Social Security Cuts On The Table In Debt Ceiling Negotiations

Last week, President Barack Obama insisted that nothing could be off limits in talks to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

The president was mostly referring to tax increases on the wealthy, which Democrats have been pushing for in the deficit talks, and which Republicans have steadfastly opposed. But it now appears Social Security could be under the knife, according to Talking Points Memo.

Over the last few weeks, congressional aides, strategists and advocates have told TPM that a "stealth change" to the Social Security benefit structure is on the table.

From TPM:

The proposal wouldn't just impact Social Security benefits. It would also shave off yearly increases in federal pension payouts, and result in somewhat higher tax revenues. But the ratio would be skewed toward benefit cuts by a factor of about 2-to-1 and would represent a financial hit to even the poorest retirees unless they were exempted.

Under the current proposal being floated, the benefit cuts could be as high as 9.2 percent.

AARP CEO A. Barry Rand, whose organization is a major lobbying group for older Americans, said cuts to Social Security are not acceptable as part of a debt ceiling deal. But last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that AARP has privately conceded that trimming Social Security may be unavoidable.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has said the government has until August 2 to raise the amount Congress can legally borrow. Failure to do so, Geithner warned, could cause an economic crisis.

Comments

[Geo Storm]

08:41 AM on 07/12/2011

Riddle me this............

We have check book, we can only spend this much per month. Let's get rid of the Gov't employees we can't afford, the Gov't programs we can't afford. Why is it everyones burden because some refuse to provide for theirselves. Without a doubt some programs are needed but when you pay more in taxes than those with multiple kids do it gets old, their kids are using the schools, parents use more of the roads, library, every public service is used more by someone with children than not. I agree we must pay our fair share......no problem with our taxes but problem get when people get free handouts because they don't want to work or don't want to get a second job. I worked a second job to afford my home. I did not get a tax refund because I wanted to buy a home. We should pay back the Gov't for the services we use in some way, not to reward those not working by giving a huge tax refund.

[Geo Storm]

08:16 AM on 07/12/2011

Hopefully..............

1. No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, No changes to the age to get benefits. 62 for earliy benefits.

2. Raise the taxes on those incomes over $250K, as Warren Buffet says over and over he should be paying more taxes, his words not mine. I have read he pays 14% and something else said 10% but he is a BILLIONAIRE.

3. Raise the Social Security payroll deduction amount. It for some reason was decreased from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent......raise it backc to 6.2 or maybe 7.2 for employee and employer.

4. Cut back Federal spending. Decrease OUR Government.

5. Question of the century. How much are our Congress willing to give up to help the "Average" citizens. Does the House of Reps really care? Does the Senate really care? Does the President really care?

[hackitoff]

06:48 PM on 07/09/2011

Maybe SS should be taken private. That way the Feds wouldn't have the money to waste and they couldn't cut benefits..

[Amie Liberties]

11:07 PM on 07/09/2011

Call your Congressman or submit a comment on their Congressional web page. Make your voie heard to your Congressional Representative.

[Geo Storm]

08:19 AM on 07/12/2011

would be good AS LONG as it is phased in correctly......not to penalize people that might be in their 50's that can't work and can't get approved for disability. No sense of making it private when those can't work but for the younger person it would be great the more you make and put in the more you get vs, the formula the gov't uses.

[kowens512]

02:58 PM on 07/08/2011

Thou shall not touch Social Security !!!

[hackitoff]

06:31 PM on 07/09/2011

May cut SS 18.4% for Republicans and 0% if you're a Democrat. I'm sure the Republicans will agree to this.

[Keith Moe Johnson]

10:38 PM on 07/07/2011

The time is to ask the people "what are they will to do to stop this from happening? The Congress and The Senate, will have to vote on this proposal!!! They have to make it law!!!!! Don't blame The President!!1 Make The Democrats and Republicans vote it down!!!! REMEMBER THESE ARE THE SAME CONGRESS AND SENATE ,WHO VOTED FOR THE DEFICITS!!!! LET THEM VOTE AND THEN MAKE THEM PAY!!!!!

