Entitlement Reform

What Half A Billion Dollars Buys You In Washington

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Taxes, Bill Clinton, Entitlements, Social Security, John Boehner, Social Security Cuts, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Pete Peterson, Entitlement Reform, Video, Tom Brokaw, Hedge Funds, Tim Geithner, Medicare, David Walker, Peter Peterson, Social Security Benefits, Paul Ryan, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Peter Peterson, a Wall Street billionaire who has been calling for cuts to Social Security and other government programs for years, is h...

Read Whole Story

AARP Plans Secret 'Salon' With Social Security Opponents

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 03.19.2012

Read More: Social-Security-Aarp, Entitlements, Video, Social Security, Social Security Cuts, Social Security Battle, Aarp, Entitlement Reform, Social Security Reform, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The senior citizens lobby AARP on Monday will kick off a national Social Security and Medicare "listening tour" called "You’ve Earned ...

Read Whole Story

Under $2 a Day in America, Part 1

Arloc Sherman | Posted 05.05.2012

Read More: Entitlements, Welfare, Poverty, Food Stamps, Extreme Poverty, Poor, Entitlement Reform, Tanf, Money News

Living on less than $2 per person a day is one World Bank definition of poverty for developing nations. Unfortunately, this threshold is increasingly relevant to the United States.

Read Post

Romney's "Very Poor" Choice of Words

Chris Weigant | Posted 04.07.2012

Read More: Campaign Ad, Mitt Romney, Occupy Wall Street, Obama, Entitlement Reform, Campaign, Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, Safety Net, Elections 2012, Romney Very Poor, Mitt Romney Very Poor, Romney Gaffe, Politics News

While most of the attention so far has been focused on the "out of touch" nature of Mitt's "very poor" choice of words, the real damage to Mitt as a Republican candidate stems from how he attempted to explain what he really meant.

Read Post

2011: The Year of Resistance to Conservatism's "War of the Words"

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 03.01.2012

Read More: Occupy Wall Street, Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, Janet Jackson, Ows, Technocrats, Gop Language, Political Language 2011, Entitlement Reform, Political Vocabulary, Deficit-Crisis, Politics News

For the first time in many years, the right-wing warriors of language ran into heavy resistance. That's an important development that should be celebrated -- and repeated.

Read Post

New Social Security Proposal Has Senior Groups Up In Arms

AP | STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | Posted 01.07.2012

Read More: Entitlements, Social Security Benefits, Social Security Taxes, Video, Senior Citizens, Social Security Tax, Entitlement Programs, Social Security Cuts, Social Security, Seniors Social Security, Social Security Seniors, Entitlement Reform, Social Security Reform, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Just as 55 million Social Security recipients are about to get their first benefit increase in three years, Congress is looking at ...

Read Whole Story

Mitt Romney Shows Rick Perry How A Stealth Embrace Of Medicare Overhaul Is Done

HuffingtonPost.com | Jon Ward | Posted 01.04.2012

Read More: Video, National Debt, Spending Cuts, Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Budget Deficit, Medicare, Entitlement Reform, Barack Obama, Rick Perry, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney has out-maneuvered Rick Perry in the effort to surreptitiously embrace an overhaul of Medicare reform -- a top goal of conse...

Read Whole Story

John Boehner: Debt Deal Will Include New Tax Revenues

AP/The Huffington Post | Posted 01.04.2012

Read More: Taxes, Super Congress, GOP Taxes, John Boehner Debt Ceiling, Debt Ceiling, Boehner, John Boehner, President Barack Obama, 112 Congress, Supercommittee, Entitlement Reform, Barack Obama, Video, Super Committee, National Debt, Debt Deal, Grover Norquist, Tax Revenue, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that any bipartisan agreement reached by the congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee wil...

Read Whole Story

Clear and Present Danger

Janet Tavakoli | Posted 12.31.2011

Read More: Foreign Holding of U.S. Debt, U.S. Economy, U.S. Dollar, Entitlement Reform, Tax Reform, U.S. Debt Crisis, Business News

Foreign borrowings of the U.S. represent a clear and present danger to the dollar and to the financial system. Potential dumping of U.S. dollars would start a run on the currency and a financial panic that would tip our already precarious economy into a deep depression.

