social security

Progressives really owe Third Way a debt of gratitude. Finally, some austerity hawks that come clean about the true intentions of their proposals to cut Social Security. Unlike Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, who were shamed into insisting that their proposed cuts were only for the purpose of “strengthening Social Security,” in Third Way's report, "Saving Social Security,"Jim Kessler and David Kendall effectively admit that cutting Social Security should be a part of deficit reduction. more »

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Third Way's Social Security reform proposal deserves to be judged on its merits. But the outright lies its leaders are spreading about the position of progressive groups on Social Security do not. Plugging their reform proposal in Politico, Third Way's Jim Kessler and David Kendall claim that progressives are denying that Social Security has any problem at all. This is patently false. There is not one progressive group that denies Social Security will face a modest shortfall in 26 years. In fact, thus far, at least four progressive figures or groups have put forward their plans for filling this shortfall. more »

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The latest Democracy Corps/Campaign For America's Future poll on jobs and the economy has a clear message for the President and his party: Stand up for jobs, and protect Social Security and Medicare. The results couldn't be clearer. Yet it's still rumored that the President's State of the Union will emphasize deficit reduction over job creation, and the White House has refused to assure worried Democrats that the President won't also propose cuts to Social Security.

How many polls will it take to convince the White House that this is political suicide? How many expert analyses will it take to persuade them that its premature to make deficits the priority when the country desperately needs jobs and economic growth?

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As usual, the Democrats are on track to do the Republicans’ dirty work—only to suffer the political fallout later on. What else could one conclude from the rampant rumors that President Obama will signal his willingness to “compromise” (read: cut) on Social Security in the State of the Union address? Anyone who doubts that this would amount to political suicide, hasn’t read National Review editor, Ramesh Ponnurru’s column in the New York Times last Friday, instructing Republican politicians that they should wait for President Obama to act first on Social Security “reform” (read: benefit cuts). Here’s the kicker: Ponnurru specifically suggests that Republicans should champion “entitlement reform,” if, and only if, Obama dangles Social Security as an area of compromise in the State of the Union address. As friends of the President, we progressives must stop him from granting Ponnurru’s wish—and the wishes of so many conservatives eager to have the President do their bidding. Click here to read Ponnurru's column. more »

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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 »

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Watch as GOP Rep. Jim Renacci (OH) is confronted at a local town hall meeting, asked what the heck he thinks he is doing saying he will vote to repeal the health care reform law. more »

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Mr. President, you moved a nation today with your words in Tucson. "Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame," you said, "let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together."

You also said this: "It's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds."

Two weeks from now the State of the Union address will be an opportunity to bring Americans together - Americans who have been bitterly divided by party loyalty and ideology, but who stand united in their support for the social programs that have improved our lives for the past seventy-five years. On that night, will they know that somebody has heard them? Will they feel that someone is talking to them? Will they feel they have a voice inside the Capitol rotunda, in a city where they sometimes seem to have been forgotten? more »

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I appeared last week on the Bill Meyer Show, a talk radio program in Medford, OR.  It was a very useful debate, since Bill (and one or two callers) used all the standard talking points for cutting Social Security:  it's bankrupt, it's only IOUs, there are too many baby boomers, the worker-to-retiree ratio is disastrous, it's a Ponzi scheme, etc. etc.

That was opportunity to rebut all of these points, so it went really well.  It got a little heated, too, which makes for better listening. (But it was always civil and respectful!)  So if you have a few minutes and want to prepare for your next holiday argument with your right-wing uncle, have a listen:

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