Social Security News 6-14-12

Reuters (NAT)

COLUMN - Young savers face Social Security misdirection|

06-14-12

Mark Miller

Kathryn Anne Edwards doesn't lookat Social Security like most 26-year-olds. Her cohort takes a dim view of the program's prospects,according to a slew of surveys.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/14/column-miller-idUSL1E8HE4YP20120614

 

The Daily Beast (NAT)

Alan Simpson Plans ‘Cialis Solution’ to Get Congress to Slash Debt

06-14-12

Howard Kurtz

Simpson ladles out his disdain in equal portions for his own Republican Party as well as for the Democrats. The message is that they are in denial: “If someone says, we can get you out of this box without touching precious Medicare, precious Medicaid, precious Social Security, or precious defense, someone ought to just say, ‘You’re a fake. You’re a phony.’”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/14/alan-simpson-plans-cialis-solution-to-get-congress-to-slash-debt.html

 

US News (NAT)

Geithner Says Fiscal Debate Began, Will End With Simpons-Bowles

06-14-12

Robert Schlesinger

It looks like the Obama administration may be inching closer to an embrace of the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2012/06/14/yah-yah-yah

 

The Hill (DC)

World Bank head: Use 'fiscal cliff' to get US finances on track

06-14-12

Peter Schroeder

Outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the year-end rush to avert the fiscal cliff presents an opportunity for policymakers to get the nation on a better fiscal track. Zoellick, who will leave the development agency at the end of the month, also became the latest public figure to express regret that lawmakers could not rally around a comprehensive deficit reduction plan like Simpson-Bowles.

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/economy/232807-world-bank-head-use-fiscal-cliff-to-get-us-finances-on-track

 

New America Media (Blog)

The Great Retirement Squeeze—Pension Cuts Mean Poverty for Future Elders

06-13-12

Paul Kleyman

New America Media is a nationwide association of over 3000 ethnic media organizations representing the development of a more inclusive journalism. Founded in 1996 by Pacific News Service, New America Media promotes ethnic media by strengthening the editorial and economic viability of this increasingly influential segment of America's communications industry.

http://newamericamedia.org/2012/06/the-great-retirement-squeezepension-cuts-mean-poverty-for-future-elders.php

 

The Hill (DC)

DSCC spends $250K in Indiana to attack Mourdock's uncompromising views

06-14-12

Cameron Joseph

The Indiana Democratic Party is going up with a $250,000 ad buy in Indiana attacking Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R) for opposing bipartisanship and calling Social Security unconstitutional. The ad buy, the first on the behalf of Rep.

http://thehill.com/video/campaign/232773-dscc-spends-in-indiana-to-hit-mourdocks-uncompromising-views

 

Midland Daily News (MI)

Our view: The untouchables: Social Security and Medicare

06-13-12

Staff

Barber, himself a victim of two bullets, ran on a platform criticizing his Republican opponent for supporting measures that would ultimately privatize Medicare. Barber campaigned on saving Medicare and Social Security as the programs exist today.

http://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/article_9984a464-b581-11e1-9fb6-001a4bcf887a.html

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Debt and Deficit: A Public Opinion Dilemma

06-14-12

Andrew Kohut

What the public saw as acceptable included raising the Social Security contribution cap for affluent recipients (64% in favor) and freezing the salaries of federal workers (59% in favor). At the same time, a plurality backed raising taxes on high-income earners by not including them in an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts, (47% favored making the cuts available only for those earning less than $250,000 a year, compared to 33% who supported an extension for all).

www.people-press.org/2012/06/14/debt-and-deficit-a-public-opinion-dilemma/

 

Current TV (NAT)

Power Panel: Why isn't the GOP attacking union worker pensions considered class warfare? - The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur

06-12-12

Political writer Cliff Schecter and conservative commentator Lenny McCallister join the Power Panel to break down why Republicans get away with attacking union pensions without being blasted for starting class warfare.

http://current.com/shows/the-young-turks/videos/power-panel-why-isnt-the-gop-attacking-union-worker-pensions-considered-class-warfare

 

LA Times (CA)

Arizona shows Democrats' strength, weakness on retirement programs

06-14-12

Dan Turner

Republicans  last week got Wisconsin Gov.  Scott Walker , whose  successful campaign  to retain his seat in a contentious recall election was, according to pundits, a bellwether that would indicate how the GOP would fare in November. Then  Democrats  on Tuesday got Ron Barber, the aide to former Rep.  Gabrielle Giffords  of Arizona,  who defeated  a   tea party   Republican in the race to fill out the rest of her term -- a contest that was also seen as a bellwether for November. So what have we learned?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-barber-giffords-20120613,0,3882819.story

 

