Social Security News 8-10-12

 Columbia Journalism Review (NY)

How to measure the worth of Social Security: The AP rehashes an old idea

8/9/12

Trudy Lieberman

Is Social Security a good deal for workers? That’s the question the AP posed in an August 5 piece dredging up a very old argument against Social Security—that workers pay more into the program than they later get back—and presenting it as fresh news.

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

 

Arizona Daily Star (AZ)

Social Security: Is it really no longer a good deal?

Editorial

8/9/12

Do you think of Social Security as an insurance policy or as a pension plan? Your answer likely defines how you respond to the headline on Monday's front page: "For many, S. Security is no longer a good deal." The story, by Stephen Ohlemacher of The Associated Press, explained that today's retirees are the first generation that can expect to pay more in Social Security taxes than they will receive in retirement benefits.

http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/social-security-is-it-really-no-longer-a-good-deal/article_55ad6acc-baf1-508e-8c29-915a69511598.html

 

Business Insider (NAT)

Yahoo Assigns Arithmetic Challenged Team to Cover Social Security

Dean Baker

8/9/12
There have been numerous stories about how workers don't have the necessary skills for the available jobs. There is little evidence of this in the data. Wages are not rising rapidly in any major occupational grouping. If employers could not find workers with the necessary skills then they should be raising wages to pull away the limited group of qualified workers from competitors, unless of course the employers were too incompetent to understand that higher wages are necessary to attract workers. http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-assigns-arithmetic-challenged-team-to-cover-social-security-2012-8

 

National Journal (DC)

McCaskill Attacks Akin in First Post-Primary Ad

8/10/12

Julie Sobel

Welcome to the Show Me State's general election. Sen. Claire McCaskill is coming out of the gate swinging with a television ad painting her newly-minted GOP opponent, Rep. Todd Akin, as far outside the Missouri mainstream. "On the mainstream priorities that matter to Missouri, how does Akin measure up?" asks the narrator in the 60-second spot. The commercial goes on to hit Akin on wanting to "privatize Social Security, abolish the minimum wage, and get rid of federal student loans."

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2012/08/mccaskill-attac.php

 

Market Watch (WSJ – NAT)

How student loans could hit your Social Security

Anna Andriotis

8/10/12

It’s no secret that falling behind on student loan payments can squash a borrower’s hopes of building savings, buying a home or even finding work. Now, thousands of retirees are learning that defaulting on student-debt can threaten something that used to be untouchable: their Social Security benefits.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-student-loans-could-hit-your-social-security-2012-08-10

 

CNN (NAT)

Where is the U.S. headed if more than 100 million people get welfare?

Jack Cafferty

9/9/12

More than 100 million people in the United States of America get welfare from the federal government. 100 million. According to the Weekly Standard, Senate Republicans say that the federal government administers nearly "80 different overlapping federal means-tested welfare programs."

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/09/where-is-the-u-s-headed-if-more-than-100-million-people-get-welfare-2/?iref=allsearch

 

The Times Leader (PA)

Seniors celebrate Social Security

Bill O'Boyle

8/10/12

About 30 residents of the senior center attended the luncheon and stayed for the program. They wanted to hear news about Social Security and shared a birthday cake for Social Security, Sedivi and Harriet Hess, who turned 83 Wednesday. Laura Dorshefski, center director, said the 49 residents tell her they are worried about Social Security’s future.

http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Seniors-celebrate-Social-Security,189107

 

Daily Camera (CO)

Letter: Social Security is vital for older Americans

Bob Carmichael

8/8/12

I've recently started to receive a Social Security check and I would like to share with the readers the peace of mind that this monthly benefit check gives me. For one I paid into the fund for some 45 years. I believe that as one of 56 million Americans collecting Social Security it is wonderful adjunct to supplementing your income when reaching retirement age and beyond. And for many that is the only income they can count on.

