How President Obama and Mitt Romney compare on preserving Social Security for America’s seniors

[ProSense]

How President Obama and Mitt Romney compare on preserving Social Security for America’s seniors

October 5, 2012

In the first debate, Mitt Romney sacrificed the facts in order to mislead and confuse voters about where he stands on important issues to the middle class. On one issue—Social Security—it’s worth clarifying where President Obama and Governor Romney agree and where they disagree. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney know that the program is solvent for more than two decades and that there’s a need for gradual reforms to the benefits that millions of seniors have worked for, paid for, and earned. But that’s where their agreement ends.

While President Obama is committed to keeping the promise of guaranteed Social Security benefits for current and future generations, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have supported plans to privatize the program, and have put forward a plan that would slash benefits for current workers. Here are the key differences between the President’s and Romney-Ryan’s approach to Social Security:

Obama-Biden

The President knows that guaranteed Social Security benefits are not handouts, but a bedrock of the commitment to retirement security America makes to our seniors. He believes that no current beneficiaries should see their basic benefits reduced, and he will not accept any approach that slashes benefits for future generations. President Obama stands firmly opposed to privatizing Social Security—the future security of hard-working Americans should not be dependent on the fluctuations of the stock market. That is why the President has called on Congress to develop a bipartisan plan that follows these principles:

• Any reform should strengthen Social Security for future generations and restore long-term solvency.
  
  
• The administration will oppose any measures that privatize or weaken the Social Security system.
  
  
• While all measures to strengthen solvency should be on the table, the administration will not accept an approach that slashes benefits for future generations.
  
  
• No current beneficiaries should see their basic benefits reduced.
  
  
• Reforms should strengthen retirement security for the most vulnerable, including low-income seniors.
  
  
• Reform should maintain robust disability and survivors’ benefits.

Romney-Ryan

Mitt Romney is taking a starkly different approach to Social Security—he refuses to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share, and is proposing to close Social Security shortfalls through benefit cuts alone. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Peter Diamond and former OMB director Peter Orszag noted, his plan insists that any reform prohibit additional revenue, and thus relies on “excessive benefit cuts that would undermine financial security for future retirees.” Analysis of a similar plan showed that typical workers in their forties would lose $2,400 a year, and workers in their twenties would lose $4,700 a year in future benefits. Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan was even the architect of a privatization plan that would have left seniors’ benefits devastated by the 2008 financial crisis.

The choice is clear: President Obama will never privatize Social Security or undermine retirement security for middle-class Americans. The same cannot be said for Romney.

http://www.barackobama.com/truth-team/entry/how-president-obama-and-mitt-romney-compare-on-preserving-social-security-f

[leftstreet]

1. If Obama thinks SS is fine, why does it need 'reform?'

[ProSense]

2. For the same reason

"If Obama thinks SS is fine, why does it need 'reform?'"

...that Bernie Sanders does.

Social Security is Strong

WASHINGTON, April 23 - A new report today by Social Security trustees showed the program's trust fund has $2.7 trillion in reserves and will grow to $3.06 trillion by 2021, enough to maintain the unbroken record of paying every nickel owed to every beneficiary in full for another two decades.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has introduced legislation to strengthen Social Security and guarantee benefits for 75 years by extending the payroll tax that most Americans already pay to those who earn above $250,000 a year.

"The most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the next 75 years is to eliminate the cap on the payroll tax on income above $250,000. Right now, someone who earns $110,100 pays the same amount of money into Social Security as a billionaire. That makes no sense," said Sanders, the chairman of the Defending Social Security Caucus. He also chairs the Senate aging subcommittee.

Under the proposed legislation, the wealthiest Americans would pay the same payroll tax rate already assessed on those with incomes up to $110,100 a year. Social Security officials have calculated that the simple change would keep the retirement program strong for another 75 years. The legislation also follows through on a proposal that President Barack Obama made in 2008 when he was running for president.

The Keeping Our Social Security Promises Act is cosponsored by Sens. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Barbara Mikulski, (D-Md.), Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D- R.I.).

Since it was signed into law 76 years ago, Social Security has kept millions of senior citizens, widows, widowers, orphans, and the disabled out of poverty. Before Social Security, about half of senior citizens lived in poverty. Today, less than 10 percent do.

