THE President who not long ago was willing to sacrifice Social Security (as well as the rest of the social safety net) on the alter of greed to appease the 1% and corporate America has seen the light and now endorses, along with another late to the table (hillary clinton) expanding Social Security benefits. This has been part of +Senator Bernie Sanders I VT political career and one of the no compromise positions of Bernie's campaign to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. donald drumpf will not stand in the way of the republican / tea-bagger plans to destroy Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and vet's benefits if elected. Your choice America, choose wisely. From +Daily Kos and +Bloomberg .....
President Obama calls for expanding Social Security
In perhaps the clearest sign that not just the Democratic Party, but the nation as a whole have become more receptive to a progressive position, President Obama spoke out on Wednesday in favor of expanding Social Security benefits.
"It is time we finally made Social Security more generous and increase the benefits so that today’s retirees and future generations get the dignified retirement that they have earned," Obama said in Elkhart, Indiana, during a speech in which he spoke against Republican economic policies.
With the great majority of workers no longer eligible for pension plans, and most workers forced to depend on 401K plans that have produced returns far lower than expected, a “dignified retirement” seems to constantly recede from many Americans. In 1960, more than a third of all elderly Americans lived in poverty but the poverty rate fell sharply from 1960 to 1995 as Social Security provided exactly the kind of buffer it had been designed to create. However, since then the poverty rate as once again began to tick up as more Americans face retirement without pensions and Social Security benefits have been too small to address the gap.
Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have called for an increase in Social Security. This is a significant change from the last two presidential cycles, when Republicans treated Social Security as a “failed program,” and Democrats were on the defensive. In 2011, President Obama offered a deal to Republicans that would have cut Social Security benefits as part of a Grand Bargain. As with nearly everything in the last eight years, Republicans rebuffed Obama’s offer. That offer is clearly no longer on the table.
"Retirement insecurity is an obvious problem for middle- and low-income families and both Social Security and Medicare are highly efficient programs," said Jared Bernstein, a former Obama White House economic adviser and now a senior fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. "It took a while, but I think Democrats have come to realize that defending, strengthening, and even expanding these security-enhancing programs is what makes them Democrats.”
Even Donald Trump has said that he wouldn’t cut Social Security. Though that may not mean much.
What I want to do, I think cutting Social Security is a big mistake for the Republican Party.
Which sounds good, but as with most things Trump, it lasts exactly one sentence before you get.
And I know it’s a big part of the budget. Cutting it the wrong way is a big mistake, and even cutting it [at all].”
So does this mean Trump thinks there’s a right way to cut Social Security? What it means is that Trump has no commitment to Social Security at all, except as an election issue.
According to a source in the room, Trump criticized Ryan’s proposed entitlement cuts as unfair and politically foolish. “From a moral standpoint, I believe in it,” Trump told Ryan. “But you also have to get elected. And there’s no way a Republican is going to beat a Democrat when the Republican is saying, ‘We’re going to cut your Social Security’ and the Democrat is saying, ‘We’re going to keep it and give you more.’ ”
Trump’s saying that he won’t cut Social Security is exactly as shallow as his every other statement, and he professes to believe that Social Security should be cut “from a moral standpoint” which would certainly indicate that once he doesn’t have to worry about getting that big gold T carpet installed in the Oval Office, Trump would be wide open to axing Social Security benefits.
Still, the fact that everyone is afraid to talk about cutting Social Security in advance of the election, including Trump, shows that the national wind has taken a big shift to the left. Now that Americans are dealing with the reality of the promises Republicans have sold over the last generation, it’s clear that privatize, privatize, privatize is not a road to instant wealth. Except, of course, for investment bankers and brokerages.
As President Obama prepares to hit the campaign trail, both in support of the Democratic presidential nominee and of candidates for the House and Senate, expect this call for Social Security improvements to be an important part of the message that could deliver Democrats to both the White House and legislative majorities.Obama Urges Social Security Increase in Preview of Campaign Role
President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for an increase in Social Security benefits for the elderly as he hit the road with a speech that previewed his role as campaigner-in-chief for Democrats ahead of the November election.
The president’s comments mark a reversal after he sought a bipartisan deal five years ago that would have cut Social Security and move the Democratic Party toward a unified stance on the nation’s cornerstone retirement program.
"It is time we finally made Social Security more generous and increase the benefits so that today’s retirees and future generations get the dignified retirement that they have earned," Obama said in Elkhart, Indiana, during a speech in which he spoke against Republican economic policies.
Obama has no specific proposal in mind for a benefits increase, said a White House official who asked for anonymity. Obama didn’t say in his speech how much he wants to raise benefit levels or offer a timetable.
With the shift, the president joins likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who embraced the idea of expanding Social Security earlier this year, and her challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a longtime champion of expanding the program. Obama’s remarks nudge the party toward a more liberal agenda and represent a nod to Sanders and his supporters.
‘Obvious Problem’
"Retirement insecurity is an obvious problem for middle- and low-income families and both Social Security and Medicare are highly efficient programs," said Jared Bernstein, a former Obama White House economic adviser and now a senior fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. "It took a while, but I think Democrats have come to realize that defending, strengthening, and even expanding these security-enhancing programs is what makes them Democrats.”
Obama’s speech included broadsides against the policy proposals of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and those of House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
"It’s almost as though the president is trying to sound like Bernie Sanders," AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said in an e-mail.
Obama’s evolution also reflects a shift in the politics of Social Security. In 2012, Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney were both open to long-term reductions in Social Security spending. In 2016, all remaining major presidential candidates oppose that idea. Trump has campaigned on a promise not to cut Social Security.
The president’s new position on Social Security has been several years in the making. In 2011, after Democrats were walloped in mid-term elections, Obama sought a deal with then-House Speaker John Boehner that would have, among other things, slowed the growth of future benefits. In 2014, Obama dropped the policy from his budget proposal; the White House at the time blamed Republicans for "a lack of willingness to negotiate on a deficit reduction deal."
Obama Wednesday proposed to pay for the expansion by "asking the wealthiest Americans to contribute a little bit more." The president previously has supported lifting the cap on wages subject to Social Security’s payroll tax, currently $118,500, to increase the program’s revenues.
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