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_21265066

 

CBS 12 (FL)

AARP Survey: Florida Retirees Disappointed In Lack Of Social Security, Medicare Discourse

8/9/12

Floridians older than 50 want both Mitt Romney and President Obama to lay out their plans to prop-up Social Security and Medicare. "It's very scary for seniors," said Susan Penman.

http://www.cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_1570.shtml

 

Wasau Daily Herald (WI)

Social Security statements hit milestone

Ken Hess

8/9/12

Michael J. Astrue, commissioner of Social Security, announced that in less than two months' time, 1 million people have gone online, created a My Social Security account and viewed their Social Security statement.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20120810/CWS03/308100172/Ken-Hess-column-Social-Security-statements-hit-milestone?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

 

Politics

 

Aledo Times Record (IL)

Health care law gives women control over their care, offers free preventive services to 47 million women

8/6/12

Forty-seven million women are getting greater control over their health care and access to eight new prevention-related health care services without paying more out of their own pocket beginning Aug. 1, 2012, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

http://www.aledotimesrecord.com/news/x1791377440/Health-care-law-gives-women-control-over-their-care-offers-free-preventive-services-to-47-million-women?zc_p=0

 

The Guardian (UK)

Voter ID laws: the Republican ruse to disenfranchise 5 million Americans

8/10/12

Alex Slater

Under the guise of fighting nonexistent voter fraud, the GOP is attempting the greatest election-stealing conspiracy in US history.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/10/voter-id-laws-republican-ruse-disenfranchise

 

Politico (DC)

Exclusive: Obama to include Republicans in hard-hitting convention

8/10/12

Mike Allen

Advisers to President Barack Obama are scripting a Democratic National Convention featuring several Republicans in a prime-time appeal to independents — and planning a blistering portrayal of Mitt Romney as a heartless aristocrat who “would devastate the American middle class,” Democratic sources tell POLITICO.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79542.html#ixzz23A1hodbc

 

The Washington Post (NAT)

Tim Pawlenty waits to see if his campaigning will lead to vice presidential nod

8/9/12

Michael Leahy

During a recent weekend in North Carolina, Tim Pawlenty did what he has been doing over the past year for Mitt Romney: He drove himself non-stop.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tim-pawlenty-waits-to-see-if-his-campaigning-will-lead-to-vice-presidential-nod/2012/08/09/f2c06dc6-e257-11e1-98e7-89d659f9c106_story.html

 

The New York Times (NAT)

Romney Faces Pressure From Right to Put Ryan on Ticket

8/9/12

Michael D. Shear and Trip Gabriel

Conservatives are increasing the pressure on Mitt Romney again. That Mr. Romney has not yet named his vice-presidential nominee has created an opening for social and economic conservatives to pressure him publicly, and they have taken the opportunity to make an aggressive case for Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/us/politics/a-conservative-bid-for-paul-ryan-to-be-mitt-romneys-running-mate.html?ref=politics

 

The Guardian (UK)

'I'm sick to my stomach': anger grows in Illinois at Bain's latest outsourcing plan

8/10/12

Paul Harris

The shock of losing a precious job in a town afflicted by high unemployment is always hard. A foundation for a stable family life and secure home instantly disappears, replaced with a future filled with fears over health insurance, missed mortgage payments and the potential for a slip below the breadline.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/aug/10/illinois-workers-bain-outsourcing

 

The Washington Post (NAT)

Higher productivity doesn’t mean higher wages

8/10/12

Dylan Matthews

The other part of Romney’s claim — that wages and employment track productivity — is actually false. Unpublished data from BLS, generously provided to me by the Economic Policy Institute’s Larry Mishel and Nicholas Finio, shows that wages tracked  productivity growth until about 1970. After that, wages stagnated even as productivity continued to grow. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/10/higher-productivity-doesnt-mean-higher-wages/

The Economist (UK)

Social security with Chinese characteristics

8/11/12

China’s new rural pension has added over 240m people in just two years—more than are covered by America’s Social Security… The audit office says that China’s social-security system is now “basically” in place. That is an historic achievement. But “basic” is still the right word to describe Chinese pensions, which vary enormously between town and country, prosperous east and poorer west, private sector and public.

http://www.economist.com/node/21560259