Social Security News 5-30-12

 SSW/SSSC mention **

Huffington Post (NAT)

An Open Letter About Alan Simpson's Recent Comments

05-29-12

Eric Kingson & Nancy Altman

Mr. Simpson is free to express his point of view, but his hateful rhetoric should not be given a pass and continued platform.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kingson/alan-simpson-social-security_b_1546376.html

 

Columbia Journalism Review (NAT)

A Grand Bargain on entitlements?

05-29-12

Trudy Lieberman

Stephanopoulos noted that Pelosi had said—a few weeks earlier—that she would vote for the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan, l which among other things proposes severe cuts in Social Security benefits, gradually raises the retirement age to 69, and calls for Medicare beneficiaries to pay more for their healthcare. Former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, a fellow Democrat, had then challenged her, in an e-mail to supporters, saying “any Democratic endorsement of benefit cuts capitulates on bedrock progressive values and makes it easier for corporate Democrats to join with corporate Republicans to destroy these programs.”

http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/those_smoke_signals_about_simp.php

 

USA Today (NAT)

Pelosi: Promote growth, reduce deficit

05-29-12

Nancy Pelosi

Democrats are committed to moving the process forward by asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share through the expiration of tax cuts for those earning over $1 million a year. Democrats are committed to using the significant savings to reduce the deficit. And in the future, Democrats are committed to reforming the tax code, closing special interest loopholes.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2012-05-29/nancy-pelosi-bush-tax-cuts/55272674/1

 

Daily Kos (Blog)

Republicans softening on taxes? Only if Social Security and Medicare are cut

05-30-12

Joan McCarter

Is this election year posturing, or Republicans thinking they've got a real opportunity to begin chipping away at the New Deal? POLITICO is reporting that some Republicans are making noises about finally, maybe, bucking Grover Norquist. But they want blood in return, a la Bowles-Simpson, and what they're talking about might not really be real tax increases.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/30/1095914/-Republicans-softening-on-taxes-Only-if-Social-Security-and-Medicare-are-cut-

 

Politico (DC)

GOP softens anti-tax rhetoric

05-30-12

Manu Raju

Cracks are emerging in the GOP’s hard-line stance against raising tax revenues to slash the deficit, with a number of Republicans willing to go further than their party’s standard-bearer in the face of a looming showdown over the budget. The softening rhetoric in an election year rife with deficit politics reflects a gulf between Mitt Romney,...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76844.html

 

The Washington Post (NAT)

Social Security disability trust fund projected to run out of cash by 2016

05-30-12

Brian Faler

The Social Security disability program’s trust fund is projected to be out of cash by 2016.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-security-disability-trust-fund-projected-to-run-out-of-cash-by-2016/2012/05/30/gJQA3AfH1U_story.html

 

Policy Mic (Blog)

2013 Recession Can Be Avoided By Simpon-Bowles Recommendations

05-30-12

Rick Mathews

Simpson-Bowles offers a path toward restoring American fiscal sanity.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/8747/2013-recession-can-be-avoided-by-simpon-bowles-recommendations

 

Star Tribune (MS)

Bills touts Paul budget in Senate race

05-30-12

Rachel E. Stassen-Berger

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kurt Bills on Tuesday offered his support to a plan to cut foreign aid to one-tenth of its current size, greatly reduce farm subsidies, means-test for Social Security benefits and eliminate most federal funding for the Drug Enforcement Agency's "War on Drugs."

http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/155533145.html

 

Politics

 

Chicago Tribune (IL)

Emanuel touts crime-fighting plan

05-30-12

John Byrne and Jeremy Gorner

After a violent  Memorial Day  weekend in Chicago that left 10 dead amid 42 shootings, police Superintendent  Garry McCarthy  was asked Tuesday if the  NATO summit  a week earlier might have left fewer officers on the street.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-rahm-mccarthy-crime-20120530,0,1223530,print.story

 

The Hill (DC)

Right worries New Jersey Gov. Christie would be Romney clone on policy issues

05-30-12

Christian Heinze

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s conservative bona fides are coming under attack from the right, which questions whether he is too much of a Mitt Romney clone on policy to be the GOP vice presidential candidate.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/christian-heinze/229913-right-worries-christie-would-be-romney-clone

 

Politico (DC)

Mitt Romney clinches GOP nomination

05-29-12

Ginger Gibson

Mitt Romney's long and arduous path to the Republican presidential nomination is officially over. With a victory in Texas on Tuesday night, Mitt Romney secured the necessary delegates to clinch the Republican nomination that will be awarded in Tampa this summer. "This was a big day by the way - 1,144. We finally got there," Romney said...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76845.html

 

CNN (NAT)

Will Adelson place a big bet on Romney?

