tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895164153505105997.post6727133168978427813..comments2024-01-17T00:45:37.075-08:00Comments on Bud Meyers: The GOP will only screw young Republicans on Social SecurityBud Meyershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02065020063363023395noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895164153505105997.post-58635700403394185662015-08-23T15:03:30.888-07:002015-08-23T15:03:30.888-07:00Paul Krugman at the New York Times in a piece titl...Paul Krugman at the New York Times in a piece titled "Republicans Against Retirement" (I would have included this in my post had I read it first.)<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/opinion/republicans-against-retirement.html<br /><br />Excerpts below:<br /><br />For some reason, just about all the leading candidates other than The Donald have taken a deeply unpopular position, a known political loser, on a major domestic policy issue. And it’s interesting to ask why. The issue in question is the future of Social Security... <br /> <br />Voters, it turns out, like Social Security as it is, and don’t want it cut. It’s remarkable, then, that most of the Republicans who would be president seem to be lining up for another round of punishment. In particular, they’ve been declaring that the retirement age — which has already been pushed up from 65 to 66, and is scheduled to rise to 67 — should go up even further. Thus, Jeb Bush says that the retirement age should be pushed back to 68 or 70. Scott Walker has echoed that position. Marco Rubio wants both to raise the retirement age and to cut benefits for higher-income seniors. Rand Paul wants to raise the retirement age to 70 and means-test benefits. Ted Cruz wants to revive the Bush privatization plan ... <br /> <br />These proposals would be really bad public policy — a harsh blow to Americans in the bottom half of the income distribution, who depend on Social Security, often have jobs that involve manual labor, and have not, in fact, seen a big rise in life expectancy. Meanwhile, the decline of private pensions has left working Americans more reliant on Social Security than ever. And no, Social Security does not face a financial crisis; its long-term funding shortfall could easily be closed with modest increases in revenue ... <br /> <br />What’s puzzling about the renewed Republican assault on Social Security is that it looks like bad politics, as well as bad policy. Americans love Social Security, so why aren’t the candidates at least pretending to share that sentiment? The answer, I’d suggest, is that it’s all about the big money ... <br /> <br />By a very wide margin, ordinary Americans want to see Social Security expanded. But by an even wider margin, Americans in the top 1 percent want to see it cut. And guess whose preferences are prevailing among Republican candidates?<br /> <br />What this means, in turn, is that the eventual Republican nominee — assuming that it’s not Mr. Trump — will be committed not just to a renewed attack on Social Security, but to a broader plutocratic agenda.<br /> <br />Bud Meyershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02065020063363023395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7895164153505105997.post-55450364045532008432015-08-23T12:55:24.167-07:002015-08-23T12:55:24.167-07:00I re-edited version of this post is at the Economi...I re-edited version of this post is at the Economic Populist:<br /><br />The GOP Plan to Stiff Millennials on Social Security<br /><br />http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/gop-plan-stiff-millennials-social-security-5826Bud Meyershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02065020063363023395noreply@blogger.com