Read Post

Disabled Kids And The Dow Jones: Their Common "Super Committee" Threat

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 12.26.2011

Read More: Super Committee, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Entitlement Reform, Christina Taranto, Barack Obama, Cynical Deals, Politics News

Budgets cuts hurt the stock market because investors know where they lead: to a stagnating economy where people don't have money to spend. That means the economy won't get moving again.

Read Post

Marco Rubio: Through The Looking-Glass

Dan Bimrose | Posted 11.01.2011

Read More: Payroll Tax, Marco Rubio, Florida Senator, Social Security, Republican, Bernie Sanders, Entitlement Reform, Medicare, Vice Presidential Candidate, Politics News

While in the past suggesting the end of Social Security and Medicare has not been seen as a good policy position on election day, things have changed dramatically.

Read Post

Welfare Nostalgia Won't Help Poor

Will Marshall | Posted 10.30.2011

Read More: Poverty, Democrats Welfare, Entitlements, Welfare Reform, Liberals Welfare, Gop Entitlement Reform, Bill Clinton Welfare, Republicans Welfare, Entitlement Reform, Progressives Welfare, Politics News

Liberals are right to draw attention to the hardships the jobless recovery imposes on our most vulnerable families. But they are wrong to assume that welfare's cash payments are somehow still central to America's efforts to fight poverty, relieve social distress or shorten recessions.

Read Post

Super Congress Member Fred Upton: No Cuts To Social Security Benefits

HuffingtonPost.com | Elise Foley | Posted 10.18.2011

Read More: Debt, Entitlements, Super Congress, Fred Upton, Medicare Eligibility, Social Security, Entitlement Reform, Medicare Eligibility Age, Social Security Benefit Cuts, Video, Super Committee, Debt Limit, Medicare, Social Security Benefits, Debt Ceiling Deal, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Deficit super committee member and Republican Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said Tuesday he will oppose any Social Security benefit reductio...

Read Whole Story

Debt "Super Committee" Members Deadlocked on Exactly How They Will F**k Things Up

Spencer Green | Posted 10.15.2011

Read More: Congress, Super Committee, Federal Budget Deficit, Debt Ceiling, Default, John Kerry, Republicans, Entitlement Reform, Pat Toomey, Democrats, Tax Increases, Comedy News

"I'm sure the Super Committee will arrive at some explanation for utter failure that is ludicrous enough to be acceptable to all Americans."

Read Post

Dick Durbin: Sacrificing Social Security, Recovery?

Curtis Black | Posted 10.09.2011

Read More: Dave Johnson, Russ Feingold, Nancy Altman, Social Security, Jobs Crisis, Tea Party, Strengthen Social Security, Robert Reich, Debt Crisis, President Obama, Deficit Reduction Commission, Federal Deficit, People's Budget, Center for America's Future, Dick Durbin, Bill Daley, Medicaid, Entitlement Reform, Citizens for Tax Justice, Senator Bernie Sanders, Debt Ceiling, Robert Borosage, William Greider, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Center for Economic Policy and Research, American Dream Movement, Elizabeth Drew, Senator Richard Durbin, Medicare, Gang of Six, Dean Baker, Chicago News

Now that the debt ceiling crisis is behind us, it's time to take a look at Senator Durbin's role in shifting the debate away from the jobs crisis and legitimizing attacks on Social Security.

Read Post

Who Matters in this Country?

Jennifer Ng’andu | Posted 10.04.2011

Read More: National Debt, Debt Ceiling, Health, Debt Deal, Debt Limit, Health Coverage, Entitlement Reform, Medicaid, Health Care, Healthcare, Medicaid Cuts, Latinos Medicaid, Hispanic Medicaid, Politics News

Knowing the health care struggles for people without insurance, my heart was aflutter with the news of a debt ceiling deal that protected Medicaid. It didn't take long for my glee to turn into a sinking feeling.

Read Post

Seniors Stage Bank 'Knit-Ins' To Protest Threat Of Medicare, Social Security Cuts

HuffingtonPost.com | Matt Sledge | Posted 10.03.2011

Read More: Super Congress, Social Security, Unitedny, Wells Fargo, Seiu, Bank of America, Medicare, Entitlement Reform, 1199seiu, New York News

Senior citizens organized by a union-backed coalition staged a series of "knit-in" protests at banks in New York City and on Long Island Wednesday. Am...