Heritage Foundation

CBO Long-Term Budget Outlook on the Nation’s Fiscal Future

06-14-12

Romina Boccia

The latest CBO report makes the case to reform entitlements now—before a European-style fiscal crisis forces painful policy changes on Americans.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/06/cbo-long-term-budget-outlook-on-the-nations-fiscal-future

 

Business Insider (NAT)

Matt Miller is Worried That Bill Gates' Kids Will Go Hungry

06-14-12

Dean Baker

In fact, if Miller had access to data, like Survey of Consumer Finance released by the Fed this week, he would know that most seniors have little other than their Social Security to live own. The cohorts that are now on the edge of retirement have seen defined benefit pensions largely disappear. They saw weak wage growth during their lifetime and therefore had little to money save.

http://www.businessinsider.com/matt-miller-is-worried-that-bill-gates-kids-will-go-hungry-2012-6

 

Associated Press (NAT)

Republican 'reflecting' after losing Giffords seat

06-13-12

Staff

Republicans had sought to make the contest a referendum on President Obama and his handling of the economy. Democrats played to the senior vote by reminding them that Kelly called for privatization of both Social Security and Medicare during his 2010 run against Giffords.

Kelly backed off those statements for the special election, saying at a news conference with a group of seniors that he planned to strengthen Social Security and Medicare and opposed any privatizations

http://azdailysun.com/news/state-and-regional/republican-reflecting-after-losing-giffords-seat/article_e453a0b7-8094-5256-9492-d5a045cc9c28.html

 

WND (Blog)

A senator who actually ‘gets it’

06-14-12

Robert Ringer

We should never forget that those on the far left are relentless, and at the heart of their relentlessness is a strategy of combining incredulity with new, ever-increasing baselines. For example, in talking about the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on Obamacare, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy recently said, in an incredulous tone, “If the court strikes down the Affordable Care Act, what’s next – Social Security?”

http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/a-senator-who-actually-gets-it/

 

 

Politics

 

The Hill (DC)

Pelosi’s wealth fell by 25 percent in 2011

06-14-12

Kevin Bogardus

Pelosi’s minimum net worth dropped by roughly $8. 8 million in 2011, according to a financial disclosure form.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/232743-pelosis-wealth-declined-25-percent-in-2011

 

New York Times (NAT)

New Political Showdown in Egypt as Court Invalidates Parliament

06-14-12

David D. Kirkpatrick

The ruling by the high court, packed with sympathizers of the old regime, raises the stakes in this weekend’s presidential race and escalates the battle with the Muslim Brotherhood.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/world/middleeast/new-political-showdown-in-egypt-as-court-invalidates-parliament.html?_r=1

 

Politico (DC)

The Republican family feud

06-14-12

Maggie Haberman

It turns out Democrats are not the only ones with a surrogate problem. When Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels and Scott Walker all lobbed rhetorical explosive devices of varying sizes in Mitt Romney’s direction, Democrats were gleeful that Republicans now had their own version of a Bain family feud. But like Bill Clinton — who has caused the Obama...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77412.html

 

The Hill (DC)

Dems denounce ‘blatant abuse of power’ in Holder contempt vote -

06-14-12

Jordy Yager

Democrats assailed Rep. Darrell Issa on Thursday for moving forward with an “irresponsible” contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/232791-dems-decry-blatant-abuse-of-power-in-holder-contempt-vote

 

The Washington Post (DC)

If the Supreme Court invalidates Obamacare . . . - Right Turn

06-14-12

Jennifer Rubin

But if Obamacare is removed from the equation, there remain “the few steps forward on Social Security and taxes and discretionary sending.” The question, if the Supreme Court does its work as conservatives hope, is whether either political party will seize the opportunity to make progress on our daunting fiscal problems.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/if-the-supreme-court-invalidates-obamacare-/2012/06/14/gJQADCdFcV_blog.html

 

The Washington Post (DC)

Secret money fuels the 2012 elections

06-13-12

E.J. Dionne

For those who believe money already has too much power in U.S. politics, 2012 will be a miserable year. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, lassitude at the Federal Election Commission and the growing audacity of very rich conservatives have created a new political system that will make the politics of the Gilded Age look like a clean government paradise.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/secret-money-fuels-the-2012-elections/2012/06/13/gJQAsZ4FaV_story.html?hpid=z2

 

Foreign Policy (NAT)

Playing Dirty

06-12-12

Steve LeVine

The GOP's oil-and-jobs campaign -- in April alone, 81 percent of U.S. political ads attacking Obama were on the subject of energy, according to Kantar Media, a firm that tracks political advertising -- is a risk that could backfire. Americans could decide that they prefer clean energy after all. Or, as half a dozen election analysts and political science professors told me, energy -- even if it seems crucial at this moment in time -- may not be a central election issue by November.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/12/playing_dirt