The Social Security War has Officially Begun...Who's with Me?

[jtown1123]

So, it's pretty clear to everyone who has been following the release of the Fiscal Commission Co-Chair Report (http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/CoChairDraft.pdf) which is chock full of severe benefit cuts to Social Security and Medicare (it also asks Veterans to pay more for their medical care...Happy Vets Day!)that this is probably one of the biggest assaults on the New Deal programs, which are some of the few safety nets left. Although it looks like the commission will be stuck in gridlock, these proposals could very well end up in President Obama's budget in the spring, which he will have to make some sacrifices in cuts to get the Republicans to vote on extending our debt ceiling.

Completely denying the existence of the SS Trust Fund (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/fundFAQ.html) Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles they would rather cut everyone's benefits than pay up. A broken promise of this magnitude would be unconscionable. Interestingly enough, this proposal places no financial burden on the wealthiest Americans or the financial industry. In order to make SS solvent, 92% of this plan relies on cuts and only 8% revenue raisers...nice.
As Paul Krugmran writes:

"Actually, though, what the co-chairmen are proposing is a mixture of tax cuts and tax increases — tax cuts for the wealthy, tax increases for the middle class. They suggest eliminating tax breaks that, whatever you think of them, matter a lot to middle-class Americans — the deductibility of health benefits and mortgage interest — and using much of the revenue gained thereby, not to reduce the deficit, but to allow sharp reductions in both the top marginal tax rate and in the corporate tax rate.

It will take time to crunch the numbers here, but this proposal clearly represents a major transfer of income upward, from the middle class to a small minority of wealthy Americans. And what does any of this have to do with deficit reduction?" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/opinion/12krugman.html?partner=rss&emc=rss)

This is going to be a huge issue in the coming months.

If this is something you are particularly interested in, this Facebook community is really good for breaking news and analysis on SS and Medicare, the Fiscal Commission and regularly provides Legislative Action Center letters you can send to the President, your reps., etc: http://www.facebook.com/NationalCommittee

Oh, and to kick things off, I suggest DUers flood this WSJ Poll asking what should be axed from the Fiscal Commission Proposals: http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/question-day-229/topics/should-dropped-deficit-reduction-panels

Thanks for listening.

[rocktivity]

1. Lifting or eliminating the SS salarly cap and lowering or eliminating Medicare's eligibility age

are the only solutions that are morally and fiscally viable.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[blindpig]

2. This is not a fight that can be won in the halls of power

It's pretty obvious that most of the political class of either flavor are going for it, only the details will vary.

The only chance the people got is to take the fight to the street. This is self defense.

[jtown1123]

3. I agree. Is Social Security something that could get people rioting on the streets?

[Goldstein1984]

4. Recommended: "The Anti-American Manifesto" by Ted Rall

This corrupt and undemocratic system will not be fixed from within.