05-30-12

Kevin Bohn

As Mitt Romney leaves Las Vegas, he hopes he hit the jackpot.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/30/politics/romney-adelson/index.html

 

National Journal (NAT)

Dewhurst, Cruz Will Meet in Runoff 

05-29-12

Kevin Brennan

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst failed to receive a majority of GOP primary votes in the state's Senate race Tuesday, ensuring he will face former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz in a July 31 runoff for the GOP nomination. With 32 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press called a runoff with Dewhurst leading Cruz 47 percent to 32 percent, followed by former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert at 13 percent.

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2012/05/dewhurst-cruz-w.php

 

The Hill (DC)

Bain, Solyndra now center stage in Romney, Obama economic fight

05-30-12

Ben Geman 

President Obama’s top aides are aggressively trying to prevent Mitt Romney from using the bankrupt, taxpayer-backed solar company Solyndra as inoculation against political attacks over his record at Bain Capital. The battle addresses core political narratives of both campaigns: Romney’s claim that his private-sector background makes him well-suited to improve the economy, and Obama’s efforts to show that investments in green energy are key to U.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/230031-obama-campaign-white-house-counterpunch-on-solyndra-bain-comparison

 

Politico (DC)

GOP groups plan record $1 billion blitz

05-30-12

Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei

Republican super PACs and other outside groups shaped by a loose network of prominent conservatives – including Karl Rove, the Koch brothers and Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – plan to spend roughly $1 billion on November’s elections for the White House and control of Congress, according to officials familiar with the...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76849.html

International News

The Christian Science Monitor (NAT)

Exclusive: Veteran Lebanese fighter trains new generation of jihadis – for Syria -

05-30-12

Nicholas Blanford

Longtime fighter Mustapha explains to the first Western reporter to visit his Bekaa Valley orchard camp how he is preparing eager Lebanese to take up arms against the Assad regime.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0530/Exclusive-Veteran-Lebanese-fighter-trains-new-generation-of-jihadis-for-

 

BBC News (UK)

UN confirms new killings in Syria days after Houla

05-30-12

Staff

Observers from the UN confirm the discovery of 13 bodies of men bound and shot in Syria as concern over civilian suffering continues.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18271184

 

Charles Taylor Sentenced to 50 Years for War Crimes

05-30-12

Marlise Simons and J. David Goodman

Charles G. Taylor, a former president of Liberia and the first former head of state convicted in an international court since World War II, was sentenced for his role in atrocities in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/world/africa/charles-taylor-sentenced-to-50-years-for-war-crimes.html?hp

 

Project Syndicate (Blog)

Preparing for the Green Exit

Emmanuel Guerin and Laurence Tubiana

05-30-12

With Europe's single currency on the precipice, the necessity of greater fiscal and economic coordination is clear, though this will take time. Even so, more can be done to smooth the fiscal and economic adjustments that must take place in the troubled countries on the eurozone’s periphery.

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/preparing-for-the-green-exit

 

Fox News (NAT)

Judgment claims Pakistani doctor sentenced for militant ties, not CIA assistance

05-30-12

Dominic Di-Natale

The Pakistani doctor sentenced to 33 years in prison for his role in the CIA mission to hunt down Usama bin Laden was formally accused not of aiding U.S. intelligence but assisting a militant Islamic group, according to a judgment provided to Fox News.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/30/judgment-claims-pakistani-doctor-sentenced-for-militant-ties-not-cia-assistance/

 

Time (NAT)

Chen Guangcheng Commands Media Spotlight in New York, But His Family Still Faces Abuse at Home

05-30-12

Austin Ramzy

When blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng flew from Beijing to the United States earlier this month, some analysts in the Western and Chinese press predicted that his influence would wane once he left China.

http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/05/30/from-new-york-cheng-guangcheng-calls-attention-to-rights-abuses-in-china/

 

BBC News (NAT)

US defence chief Panetta urges naval strength in Asia

05-29-12

Staff

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta calls for a strong US naval presence in the Asia-Pacific, on the eve of a trip to the region.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18260161