Social Security News 7-2-12

 

NPR (NAT)

The Nation: Threats In The Health Care Ruling

07-02-12

Aziz Huq

The Supreme Court's decision in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius — the healthcare cases — was a tremendous political victory for the Obama administration and, more importantly, the tens of thousands of Americans who will be saved from illness and death by the law. But make no mistake: the decision could also be a significant legal victory for the political forces committed to limiting the state's ability to care for the weak and fragile among us.

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/02/156104486/the-nation-threats-in-the-health-care-ruling

 

 

CNN (NAT)

For health reform, now the tricky part

07-02-12

Julian Zelizer

White House officials rightly breathed a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. President Obama and his supporters are optimistic that his re-election prospects are stronger and his lasting impact on domestic policy will be much greater.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/02/opinion/zelizer-health-care/index.html?iref=allsearch

 

The Huffington Post (NAT)

The "Younger" Games: Phony Age War Strikes Again ... and Again ... and Again

07-02-12

Richard (RJ) Eskrow

Millions of people have read the Hunger Gamesstories about a depraved future society where young people are forcing to fight each other for scarce resources while elites in the Capital plunder the nation's wealth. Now take a look at our world, where Washington's elites are laboring to pit the young against the old in in a similarly ritualized battle: Generational War.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/the-younger-games-phony-a_b_1643787.html?utm_hp_ref=social-security

 

The Huffington Post (NAT)

25 Social Security "Secrets" All Baby Boomers and Millions of Current Recipients Need to Know

07-02-12

Laurence J. Kotlikoff

The Social Security Handbook has 2,728 separate rules governing its benefits. And it has thousands upon thousands of explanations of those rules in its Program Operating Manual System, called the POMS, which provides guidance on implementing the 2,728 rules. Talk about a user's nightmare!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurence-j-kotlikoff/25-social-security-secrets_b_1639455.html

 

Business Insider (NAT)

Thomas Friedman Wants To Cut Your Social Security And Medicare Benefits, Again

07-02-12

Dean Baker

Thomas Friedman is once again pushing to cut back those lavish $1,100 a month Social Security benefits and to make seniors pay more for health care. That is the implication of his enthusiastic support for the proposal set forward by Morgan Stanley director Erskine Bowles and former Senator Alan Simpson.

http://www.businessinsider.com/thomas-friedman-wants-to-cut-your-social-security-and-medicare-benefits-again-2012-7

 

Truth Out (NAT)

A Wall Street Gambling Tax: The Remedy to Inequality

07-02-12

Dean Baker

As the presidential election builds up steam, the Washington elites in both parties are actively scheming to find ways to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits for retired workers. The media have widely reported on efforts to slip through a version of the deficit reduction plan developed by Morgan Stanley director Erskine Bowles and former senator Alan Simpson. Since the vast majority of voters across the political spectrum reject cuts to these programs, the Washington insiders hope to spring this one on us after the election, when the public will have no say.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/10101-a-wall-street-gambling-tax-the-remedy-to-inequality

 

Wall Street Journal (NAT)

Couples can boost their Social Security checks

07-02-12

Andrea Coombes

You’d think claiming Social Security would be a simple retirement decision—you retire and you start your benefits. But there are certain complex strategies that can help pad a married couple’s retirement savings with tens of thousands of dollars of additional income.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120702-708817.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

 

Reuters (Wire)

Care gap looms for aging baby boomers

07-02-12

Cynthia Ramnarace

As so often happens, a fall changed it all for Wendy Greeley's 95-year-old mother, Edith Blodgett. In 2011, Blodgett suffered a head injury that left her unsteady on her feet and her dementia more pronounced. The independent living community where she lived told her she was too sick to return on her own, even though she didn't want to move.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/us-aging-care-nursinghomes-idUSBRE8610QF20120702

 

Nashua Telegraph (NH)

Kuster stretches truth on Bass’ Social Security stance

07-01-12

Jake Berry

Social Security may not be in the news as much as it has in past elections, but congressional candidate Ann McLane Kuster wasted no time this month making it one of the first talking points in her 2012 election bid.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/966358-196/kuster-stretches-truth-on-bass-social-security.html

 

Naples News (FL)

Late boomer bloomers: Older workers carve out new careers to stall retirement

07-01-12

Aisling Swift

When she had her midlife crisis, Sandra Kauanui was a successful Baltimore businesswoman, operating a financial investment tax business with 40 employees and her own local cable TV show. Kauanui wanted something more. So she sold her business and earned her master’s and doctorate degrees to fulfill her lifelong dream of teaching. Now she’s the director of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Entrepreneurship Program.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/jul/01/late-boomer-bloomers-older-workers-new-job-career/

