Republican Joni Ernst, who is running for the Senate from Iowa, promises to protect Social Security for everyone over the age of 55.
Lou Barletta did the same thing two years ago in a rather famous confrontation with Linda Christman, who pointed out that people under 55 also deserved Social Security.
You would think that after the most recent recession, Republicans would abandon the idea of privatizing Social Security, but you have to say this—they never give up a bad idea.
If we do nothing, the Social Security system is solvent until 2033. To make it solvent after that, we can tweak it, either by raising the retirement age or by getting rid of the cap. Currently income above $117,000 is exempt from the payroll tax.
What people like Barletta and Ernst are hoping is that older Americans have the attitude that can be summed up as, “I’ve got mine Jack, screw you.” I hope they are wrong.
Columnist Gail Collins suggests that one way to combat this Republican idea is that people in the room who are 54 should break into loud sobs.
Get rid of the cap! That would solve the bulk of the concerns of funding the program.
ReplyDeleteIf we can tweak it then tweak it. We knew that baby boomers would case stress on the system from the time they were born. Republicans plans to scrape SS are frightening. This can be fixed. I for feel the urge to slap the face of people who calmed state "if we even have social security" as if that is an except-able outcome. We have paid into this and should demand that it is solvent.
ReplyDeleteI do think that every time the Republicans propose privatizing Social Security, they get slapped down. Since the remedies are rather mild, I'm hoping that common sense prevails.
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