Social Security News 9-24-12

 Social Security News, Monday 9-24-12

Time (NAT)

Social Security and Specifics

Mark Halperin

9-24-12

So the President’s position on Social Security seems to be the same as Mitt Romney’s on tax deduction changes — there should be no real details or debate to inform voters before the election.

http://thepage.time.com/2012/09/24/social-security-and-specifics/?iid=sl-main-arenapage

 

Huffington Post (NAT)

They Want to Destroy Social Security (Circa 1935)

Alan Grayson

9-23-12

Herbert Hoover led the Republican effort to strangle Social Security in its crib. And now, 77 years later, Republicans are trying to suffocate Social Security as it lies in bed. At least they're consistent. When a right-wing Republican talks about how to "save" Social Security, I don't know whether to laugh or (like John Boehner) cry. Republicans have as much interest in saving Social Security as they do in saving the whales. Or the rainforest. Or the Queen. Or the last dance. Meaning none.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/social-security-republicans_b_1906501.html

 

Reuters (NAT)

Analysis: For Romney, some troubling signs among older voters

David Morgan

9-24-12

Even before his running mate was booed by a lobbying group for older Americans on Friday, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was losing support among such voters, whose backing is crucial to his hopes of winning the November 6 election. New polling by Reuters/Ipsos indicates that during the past two weeks - since just after the Democratic National Convention - support for Romney among Americans age 60 and older has crumbled, from a 20-point lead over Democratic President Barack Obama to less than 4 points. Romney's double-digit advantages among older voters on the issues of healthcare and Medicare - the nation's health insurance program for those over 65 and the disabled - also have evaporated, and Obama has begun to build an advantage in both areas. Voting preferences among seniors could change in the final six weeks of the campaign, but the polling suggests that a series of recent episodes favoring Obama and the Democrats could be chipping away at Romney's support among older Americans.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/24/us-usa-campaign-medicare-idUSBRE88N04Z20120924

 

Fox News (NAT)

Transcript of Romney on '60 Minutes'

Staff

9-24-12

PELLEY:  How would you change Social Security?

ROMNEY:  Well, again, no change in Social Security for -- for those that are in retirement or near retirement. What I'd do with Social Security is say this:  that again, people with higher incomes won't get the same high growth rate in their benefits as people of lower incomes. People who rely on Social Security should see the same kind of growth rate they've had in the past. But higher income folks would receive a little less.

PELLEY:  So that in the Romney administration, in the Romney plan, there would be means testing for Social Security and for Medicare?

ROMNEY:  That's correct. Higher-income people won't get as much as lower-income people. And by virtue of doing that -- and again, that's for future retirees. For -- by virtue of doing that, you are able to save these programs on a permanent basis.

PELLEY:  Balancing the budget will require sacrifice. What is it, specifically, that you're asking the American people to sacrifice?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/24/transcript-romney-on-60-minutes/#ixzz27PznMMqI

 

Fox News (NAT)

How to Live Off Social Security

Donna Fuscaldo

9-24-12

Wait to Claim Social Security. Social Security benefits kick in at age 62, but the longer you wait to claim the benefits, the more you will get, according to Beanna Whitlock, a certified senior advisor and an enrolled agent. If you wait until your full retirement age (FRA), you’ll get a 20% greater benefit.  “If you retire at age 62 you are going to get less for the rest of your life than if you wait for full retirement age.”

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/09/24/how-to-live-off-social-security/

 

New York Times (NAT)

Safeguarding Social Security Checks as They Go Electronic

Ann Carrns

9-24-12

Consumer groups — along with paper-producing interests – -are urging the federal government to improve safeguards for Social Security recipients, as the government phases out paper checks for beneficiaries in favor of electronic deposits. Beginning in March, all Social Security checks will be deposited electronically unless recipients apply for and receive a waiver to keep getting payments via paper checks.

http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/safeguarding-social-security-checks-as-they-go-electronic/

 

Social Security News (blog)

Means Testing With Romney

9-24-12

From the 60 Minutes interview with Mitt Romney aired last night:

PELLEY:  How would you change Social Security?

ROMNEY:  Well, again, no change in Social Security for -- for those that are in retirement or near retirement. What I'd do with Social Security is say this:  that again, people with higher incomes won't get the same high growth rate in their benefits as people of lower incomes. People who rely on Social Security should see the same kind of growth rate they've had in the past. But higher income folks would receive a little less.

http://socsecnews.blogspot.com/

 

Triangle Business Journal (NC)

A look at how much local retirees receive from Social Security

Chris Baysden

9-24-12

The Triangle is not known as a hotbed for retirees. So maybe it’s no surprise that both the Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill MSAs placed relatively low on a list of metros ranked by the percentage of households drawing social security.