 

Times Union (NY)

A constitutional question for Paul

07-02-12

John de Rosier

Ron Paul made a recent dig at Social Security and Medicare, calling them unconstitutional and comparing them to “slavery.” Ian Millhiser of Think Progress, a progressive blog, disagrees with his views and states that, “the Constitution’s words actually mean something, and Ron Paul is not free to ignore them.”

http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/a-constitutional-question-for-paul/20845/

 

American Press (LA)

La. Systems predate opening of Social Security

07-01-12

Andrew Perzo

When and why did the state of Louisiana get out of the Social Security retirement system? State workers in Louisiana have never been eligible to take part in Social Security.

http://www.americanpress.com/Informer-7-1-12

 

12 News (AZ)

Health-care bill one of many historic social laws

06-30-12

J. Craig Anderson and Ryan Randazzo

With the U.S. Supreme Court's approval last week, the Affordable Care Act entered an elite canon of laws that have rewritten the social contract between American citizens and their government.

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2012/06/29/20120629health-care-ruling-historic-laws.html#ixzz1zUY2dg4i

 

Politics

 

Washington Post (NAT)

Romney campaign, at odds with GOP, says mandate is not a tax

07-02-12

Rachel Wiener

An adviser to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney broke from the messaging of other Republicans Monday, arguing that the health-care mandate in the Affordable Care Act is not a tax.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/romney-adviser-breaks-from-gop-message-says-mandate-is-not-a-tax/2012/07/02/gJQAF76JIW_blog.html

 

New York Times (NAT)

Washington Flip Flops on Justice Roberts

07-01-12

Albert R. Hunt

Chief Justice John Roberts, befitting a figure of great power, has strong supporters and detractors. They switched sides, at least temporarily, after the conservative jurist provided the winning vote to uphold Barack Obama’s health-care law.

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/washington-flip-flops-on-justice-roberts/

 

AP (Wire)

FACT CHECK: After big health law ruling, some suspect claims in the court of public opinion

07-02-12

Calvin Woodward and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

In promoting the health care law, President Barack Obama is repeating his persistent and unsubstantiated assurance that Americans who like their health insurance can simply keep it. Republican rival Mitt Romney says quite the opposite, but his doomsday scenario is a stretch.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_FACT_CHECK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-02-10-14-57

 

AP (Wire)

Re-Election Drives Obama’s Legacy

07-02-12

Ben Feller

Presidents live in a world of wins and losses quickly forgotten. Rarely are they presented with the kind of defining moment that President Barack Obama experienced when the Supreme Court upheld his health care law. It's one that will transcend his presidency, change America's social safety net and shape how he is likely to be remembered.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_HEALTH_CARE_LEGACY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-02-03-37-10

 

The Washington Post (NAT)

The first few years of health reform could be very, very messy

07-02-12

Ezra Klein

Most coverage of the Affordable Care Act focuses on what I’d call the “survival uncertainty” around the law: Will it pass? Will the Supreme Court overturn it? Will Mitt Romney win the election and repeal it?  But if you talk to the people involved in setting health care policy at either the state or federal level, their concern is the “implementation uncertainty”.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/02/the-first-few-years-of-health-reform-could-be-very-very-messy/

 

Talking Points Memo (DC)

Dems: Individual Mandate Is About Punishing ‘Freeloaders’

07-02-12

Sahil Kupar

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision to uphold the ‘Obamacare’ mandate under Congress’s taxing power, Democrats are unifying behind a message to refute the GOP contention that they raised taxes on the middle class. The Dems’ response: No, we didn’t. We simply punished freeloaders. Just as Mitt Romney did.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/dems-individual-mandate-is-about-punishing-freeloaders-and-free-riders.php

 

The Guardian (UK)

Euro gloom spreads across the Atlantic

07-02-12

Larry Elliott

US factories saw their biggest one-month drop in orders last month since the 9/11 terrorist attacks as the effects from Europe's sovereign debt crisis rippled across the Atlantic. Amid growing evidence that the battle to save the euro is now having a global impact, a key monthly snapshot of business in America showed manufacturing sliding into recession territory for the first time in three years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/02/us-manufacturing-sector-recession-obama

 

The Guardian (UK)

Let’s abolish retirement

07-02-12

Robert Skidelsky

Retirement is not as old as you think. According to the Bible, God expelled Adam from Paradise with the terrible words: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." And that's more or less how it was until about a hundred years ago. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/02/abolish-retirement