's solvency for the next 75 years—without having to cut a single person's benefit. Sanders' solution is simple: gradually eliminate the cap on wages subject to the payroll tax, starting with people earning more than a quarter-million a year. read more »Women and Children Last by Digby , OurFuture.org | September 14, 2011
I realize that women are a discrete special interest group as they only represent half the population. But this seems like something even the people who count should be concerned with: read more »Is It Too Much to Ask That People Stop Talking So Crazy? by Jared Bernstein, jaredbernsteinblog.com | September 13, 2011
I’d like to impose a new fiscal measure. Whenever you say either “America is Greece!” re our fiscal debt — or anything like that — or “Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme!” you have to send $10 to the US Treasury. Today’s bond markets have the yield on the 10-year Greek bond at 23.54 and on the U.S. ten-year note at 1.95. So enough about that…OK? Social Security is pay-as-you-go. Ponzi’s scheme was not, as it depended on continuous doubling the ratio of contributors to investors. Maybe some people don’t want to accept the fact that we’re all in this together, but…we are. So unless you want to be sending a crisp Alexander Hamilton into the Treasury, don’t be talkin’ any of this stuff anymore…capeesh!!?? read more »Ponzi Schemes for Beginners by James Kwak, baselinescenario.com | September 12, 2011
On the theory that the best defense is a good offense, Rick Perry has been insisting to anyone who will listen that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. I think it’s important to be clear about why Rick Perry thinks it is—or, rather, why his political advisers think he can get away with it. A Ponzi scheme, classically, is one where you promise high returns to investors but you have no way of actually generating those returns; instead, you plan to pay off old investors by getting new money from new investors. Social Security is obviously not a Ponzi scheme for at least two basic reasons. First, there’s no fraud involved. Second, a Ponzi scheme cannot go on forever. At some point you out of new investors and it will collapse. So why do people ever think it’s a Ponzi scheme? It’s the combination of two factors, each of which is relatively innocuous on its own. read more »Jobs Speech In A Democracy -- What Do Polls Show The Public Wants? by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | September 6, 2011
The President is about to give a major speech on jobs. What does the public think the country should do? The public wants jobs created to fix our crumbling infrastructure, paid for by tax increases on Wall Street and the super-rich. They do not want cuts in Medicare or Social Security. And business owners want customers, not deregulation or tax cuts. read more »Labor Day: A Day to Rest, Remember, and Act - For "Entitlements" and Jobs by Richard (RJ) Eskow, OurFuture.org | September 1, 2011
Rest. A time of rest from long hours of work. That's the principle enshrined in Labor Day, a 125-year-old American holiday that celebrates the spirit of organized labor. It's the spirit behind the six-day workweek, too. A day of rest was enshrined in monotheism's holy texts, after all, but it didn't become law until labor unions demanded it. ("Thou shalt remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" - did your boss forget?) read more »The Elderly Are Already Taking A Hit by Orson Aguilar and Carla Saporta, The Progressive | September 1, 2011
While national politicians argue about cuts to Social Security and Medicare down the road, cash-strapped state governments are cutting vital services for elderly Americans today. Those suffering most are often those with the least. The human misery that these cuts inflict doesn’t fall equally. One of the dirty little secrets of our supposedly “post-racial” society is that elderly African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Latinos are far less likely than whites to have the resources needed for a reasonably secure retirement. So the communities that have the least and have suffered the most during the economic downturn are being hit again by cuts to vital programs for their elderly and frail. It’s a truism that the test of a society is how it cares for its most vulnerable. America is failing that test. read more »Raising the Medicare Age: 8 Reasons It's the Worst Presidential "Bargain" Since 1854 by Richard (RJ) Eskow, OurFuture.org | August 30, 2011
When it comes to the "Grand Bargain" they're pushing in Washington, the movie posters for The Fly said it best: Be afraid. Be very afraid. Othe people are using our lives as bargaining chips. Whether it's the so-called Congressional "Super Committee" or the President's push for that grandé-sized deal, they want to look "grand" while we get stuck with the "bargain." read more »Lazy Old Losers by Digby , OurFuture.org | August 26, 2011
The wingnuts all believe they're going to live forever and nothing bad can ever happen to them. Here's the GOP's Great Hispanic Hope on Medicare and Social Security: read more »Why Is President Obama So Anxious to Cut Social Security? by Dean Baker, truth-out.org | August 23, 2011
On his tour of the Midwest last week, President Obama again indicated his interest in cutting Social Security. He repeated a proposal that his administration first put forward in the debt ceiling negotiations: he wants to cut the annual cost of living adjustment by 0.3 percentage points. This cut may sound small, but it adds up over time. A person in their 70s who had been getting benefits for ten years would see a reduction of 3 percent. By the time they were in their 80s, the cut would be 6 percent. And if they lived into their 90s, their benefit would be more than 9 percent lower as a result of President Obama's proposal. But apparently President Obama feels that these people need to make greater sacrifices. The determination to cut Social Security is especially strange given the finances of the program. read more »
The Latest
Robert Borosage is quoted in The Washington Post: Voters want the focus on jobs, voices.washingtonpost.com | January 24, 2011
Call it the pre-prebuttal. Anticipating a heavy focus on reducing the deficit in President Obama's State of the Union address next week, liberal groups are already attacking the idea, arguing that deficit reduction should not come before further stimulus to help the economy. read more »
Roger Hickey is quoted in the Washington Post , The Washington Post | January 24, 2011
DCCC Chair: Dems Will Pound GOP On Social Security, Keep Retirement Age In Place , Huffington Post | August 13, 2010
Top officials insist that among all the issues they've tested with voters, the one that yields the best results for the party is a pledge to protect the retirement program from privatization. read more »
Protecting Social Security: Let's Tell The Deficit Commission Not to Slash Entitlements , dailykos.com | August 13, 2010
Earlier today I sent a letter to the White House, signed by myself and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Lynn Woolsey, making it clear that we will stand against any potential cuts to Social Security benefits. read more »
At 75, Social Security Ripens as Voter Issue, USA Today | August 13, 2010
They spent months on health care and Wall Street in Congress, but as lawmakers talk with voters during the summer recess they are increasingly focused on an entirely different issue: Social Security. read more »
Democracy Corps Poll: Cut the deficit by investing, not by cutting Social Security , dailykos.com | August 13, 2010
The most salient result from the polling, said Greenberg is that it reflected that the electorate is "remarkably sophisticated about the economic crisis and its causes" and hold the firm belief that the only way to address the deficit long term is with investment in the economy. The survey of 1,000 people who voted in 2008 was conducted at the end of July. Here are the key findings:
Dems Plan to Attack GOP on Social Security, thehill.com | August 10, 2010
House Democrats are planning more than 100 events around this week’s anniversary of Social Security to attack Republicans who want to reform the popular entitlement.
Democrats and interest groups on the left have scheduled “birthday parties” and other events to highlight Saturday’s 75th anniversary of the program signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt.
In Weak Economy, More People Are Filing Early for Social Security, The Washington Post | August 9, 2010
Social Security Approaches Its 75th Anniversary, mcclatchydc.com | August 9, 2010
Evelyn Sekula's widowed grandmother struggled to survive during the Depression. Like millions of other elderly people, she had no pension and no savings. read more »
Medicare Stronger, Social Security Worse in Short Run, Report Finds, The New York Times | August 6, 2010
Medicare will remain financially solvent for 12 additional years, until 2029, because of the cost-cutting measures in President Obama’s recently enacted health care legislation, the program’s trustees projected on Thursday. read more »
