Social Security
Top Stories
Economists Warn Against Budget-Cutting That Will Undermine Job Growth
More than 300 economists, policy experts and civic leaders have signed a statement warning political leaders of “a grave danger” that the still-fragile economic recovery will be undercut by austerity economics of the kind being pushed by conservative politicians and by the White House deficit commission. Read the statement and related commentary on the critical choices we must make to revive the economy.
Featured Issues
The GOP Payroll Tax Plan Does So Stink
December 1st, 2011
No doubt Republicans know the fight over extending the payroll tax is one they could lose. Thus, they've pivoted away from opposing the extension, and have presented a plan of their own — one that Timothy Noah says the Democrats should be willing to work with because it "doesn't stink."
Well, in my experience, just because you can't smell something doesn't mean it doesn't sink. Some things "pass the smell test" because of a faulty sniffer; not because they don't stink. And the GOP's payroll tax plan does so stink.
... more »
Before He Cuts Social Security, I Hope the President Listens To This "Obama" Guy
January 14th, 2011
In an open letter to the President this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders mentioned "worriesome reports" that the President is planning to cut Social Security. These reports don't come out of the blue. They're the culmination of a months-long campaign. The White House has been privately signalling for months that it was leaning in that direction, and now the sky over Washington is darkening with trial balloons floating up from Pennsylvania Avenue.
Before you make such a disastrous and unwarranted move, Mr. President, there's someone I think you should meet. Actually, you may have run into him before: He's a skinny guy with an keen analytical mind and a gift for brilliant oratory. Sound familiar? He ran for President last time around, and he had some very sensible things to say about Social Security: more »
The Conservative Plan for Social Security Is “An Absolute Disgrace”
Sen. John McCain's comment last week that it's an "absolute disgrace" that current workers pay for the Social Security benefits of current retirees was bad enough, but the conservative policy alternative, and the fear-mongering that comes with it, is even worse. Here's how to attack it.
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The Case
Retirement with Dignity
We need to make it possible for all Americans to retire with dignity at the end of a lifetime of work. That means protecting Social Security and mandating corporations treat their employees the same as their executives when it comes to health and retirement benefits.
The Privatization Threat Is Back
Prominent Republicans have come out publicly in past weeks stating that, given the chance in 2007, they will push Social Security privatization again. This includes...
The Facts
Quotes From Behind The Conservative Wrecking Ball
Rep. Michele Bachmann
- "I have no intention of voting to raise the debt ceiling because, right now, the federal government continues to spend more money than what it takes in."
Barack Obama’s Statements on Social Security
The following are key statements made by Barack Obama as president and prior to his presidency about Social Security.
The News
The Case
Mitt Romney Wins Now, Loses Later
Too many analysts are focusing on Romney's weakness among conservatives. That's not the problem. Republicans have the greatest tool in history for motivating conservatives to vote Republican in November: Barack Obama. So, yes, the right will sigh, shrug, and settle for Mitt. And no, their hearts won't be in it — until they see the first Obama rally. The sight of our president standing before 50,000 cheering Democrats, looking like a cross between JFK and Al Green, will send them running, not walking, to the polls. No, Romney's problem isn’t ideology; it's demography. And so all his desperate and pathetic pandering to the kook right has solved a problem he never really had — and created a problem he may not be able to cure: Women. Latinos. Seniors. The moves Romney made in the primary season put him in a deep hole with these three key constituencies. more »
Latest from our Bloggers
may
16
2012
10:58 am
10:58 am
Suppose the "deficit hawk" plan unfolds just as it is being presented -- right after the election and before those we elect can take office, the Congress meets and hammers out a "grand bargain" to "reform" taxes and cut back on government and the things democracy does for We, the People. Will that be the end of it? more »
may
2
2012
11:45 am
11:45 am
"Hmm," writes a blogger. "Liberals need to get off their fainting couches." It's in an argument for cutting Social Security benefits - and it comes from a liberal.
Benefit cuts would hurt millions of disabled and elderly people, harm our economy, and wound our social character. more »
apr
24
2012
8:21 am
8:21 am
In the coming days and weeks we'll be hearing a lot of misinformation about the Trustees Report from the Social Security Administration. It's time to separate the myths from the realities:
Myth: "Social Security and Medicare have a cost problem." more »
apr
23
2012
6:31 pm
6:31 pm
Brace yourself for another round of ideologically-driven hysteria. It will be pushed by wealthy right-wing power brokers, aided and abetted by the entrenched power elite which Bill Clinton and his kind of Democrat have come to represent. more »
apr
23
2012
10:29 am
10:29 am
Here are some headlines you won't see after the government releases new figures on Social Security and Medicare later today:
"Social Security Trust Fund Even Larger Than It Was Last Year"
"Growing Wealth Inequity Will Lead to Social Security Imbalance Later This Century"
"For-Profit Healthcare Poses Threat to Medicare, Federal Deficit, and Overall Economy in Coming Decades" more »
apr
19
2012
3:37 pm
3:37 pm
Picture this: You're driving down the road one rainy day as someone bearing an uncanny resemblance to Mitt Romney approaches you from the other direction in a Cadillac. One of you hydroplanes and there's a collision. more »
apr
18
2012
1:48 pm
1:48 pm
President Obama and many Democrats spent much of 2011 talking about deficits instead of doing something about jobs. Now, a too-close election is on the horizon (too-close because of spending 2011 talking about deficits instead of doing something about jobs) and we're being forced back to talking about deficits instead of jobs -- by a Democrat! more »
apr
16
2012
9:35 pm
9:35 pm
So a corporate Democratic lobbyist named Hillary Rosen made a gaffe about Ann Romney's resumé. So what? The reality is that Moms of all ages have been wounded by an obsolete and misguided consensus among Washington elites - a consensus that is too often mislabeled as 'centrism.' more »
