AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka reaffirmed on Oct. 28 that the AFL-CIO opposes any cuts to Social Security or Medicare benefits or to the federal contribution to Medicaid and he criticized Senate Democrats on the "Super Committee" for proposing—according to news reports—hundreds of billions of cuts.
As high-stakes deficit talks resumed Tuesday at the White House, Sen. Bernie Sanders prodded President Barack Obama to keep his 2008 campaign promise not to cut Social Security. "If you told the American people you're not going to cut Social Security, then don't cut Social Security. Keep your word," Sanders said in a Senate floor speech.
On his MSNBC show Thursday night, Ed Schultz said that if President Barack Obama cuts Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid he will not be reelected to a second term.The Washington Post reported late on Wednesday that Obama was considering cuts in Social Security and major reductions in Medicare in exchange for Republican support of increasing tax revenues.
“This is a bad move,” Schultz said. “The Republicans behind closed doors — we can only imagine — they’re saying we’ve got him right where we want him. We have President Obama and his people floating stories about putting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security on the table for cuts. This is something George Bush couldn’t even do.”
His guest, Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT), added that Republicans “would not take yes for an anwser” and wanted to run the government into the ground.
President Obama is pressing congressional leaders to consider a far-reaching debt-reduction plan that would force Democrats to accept major changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for Republican support for fresh tax revenue.
At a meeting with top House and Senate leaders set for Thursday morning, Obama plans to argue that a rare consensus has emerged about the size and scope of the nation’s budget problems and that policymakers should seize the moment to take dramatic action.
As part of his pitch, Obama is proposing significant reductions in Medicare spending and for the first time is offering to tackle the rising cost of Social Security, according to people in both parties with knowledge of the proposal. The move marks a major shift for the White House and could present a direct challenge to Democratic lawmakers who have vowed to protect health and retirement benefits from the assault on government spending. MORE...
Joan McCarter (Daily Kos):He presents those facts: the benefits are very modest, averaging $1,170 a month, or about $14,000 a year (among the least generous retirement programs among all the developed nations); Social Security as is will be solvent until 2037, and the measures required to extend solvency beyond that are minor. As Conason says, there is no reason to panic, and "certainly no reason to consider wholesale changes in benefits." MORE...Howie P.S.: Full disclosure---I am now "on the dole," as one of my Palin-loving friends @ work told me. Yes, I have a few Palin-loving friends. Somebody has to be there for them when they need to reboot. BTW that's Joan in the photo, above.
Bernie Sanders has a message for the President [pdf]:In a letter to the president, Sanders referred to what he called “worrisome reports” that Obama is considering cuts in Social Security. “I hope that information is wrong and that you will stand by your campaign promises to strengthen Social Security,” the senator said. “I urge you once again to make it clear to the American people that under your watch we will not cut Social Security benefits, raise the retirement age or privatize this critical program.”
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Here are some of those promises.
...I believe that cutting benefits is not the right answer; I've seen too many seniors all across the country who are struggling with the limited Social Security benefits that they have; that raising the retirement age is not the best option....
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What Barack Obama said in 2008 is just as true for President Obama in 2011: any cuts to Social Security, including raising the retirement age, are not the best option, and are unnecessary.
In the next few weeks, the White House is deciding what the President will say about Social Security in the State of the Union address--will he offer up Social Security in a Grand Bargain, or will he keep the promise he made to the American people in 2008? MORE...
The lack of balance in the media and Village discussions when it comes to Social Security is a common topic among us DFH bloggers, but we're not the only ones who've noticed it. So has Columbia Journalism Review.Howie P.S.: Just a little OT, from Greg Sargent:
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The traditional media has been incredibly lazy on this story, which isn't a tremendous surprise--they're lazy on just about every story. But in this case, it's not just the media. Far too many of our Democratic leaders, including President Obama find it easier to spout conventional wisdom than the refute it with the facts. Back in the old days, politicians used to get heat for governing according to the polls. On the issue of the Social Security, they appear to be governing according to the Village. On this one, they should be listening to the people. MORE...
Obama's place in history (so far): Harold Meyerson says Obama clearly bested Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter when it comes to the grand progressive project of moving the country towards social and economic equity. But he now has to prove he can match FDR and Lyndon Johnson in persuading the public he is providing for their economic security.
Robert Kuttner (Politico):The tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is just the first part of a multistage drama that is likely to further divide and weaken Democrats.
The second part, now being teed up by the White House and key Senate Democrats, is a scheme for the president to embrace much of the Bowles-Simpson plan — including cuts in Social Security. This is to be unveiled, according to well-placed sources, in the president’s State of the Union address.
The idea is to pre-empt an even more draconian set of budget cuts likely to be proposed by the incoming House Budget Committee chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), as a condition of extending the debt ceiling. This is expected to hit in April. MORE...