Read Whole Story

Another Budget Fight Still To Come

AP | RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR | Posted 10.02.2011

Read More: Super Congress, Entitlements, Debt Ceiling, Entitlement Programs, Debt Ceiling Deal Medicare Medicair, Debt Ceiling Super Congress, 112th Congress, Medicaid, Entitlement Reform, Medicare, Debt Ceiling Deal, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Medicare and Medicaid were spared from immediate cuts in the debt deal, but it looks like just a temporary reprieve. Advocates for...

Read Whole Story

Morgan Stanley Exec: Debt Deal Could Be 'Exactly' What The Economy Needs

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 09.07.2011

Read More: Taxes, Deficit, Entitlements, Steve Benen, Congress, Ezra Klein, Morgan Stanley, Debt Ceiling, John Boehner, Andrew Leonard, Deficit Reduction, Paul Krugman, David Greenlaw, Entitlement Reform, Barack Obama, Business News

On the news that President Obama and Congressional Republican leaders may have laid the groundwork for a debt-ceiling agreement, Morgan Stanley econom...

Read Whole Story

GOP Leader: Debt Ceiling Deal Without Entitlement Cuts May Be Short-Lived

AP/The Huffington Post | Posted 08.19.2011

Read More: Entitlements, Video, Mitch McConnell, Mediare, Debt Ceiling, Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham, Entitlement Reform, Joe Biden, Deficit, Debt Ceiling Medicare, Federal Budget Deficit, Debt Limit, Debt Ceiling Entitlement Reform, Joe Biden Debt Ceiling, Mitch Mcconnell Debt Ceiling, Politics News

The Senate's top Republican is suggesting a short-term increase in the nation's borrowing limit unless there's deal soon that includes changes to big ...

Read Whole Story

GOP Governors Fight To Cut Back Medicaid

Washington Post | Posted 08.14.2011

Read More: State Budgets, Entitlements, Republicans Medicaid, Gop Medicaid, State Budget Cuts, Medicaid, Entitlement Reform, Obama Medicaid, Medicaid Cuts, Politics News

Faced with severe budget problems, Republican governors are escalating their fight against federal rules requiring states to maintain current levels o...

Read Whole Story

Republicans Call To Privatize Social Security

The Hill | Posted 08.07.2011

Read More: Entitlements, SAFE Act, Gop Social Security Cuts, Social Security, GOP Social Security, Savings Accounts, Entitlement Reform, Social Security Privatization, Pete Sessions Social Security, Pete Sessions, Politics News

House Republicans on Friday introduced legislation that would allow workers to partially opt out of Social Security immediately, and fully opt out aft...

Read Whole Story

Democrats Press Advantage On Controversial GOP Medicare Plan

Posted 07.26.2011

Read More: New York Special, New York Election Results, Paul Ryan Medicare Reform, Paul Ryan Budget Proposal, New York Special Election Results, Paul Ryan Medicare Proposal, Paul Ryan Medicare, Paul Ryan Entitlement Reform, Entitlement Reform, Medicare, Paul Ryan, Medicare Reform, Election, New York Election, Paul Ryan Budget, Politics News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Wednesday defeated a Republican plan to scale back health benefits for future retirees and forced their...

Read Whole Story

Paul Ryan, GOP Defend Controversial Medicare Plan Amid Threat Of Backlash

Posted 07.25.2011

Read More: New York Special, New York Election Results, Paul Ryan Budget Proposal, Paul Ryan Medicare Reform, New York Special Election Results, Paul Ryan Medicare Proposal, Paul Ryan Medicare, Paul Ryan Entitlement Reform, Entitlement Reform, Medicare, New York Election, Election, Medicare Reform, Paul Ryan, Paul Ryan Budget, Politics News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans on Wednesday rushed to defend their drive to cut government health spending amid signs it may spur a backlash f...

Read Whole Story

Controversial Medicare Proposal Causing GOP Stress

AP | DAVID ESPO | Posted 07.24.2011

Read More: Paul Ryan Medicare Reform, Paul Ryan Budget Proposal, Paul Ryan Medicare Proposal, Paul Ryan Medicare, Paul Ryan Entitlement Reform, Entitlement Reform, Medicare, Paul Ryan, Medicare Reform, Paul Ryan Budget, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Little more than a month after they backed sweeping changes to Medicare, Republicans are on the political defensive, losing a House...

Read Whole Story