Sen. Judd Gregg (yep, that guy) locks in on Social Security reform

[bottomtheweaver]

Manchester (NH) Democrat Examiner
February 27, 7:16 AM

It doesn't look like U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R NH) is going to go quietly into lame duckhood.

He's making noise about Social Security reform, an issue that many thought would have been part of his role in the Obama cabinet had he gone forward with the nomination as commerce secretary.
:wow:
Teeing off on this week's White House Fiscal Responsibility Summit, Gregg cautioned against "the damage posed to the country’s economic future by long-term entitlement spending."

"The retirement of the Baby Boomers is already beginning to exacerbate a problem that has been building for years, and now is the time to start addressing the long-term obligation of the major entitlement programs. Simply put -- we need a plan to address this crisis, and we need to take action on that plan," the Republican said in a press release.

“Fixing Social Security is a shared, bipartisan goal, and it can be accomplished right away."
:wow:
(snip)

One benefit that Gregg would have brought into the cabinet of President Barack Obama would have been his expertise on entitlements. But with his withdrawal from consideration as secretary of commerce means he'll be making his case from the outside of the administration.

(snip)

New relevations about Gregg may have an impact on his political relevancy. The Associated Press is an exclusive report is saying that Gregg steered federal funds to the Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth where he and his brother had some real estate dealings.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2978-Manchester-Democrat-Examiner~topic76106-Gregg
................................

Great, a two-bit fraudster from NH with "expertise on entitlements" was ready to slice up Social Security and serve it to his repuke brethren. Looks like we dodged a bullet with that one.

[Jim Sagle]

1. Hey Barack, if any of your people are reading this, I'll make this real simple.

Shut the fuck up about Social Security reform.

[bottomtheweaver]

2. Seconded.

Social Security is probably the one program where bipartisanship is NOT a good idea. On second thought, it's never a good idea.

[leftstreet]

3. Add my STFU

Leave Social Security Alone!

[orleans]

4. with all the shit that has been hitting the fan, including the 401k dump

who the hell wants their ss fucked around with?

[fasttense]

5. If inflation had been accurately counted, Social Security benefits would be 70%

greater. Do you remember that inflation is calculated after subtracting the price of food and gas, plus homeownership costs are adjusted as if we were renting. So when you get your cost of living adjustment on Social Security, it is half of what it should be. Social Security benefits should increase, considerably, not decrease.

They have already f*cked around with our Social Security. Raygun doubled our Social Security taxes while at the same time lowering the uber wealth's taxes. Greenspan borrowed from our trust fund to hide Raygun's deficit and every president afterwords has done the same thing. If we didn't have a bush deficit, Social Security payments (at full payout adjusted for real inflation) would not even be a blimp on Wall Street's radar.

[Vinca]

6. It can be reformed in 1 simple act - raising the cap. nt

[eridani]

7. Obama would do well to note that Bush had no luck at all

--not even with handpicked audiences of his favorite blue-haired culture warriors.