Mitt Romney's Anti-Social Stance on Social Security

Mitt Romney, tribune of the people, still doesn't seem to get a simple concept: Social Security is popular. With everybody. And particularly with older tea-party-supporting white voters who can often be counted on to be conservative on numerous other issues, and turn out in elections in key swing states.

It's pretty simple, really. It is perhaps the most successful government program ever, is the largest insurance program for children, and seniors benefiting from their earned benefits during their golden years are rather hesitant to lay it down on the altar of Mitt's very own Golden Calf -- Wall Street. Quelle surprise, as Mitt would have said during his tour as a Mormon missionary in France.

Somehow, amazingly, Republicans never quite grasp the popularity of this program. As Paul Krugman recently put it, "...George W. Bush won re-election by posing as America's defender against gay married terrorists, then announced that he had a mandate to privatize Social Security." And that, folks, if you look back at poll numbers, was the beginning of Bush's long slide into oblivion.

And if you think George W. Bush, as the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards said, was born with a "silver foot in his mouth," well, meet Mitt Romney. At the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, Romney decided to up the ante, and Social Security Works, with whom I work on this issue, captured his deceit for all to see. According to Romney:

We're going to have to recognize that Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable, not for the current group of retirees, but for coming generations... And we can't afford to avoid these entitlement challenges any longer.

First, a note to Mr. Romney: You won't fool current retirees into thinking you're not coming for their benefits. They know better. Once again, ask your buddy Bush. Second, your lying is showing again. Social Security will not require one iota of adjustment to remain fully solvent for the next 30 years or so -- you know, when Tagg runs for president on his Swiss-Bank-inherited fortune.

But if you did want to add funds to the Social Security Trust fund, it would be simple. Raise or eliminate the cap on payroll tax contributions that sees you pay this tax on only the first .5 percent of your income, while the vast majority of Americans pay it on 100 percent of theirs (that current cap is $110,100).

Meantime, a hint, big guy: There is a reason you are having serious trouble in primaries and caucuses in states where older white voters reside in disproportionately large numbers, such as Missouri, Maine (almost losing to Ron Paul? Really?) and Minnesota. As Mike Huckabee famously said in 2008, you look like the guy who laid them off. But you also talk like the guy who is going to cut their Social Security. At least Rick Santorum -- who, mind you, would also destroy Social Security if given the chance -- is smart enough to sound like a regular guy, with his stories of his immigrant-coal-miner grandfather and Western Pennsylvania background (I'm not convinced about the sweater vests though).

One more thing -- you need to win in places like Florida, Nevada and Arizona. And guess what? Latino voters also love their Social Security. So good try, but I'd find a new program to try and raid -- Bain-style -- if I were you.

 

 

 

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Comments

[susanbsbi]

11:54 AM on 02/16/2012

1935, was the year that Social Security and medicare went into effect. Now the GOP wants to kill that law. Fine, but all the money each and every citizen that they had SS & medicare taken from their pay check will have to be paid back. This money is to go into an escrow type of an account, as it is not the taxes for general fund spending. If you dissolved it I will demand my money back with interest, as that is the law.

[GenotheGreatOne]

08:25 AM on 02/16/2012

It is a trivial exercise to make the Social Security program solvent for all time.

First, remove the cap (currently $110 000) on contributions. Based on Treasury numbers available on FRED, currently only 50% of earned income is subject to the Social Security assessment.

Second, increase the assessment from 6 1/2% to 6 3/4%, for employees and employers.

Republicans sill scream over this, as they secretly increase taxes on the lower portion of the economy. Let them scream.

[BluesManStew]

01:03 AM on 02/16/2012

Cliff nailed it. If the Republicans were truly serious about taking the White House, they could easily offer up a candidate who can read the political tea leaves, and like W., know which ones are poisonous. I've personally paid a healthy six figures into social security and Medicare....that's why these programs are always referred to as the third rail.

I do believe that the uber rich should be excluded from all such benefits, as they have received 100 fold in tax write offs and the like. Let all the rich Republicans, collectively, sign a pact, like Bill Gates did with the billionaires, where all the rich Republicans--and their progeny--are to be excluded from receiving a dime of social security and Medicare benefits.

Only a card-carrying member of the 1% could utter such nonsense.

[BugSlayer]

07:47 PM on 02/15/2012

Popular with everybody? Fully solvent? Really? Did you ever actually LOOK at the numbers before quoting someone else who was in turn quoting someone else's misrepresentation of the data? I did. Outlays exceed revenue for the past two years, and continue to do so at an increasing rate for every one of the 72 projected future years. The average deficit of the next 25 years exeeeds the average surplus of the previous 25, and projected annual deficit in 70 years is almost double the greatest annual surplus since 1985. To call this "solvent" is twisting of words in an attempt to accurately lie through your teeth. Social Security is doomed. It can be phased out gracefully now with minimal inconvenience to all parties, but continuing to pay out to present and future recipients at 100% is nothing less than willful robbery from your children, who will never see a blunt nickel.