Social Security News 04-25-12

 SSW/SSSC mention**

New America Media (NAT)

Social Security’s Imminent Demise Greatly Exaggerated in Mainstream Headlines

04-25-12

Paul Kleyman

Speaking Monday on the PBS News Hour, Nancy J. Altman, author of The Battle for Social Security and co-director of the advocacy group Social Security Works, noted that the “Social Security system from the beginning has been very closely monitored and has always been very conservatively managed. So every year, it projects out 75 years. Now, when you project out that far, you are going to show these fluctuations. Recent trustees reports have shown that the exhaustion date is 2028. Others have shown 2048. So 2033, 2035, 2036 are all within that range.”

 http://newamericamedia.org/2012/04/social-securitys-imminent-demise-greatly-exaggerated-in-mainstream-headlines.php

 

LA Times (CA)

Let's beef up Social Security benefits

04-25-12

Michael Hiltzik

The best way to improve Social Security's value for all Americans is by increasing benefits to better serve the neediest workers and expanding its reach to cover workers and dependents who have been cheated by or excluded from the system for far too long.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20120425,0,1294417.column

 

Campaign for America’s Future (blog)

Social Security and Medicare: Behind the Numbers and the Spin

04-23-12

Richard Eskow

Must Read: An Economy for AllHere are some headlines you won't see after the government releases new figures on Social Security and Medicare later today: "Social Security Trust Fund Even Larger Than It Was Last Year" "Growing

http://www.ourfuture.org/node/72510

 

The Washington Post (DC)

Path to the White House: Ready for entitlement reform?

04-24-12

Jennifer Rubin

Are voters serious?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/path-to-the-white-house-ready-for-entitlement-reform/2012/04/23/gIQAbuS6cT_blog.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop

 

Forbes (NAT)

The Great American Social Security Lie

4-24-12

Rick Ungar

Greenspan’s calculations were based on the presumption that income distribution in the United States would remain reasonable—just as it had since America learned the lessons of the how extraordinary disparities in income distribution lead to extraordinarily unfortunate economic events like the Great Depression.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/04/24/the-great-american-social-security-lie/2/

 

Business Insider (NAT)

The Social Security Trust Fund and the "Money Has Been Spent" Line

04-25-12

Dean Baker

With the release of the latest Social Security trustees report the scare stories have been coming...

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-social-security-trust-fund-and-the-money-has-been-spent-line-2012-4

 

Huffington Post (NAT)

Social Security and Medicare: Six Common Myths, Debunked

04-24-12

Richard (RJ) Eskow

In the coming days and weeks we'll be hearing a lot of misinformation about the Trustees Report from the Social Security Administration. It's time to separate the myths from the realities.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/social-security-and-medic_b_1450729.html

 

CNBC (NAT)

How to Fix Social Security for Less Than $50

04-25-12

John Carney

You may have heard of something called the “Social Security Trust Fund.” Here’s how it works.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47173814

 

Keystone Politics (DC)

Alliance for Retired Americans Gives Critz 100% Rating, Altmire Receives 70%

04-12-12

Jake Sternberger

Back in March, Altmire released an attack ad stating that “Mark Critz and I agree on many things but there are some big differences between us.  Mark Critz … didn’t vote against the Tea Party budget that would dismantle Medicare and gut Social Security.”

We described that ad as a “Pants on Fire” distortion.

http://www.keystonepolitics.com/2012/04/alliance-for-retired-americans-gives-critz-100-rating-altmire-receives-70/

 

Politico (DC)

Jason Altimire, Tim Holden fall in Pennsylvania primaries

04-25-12

Alex Isenstadt

Two conservative Democrats who voted against the president’s health care plan went down in defeat Tuesday, falling victim to primary opponents who cast them as far out of step with their party. Redistricting played a role in both defeats. Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire lost to Rep. Mark Critz, a fellow Democrat who was drawn into the same southwestern...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75577.html

 

LA Times (CA)

Social Security rescue plan needed now

04-25-12

Trustees project that funding will run short in 2033. But the longer Congress waits to deal with the problem, the harder it will be to solve.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-social-security-shortfall-20120425,0,1409608.story

 

 

Politics

 

The Hill (DC)

Supreme Court seems favorable to Arizona illegal immigration law

04-25-12

Jordy Yager

They seemed to doubt the Obama administration's arguments against the controversial law Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared highly doubtful of the Obama administration’s objections to a controversial immigration law in Arizona. The ideologically diverse group of justices pummeled Solicitor General Donald Verrilli with a morning full of questions, expressing serious doubts to the government’s claim that Arizona cannot require state law enforcement officials to verify a person’s legal status when they’re stopped on suspicion of committing a separate offense.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/223659-justices-seem-favorable-to-arizona-immigration-law

 

The Hill (DC)

Rubio auditions for VP slot with call for hawkish foreign policy

04-25-12

Alexander Bolton

In an address Wednesday, the rising conservative star sought to revive former President Reagan’s foreign policy legacy in the GOP. Sen.

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/223687-rubio-auditions-for-vp-slot-with-call-for-hawkish-foreign-policy

 

The Washington Post (DC)

Barack Obama is cool. Mitt Romney is not. What does it mean for 2012?

04-25-12

Chris Cillizza

THE FIX | President Obama is a cool customer. Why that could hurt him in the general election fight against Mitt Romney.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/barack-obama-is-cool-mitt-romney-is-not-what-does-it-mean-for-2012/2012/04/25/gIQAHM2xgT_blog.html

 

The Grio (NAT)

Supreme Court hearing on Arizona immigration law could reshape racial profiling debate

04-25-12

Perry Bacon Jr.

The Court's decision on the law, which will be debated in oral arguments on Wednesday, could play a powerful role in the the national debate on racial profiling...

http://www.thegrio.com/politics/supreme-court-hearing-on-arizona-immigration-law-could-reshape-racial-profiling-debate.php

 

The Washington Post

What do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?

04-25-12

Ezra Klien

Should Obama really be blamed for George W. Bush’s presidency?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/what-do-we-have-to-show-for-three-and-a-half-years-of-president-obama/2012/04/25/gIQARlY0gT_blog.html

 

NPR (NAT)

Sources: Gingrich Will End His White House Bid Next Week

04-25-12

Mark Memmott

Sources are telling media outlets that the former House speaker will soon exit the campaign and that it's highly likely he will endorse Mitt Romney.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/25/151355585/reports-gingrich-will-end-his-white-house-bid-next-week

 

Reuters (NAT)

Bernanke says Fed prepared to do more for economy

04-25-12

Pedro Nicolaci da Costa and Mark Felsenthal

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday said the U.S. central bank would not hesitate to launch another round of bond purchases to drive borrowing costs lower if it looked

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/us-usa-fed-bernanke-idUSBRE83O0EH20120425

 

Reuters (NAT)

Syria violence rages, France tells U.N. to hurry

04-25-12

Oliver Holmes

Syrian forces shot dead four civilians on a bus on Wednesday and fighting raged near Damascus, dissidents said, as international pressure built on President Bashar al-Assad to honor

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/us-syria-idUSBRE83O0OL20120425