Polling has begun to emerge on the proposed tax cut deal, and the consensus is that the overall deal is pretty popular. Surveys from both Pew and ABC News / Washington Post support this conclusion. Pew shows support at 65% in favor and 20% opposed. ABC / WaPo has support at 69%-29%.As always, there is more to learn from any given poll than just the topline results. Here are three important details:
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- Opinions not well-formed. Whenever survey responses are dominated by people who “somewhat” support / oppose or “somewhat” approve / disapprove of something, it is a clear sign that the universe sampled by the poll does not have strong opinions about the poll topic. And so it is the case with the tax cut deal as well.
According to the ABC / WaPo poll, only 20% of the country “strongly” supports the deal, and only 12% strongly opposes it. More than two-thirds of the country does not feel strongly about it either way. Even though news of the deal dominated political headlines for the past week, the country has not reacted strongly to it.
- Social Security payroll tax cut unpopular. While the deal is popular overall, different elements of the deal vary widely in terms of popularity. In particular it is worth noting that the cut to the Social Security payroll tax is actually quite unpopular.
The payroll tax is the only individual element of the deal that is opposed by a majority of the country. Further, 39% of the country is “strongly” opposed to the deal, equal to the number who “strongly” and “somewhat” support it combined. This aspect of the deal is a minefield for Democrats, in terms of both policy and politics.
If you think the Democratic base is mad at Obama now for making a craven deal with Republicans that continues tax breaks for the richest Americans and adds new ones for their heirs through a big cut in the estate tax, just wait a few weeks until Obama caves on Social Security.
How will this occur? The deficit commission appointed by the President has called for an increase in the retirement age, as well as other cuts in benefits over time. And the deal that Obama made with the Republicans just gave deficit hawks new ammunition by increasing the projected deficit by nearly $900 billion over a decade. Social Security will be in the cross-hairs.
The deficit commission has tried to camouflage these cuts by emphasizing that Social Security benefits for the very poor would not be reduced, and might even be increased. But in the commission's proposal, the cuts would affect middle-class retirees. Larry Summers, who is stepping down as Obama's economic chief, has refused to rule out cuts.
Social Security has also been softened up by the element of the tax deal that temporarily cuts payroll taxes. Supposedly, the trust funds will be made whole by a transfer from general government funds. But this increases the deficit. MORE...
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.) are both raising doubts about an aspect of President Barack Obama's tax-cut deal that has not received much criticism: a one-year, two-percentage point cut in employees' share of the Social Security payroll tax. By contrast, a group which usually mounts staunch opposition to changes in the Social Security funding mechanism, AARP, has said it is not troubled by the proposed payroll tax holiday.
"That’s another thing that I really disagree with the president on...this two percent cut in the payroll tax that goes to the Social Security trust fund. The last thing that we need to do is invade the Social Security trust fund to provide for things right now for people’s living," Harkin said in little-noted comments Wednesday on C'-SPAN's "Washington Journal." "They’re going to make up that by it taking out of the general fund, in other words: debt. They’re going to put debt on our kids head to pay for that. That bothers me. That bothers me a great deal."
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Dean, who doesn't get a vote on the package, took a similar tack on CBS's "Face The Nation" Sunday. "The 2 percent payroll tax sounds great, but in fact they take it out of the Social Security trust fund. Now, here we are complaining about the Social Security trust fund going broke and we take $120...billion of revenue out and use it for a payroll tax mitigation," Dean said.
"This is a short-term Washington fix. It does nothing about the biggest long-term threat to America, which is the deficit. I don't hear Republicans or Democrats talking about the deficit. There is no pain in this agreement. This is the easy way out for everybody," the ex-governor and former Democratic National Committee chairman said. MORE...
Social Security’s attackers claim that they’re concerned about the program’s financial future. But their math doesn’t add up, and their hostility isn’t really about dollars and cents. Instead, it’s about ideology and posturing. And underneath it all is ignorance of or indifference to the realities of life for many Americans. MORE...Howie P.S.: I am now, as a conservative friend told me, "on the dole."
The trust fund is in far better shape than critics admit.---The annual report of the Social Security Trustees is the sort of rich compendium of facts and analysis that has something for everybody, like the Bible.H/t to Norman Goldman.
In recent years, during which conservatives have intensified their efforts to destroy one of the few U.S. government programs that actually works as intended, the report's publication has become an occasion for hand-wringing and crocodile tears over the (supposedly) parlous state of the system's finances.
This year's report, which came out Thursday, is no exception. Within minutes of its release, some analysts were claiming that it projected a "shortfall" for Social Security this year of $41 billion. MORE...
The attacks on Social Security have steadily intensified in the past few months. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer recently called for a higher retirement age and House Minority leader John Boehner suggested raising the retirement age to 70. Meanwhile, President Obama’s bipartisan 18-member commission dealing with the nation’s public debt is due to come out with a report in November that is expected to recommend cuts to Social Security. We speak with Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
