Krugman: Not Necessary to Make Any Changes to Social Security

[amborin]

Social Security Coalition Whipping Members of Congress on Pledge to Protect Program

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/08/16/social-security-coalition-whipping-members-of-congress-on-pledge-to-protect-program/

Paul Krugman..... makes a fully formed argument against Social Security benefit cuts or increases in the retirement age.
He basically says that the expected increase in the percentage of GDP needed for Social Security in the next 20 years
is less than the increase in the military budget since 9/11, and that those with their knives out for the program
are using accounting tricks.

He adds that raising the retirement age, which amounts to a benefit cut of up to 20% (that would be the entire point
of raising the retirement age, to reduce future expenditures), particularly short-changes low-income workers,
who have not seen their life expectancy increase at the same rate as the affluent

Krugman writes:

"
So where do claims of crisis come from? To a large extent they rely on bad-faith accounting. In particular, they rely on an exercise in three-card monte in which the surpluses Social Security has been running for a quarter-century don’t count — because hey, the program doesn’t have any independent existence; it’s just part of the general federal budget — while future Social Security deficits are unacceptable — because hey, the program has to stand on its own.

It would be easy to dismiss this bait-and-switch as obvious nonsense, except for one thing: many influential people — including Alan Simpson, co-chairman of the president’s deficit commission — are peddling this nonsense.

And having invented a crisis, what do Social Security’s attackers want to do? They don’t propose cutting benefits to current retirees; invariably the plan is, instead, to cut benefits many years in the future. So think about it this way: In order to avoid the possibility of future benefit cuts, we must cut future benefits. O.K"


who supports hands off:



http://www.ourfuture.org/handsoffsocialsecurity


Members of Congress:
Raul Grijalva, Lynn Woolsey, Nancy Pelosi (based on this story), Alan Grayson, Dave Loebsack, John Conyers, Earl Pomeroy

Candidates:
Francine Busby (CA-50), Roxanne Conlin (IA-Sen), Jack Conway (KY-Sen), Elaine Marshall (NC-Sen), Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02), David Segal (RI-01)

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Fortunately, Professional Lefty Krugman has been shunned by the White House

Krugman said the stimulus was too small, and we'd hit 10% unemployment followed by Japan-style deflation. Thank goodness Democrats listen to Larry and Timmy on economic issues rather than someone with a track record of being right most all the time.

[DURHAM D]

2. Just submit the pledge to Obama.

Given that he has repeatedly said SS will soon be broke he is the biggest single problem.

[txlibdem]

3. Gotta distract us from the real issue

Social Security is just another bugaboo, one more thing to keep our attention focused elsewhere than the real problem.

The real problem is that our country can no longer support a rich idle class who skim 76% of the earnings out of the system but only pay 40% of the taxes (if that after all their tax loopholes and deductions). We can no longer support a thieving rich that has systematically removed 90% of all real estate assets from us.

The second issue is that we can no longer afford to support a plethora of thieving corporations that syphon off 100% of the profits of our labors and wisk it off to foreign countries or squirrel it away by the hoarded trillions. US Businesses are today sitting on 1.8 Trillion dollars that could and should be put to work to fuel an economic recovery greater than any we've previously known.

All these special interests hoarding all of our assets is the major cause for the destruction of our country.

Time to set things right, Americans!

[glitch]

4. Well said and belated welcome to DU! nt

[txlibdem]

5. Thanks, very much appreciated...n/t

[Poboy]

6. This is why Americans do not trust Dems on SS anymore.

I find it astonishing that Obama is ABANDONING protection of SS, when is it so popular, needed, and beneficial to the good citizens of this country.
Forget 'planks' or boards, SS is the FOUNDATION on which our society operates. We love it.
Yet this WH is dead set on destroying it and doesn't care how many lies need to be told, or how popular it is.

Ed Shultz said in polling, Americans do not trust the Dems to protect Soc. Sec. anymore.
Personally, I hope that poll is right.
I hope people see that these 'Dems' are traitors and CRIMINALS, looking for short term personal gain at the expense of the people and party.