Almost 20 percent of Raleigh’s households draw Social Security, making it No. 918 in the country and last among the state’s major metropolitan and micropolitan areas. The average annual income from Social Security in Raleigh is $16,003.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/2012/09/a-look-at-how-much-local-retirees.html

 

CBS News (NAT)

Ryan booed, Obama cheered at AARP conference

Rebecca Kaplan

9-21-12

The divide between the two candidates continued with Social Security. The president said, "We have to keep the promise on Social Security by reforming it and not handing it over the Wall Street." But Ryan accused him of lacking the "political will" necessary to implement reform.

 

"He's put his own job security over your retirement security," Ryan said. For the first time on the campaign trail, he outlined the Republican ticket's proposal, which is to slightly raise the retirement age over time and slow the growth of benefits for higher-income Americans. Both men tried to paint themselves as the bipartisan reformer open to compromise and the other side as unwilling. Obama said he would be willing to work with Republicans; Ryan said he hadn't moved an inch toward common ground. Obama noted that he took the idea for the individual mandate from the health care plan that Mitt Romney implemented while governor of Massachusetts; Ryan said Medicare reforms to increase choice and competition date back to the Clinton administration and have enjoyed bipartisan support.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57517976-503544/ryan-booed-obama-cheered-at-aarp-conference/

 

MSNBC (NAT)

Do You Really Want to Live the Lifestyle Social Security Promises?

Chuck Saletta

9-24-12

If you want to live your golden years on a less-than-minimum-wage lifestyle, go ahead and rely exclusively on Social Security. The program's trustees have been painfully clear about what you can really expect, both today and in the future once the Trust Fund empties. It isn't pretty. It isn't fun. But it's the future you will face if you're planning on Social Security as the sole source of your retirement income.

Fortunately, if there's a bright side to the problems Social Security is facing, it's that its Trust Fund's collapse is happening both fairly slowly and out in public. That combination means that you can see it coming and have about two decades to prepare for its arrival. Still -- that time doesn't give you clearance to ignore the problem. In the world of investing, 20 years is a decent amount of time to build a nest egg, but if you don't start now, the opportunity starts to evaporate quickly.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49148571/ns/business-motley_fool/#.UGB17LJlSh0

 

Politics

 

Charlotte Business Journal (NC)

Poll: NC voters favor Romney on economy, Obama on Social Security

Staff

9-24-12

Registered voters in North Carolina favor Mitt Romney to Barack Obama when it comes to being able to improve economic conditions, but they give Obama the edge when it comes to protecting Social Security, The Business Journal of the Triad reports, citing a recent poll by High Point University.

The latest High Point University Poll showed the candidates essentially tied on the question of who would be better at creating jobs.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2012/09/poll-nc-voters-favor-romney-on.html

 

Huffington Post (NAT)

Mitt Romney, On 60 Minutes, Cites Emergency Room As Health Care Option For Uninsured

Amanda Terkel & Sam Stein

9-23-12

"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance," he said in an interview with Scott Pelley of CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night. "If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care."

 

This constitutes a dramatic reversal in position for Romney, who passed a universal health care law in Massachusetts, in part, to eliminate the costs incurred when the uninsured show up in emergency rooms for care.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/23/mitt-romney-60-minutes-health-care_n_1908129.html

 

Washington Post (NAT)

Mitt Romney admits he’ll need to raise taxes on the middle class

Ezra Klien

9-24-12

On “60 Minutes” last night, Mitt Romney said it again. “I want to keep the current progressivity in the code. There should be no tax reduction for high income people.”

You’ve heard Romney say this — or some variant of it –dozens of times before. What’s changed since then is that Romney has admitted that his tax cuts, if they’re not going to add to the deficit, will have to increase taxes on people he defines as middle income and cut them on people he defines as high income.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/24/even-mitt-romney-admits-hell-need-to-raise-taxes-on-the-middle-class/

 

Wall Street Journal (NAT)

Strassel: The Love Song of AARP and Obama

9-20-12

The emails overall show an AARP leadership—Policy Chief John Rother, Health Policy Director Nora Super, Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond, Senior Vice President David Sloane—that from the start worked to pass ObamaCare, before crucial details pertaining to seniors had been addressed. This crew was in constant contact with Mr. Obama's top aides, in particular Nancy-Ann DeParle and Jim Messina.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444165804578008413907642282.html

 

Providence Journal (RI)

Congressional candidate Doherty says he supports Social Security, Medicare/ Photo

Staff

9-24-12

PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Congressional candidate Brendan Doherty said he would oppose "privatizing" Social Security and Medicare, vote against cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits, and support increased benefits for those who are currently on Social Security.

Doherty, a Republican challenging Congressman David Cicilline in the November election, made the comments at a press conference in front of Memorial Hospital on Monday morning to address what he said was his opponents "distorting" of his position on those federal programs.

http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/09/mc-working-phot.html