[nypapajoe]

05:54 PM on 07/07/2011

America this is it, the privatization of social security and Medicare while the ultra rich continue to reap huge billion of dollar in profits and paying a fraction of it in taxes, if they pay at all and the substdies they continue to reap via their corporations, which have dominated our nations politics! This is your last opportunity to STOP them before we are all left with no benefits snd having to depend on handouts to survive in our later years! Don't wait to vote start to yell and scream, writing letters, calling and emailing those republican puppets of the rich lobbyist that they are!

[den1953]

01:30 PM on 07/07/2011

That 7% pay off from shorting those government bonds is looking good for Eric cantor?

[kdlaiusa]

12:40 PM on 07/07/2011

Cantor's head is always shaking whiling speaking in front of a camera. Never trust a man like him. He should really trim the edges on his face.

[Veganie]

12:13 PM on 07/07/2011

republicans getting re-elected might be the last of their worries if they don't produce jobs

[Veganie]

12:05 PM on 07/07/2011

Republicans are clueless, cuts without revenue are insane.

[Patriot86]

11:01 AM on 07/07/2011

Hey AARP I won't join your worthless organzation either...you have gone corporate and no longer protect seniors.

[hackitoff]

06:42 PM on 07/09/2011

If the AARP eventually supports a SS cut, I will terminate my membership and so will many other members. What's more, I would suggest that members not buy products it recommends. It wouldn't suprise me if the org gets a piece of the action from things members purchase thru them like insurance. Next its officers and directors should take pay cuts (like $0). I would also ask that they it change its name to to American Association for the Republican Party.

[Geo Storm]

08:24 AM on 07/12/2011

if AARP is not a business they should take zero pay! They say we are for the people.....blah blah blah but then support SS cuts. Common sense doesn't work, how do you cut people's money are are not working......retired.....or soon to be........oh wait and with unemployment?.....jobs look for younger people anyhow to pay less......oh wait CEO pay up 23 percent with workers pay up .5 percent......that is point five percent.

well well

[bealebkk]

10:58 AM on 07/07/2011

Here a flop, there a flip everywhere a flip-flop

[olerealist]

10:47 AM on 07/07/2011

THURS JUL 8th

REPUBLICANS IN DENIAL
They are in denial of these bald bare facts.

Excluding SCOTUS, there are 3 branches of the fed government: House, Senate and President.
They control ONLY ONE of these, the House of Representatives. If not in denial, they would quickly realize that the only way to avoid national fiscal doom on Aug 2 is to compromise
on deficit reduction.

Dem.’s have shown that they are prepared to compromise by way of huge spending reductions. Repub.’s have painted them selves in a corner having romanced the Tea people who say “our way or the highway” notwithstanding that the “highway” leads to early doom and destruction. And the Tea people have one, maybe two hands on the Repub. steering wheel. If that were not the case, we would quickly see an approximate one year extension of the date with a preliminary spending reduction of just one trillion for next decade.

That would bring the final debate closer to the 2012 election date which would bring the existing public outcry for a compromise to a crescendo.

[Liberal2009]

10:29 AM on 07/07/2011

This nation is toast and little do the citizens realize they’ve been reduced to serfs in their own land, courtesy of the international banking cabal.

[den1953]

01:33 PM on 07/07/2011

Yeah don't you love it when the Republican /TP realizes they are included in the cuts in Social Security and Medicare maybe they can go to town hall meetings in the fall and raise some hell?

[doctorzap]

10:10 AM on 07/07/2011

Another great idea. Instead of raising taxes on the rich and ending corporate welfare, let's cut social security benefits by 9%. Doesn't matter that this will not raise one cent of new revenue or help balance the budget. Let's just do it because Regressives keep telling us SS is a big problem and we must fix it now or else 30 years from now we will have big problems.

What happened to being laser-focused to create jobs? How many job bills have Squeaker Orange and Leader Can't passed so far? Oh, that's right. They want Obama to do their jobs for them so they can sit back and take potshots at him for trying to do what the American people want and expect their politicians to do.