"I strongly disagree with some of my colleagues who want to balance the budget by cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that are of enormous importance to seniors and the working families of our country. There are ways to address the deficit crisis without attacking some of the most vulnerable members of our society. As chairman of the Defending Social Security Caucus, I will do everything in my power to make sure that the promises made to seniors will be kept."

Social Security provides support for 55 million people, including 38 million retired workers, 6 million widows, widowers and orphans, and 11 million disabled workers. The most successful government program in our nation's history has not contributed one dime to the federal deficit.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=ad0e5349-2da1-4907-8a83-e0ec0b5ee51f

[flamingdem]

14. Good info on Bernie here

[BlueCaliDem]

3. CURRENTLY for CURRENT recipients, it's fine. But it can always be better, no?

President Obama want's to STRENGTHEN Social Security and perhaps raise the cap of deductions collected each year. Currently, if you earn over $120K, you stop paying into S.S. around August (in our case). If you're a millionaire, S.S. deductions are stopped in March!

These caps need to be removed because if deductions are stopped in March or August, the benefits pay-out aren't. Also, we need to put S.S. in a lockbox and pass a law stating that NO ADMINISTRATION may dip into the Social Security pot to pay for wars - something Bush and the Republicans did for theirs.

[leftstreet]

4. 'perhaps' raise the cap

Does Obama want this, or not?

[ProSense]

5. Here:

President Obama: ‘Medicare and Social Security Are Not Handouts’

Speaking by sattelite at the AARP's annual conference on Friday, President Obama took a subtle jab at Mitt Romney's claim that 47 percent of Americans were "victims" who saw themselves as "entitled" to food, housing, and health care, among other things.

"There's been a lot of talk about Medicare and Social Security in this campaign, as there should be," Obama said. "And these are bedrock commitments that Americas makes to its seniors, and I consider those commitments unshakable. But, given the conversations that have been out there in the political arena lately, I want to emphasize, Medicare and Social Security are not handouts. You've paid into these programs your whole lives. You've earned them."

Obama suggested that Social Security's finances could be "put on more stable footing" in part by raising the cap on taxable income. He dismissed as flatly "not true attacks from Romney on $716 billion in Medicare savings included in the Affordable Care Act (and Paul Ryan's budgets), saying that it "strengthened" the program.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/president-obama-medicare-social-security-are-not-handouts

[leftstreet]

6. 'in part' by raising the cap. What else? n/t

[ProSense]

8. You're on your third goal post.

The President supports strengthening Social Security and raising the cap. I don't know what else, maybe eliminating fraud. I believe he introduced savings by cutting back the paper statements to once a year for those approaching retirement.

[leftstreet]

10. My idea for 'strengthening' - Jobs and Higher Wages

Just a couple of ideas

You can use that if you want...

[eridani]

22. Rmoney is presumably NOT in favor of raising the cap. In that case--

--why did Obama say he agreed with that parasitic shitstain onf Social Security in the debate?

[Aerows]

24. Everybody agrees with Romney

at some point, because he changes his positions more than a porn star.

[BlueCaliDem]

16. It's what the Democrats in Congress

have been discussing, but nothing came of it because of Republican obstructionism. Besides, Congress decides, not the president, but to answer your question, yes, that's what he wants.

President Barack Obama revived a 2008 campaign promise on Friday[09/21/2012], telling the crowd at an AARP forum that he would be open to raising the level of income on which Americans pay Social Security taxes.

“You know, I do think that looking at changing the cap is an important aspect of putting Social Security on a more stable footing,” Obama said, via satellite feed. “And what I’ve said is, is that I’m willing to work with Republicans and examine all their ideas, but what I’m not going to do, as a matter of principle, is to slash benefits or privatize Social Security and suddenly turn it over to Wall Street — because we saw what could happen back in 2008 and 2009 when the stock market crashed, and we are still recovering from that.”
http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/09/21/obama-re-endorses-raising-social-security-payroll-tax-cap/

I'm surprised you didn't know that.

[eridani]

25. Fine. Now I'm waiting for him to say it in 2012 on the campaign trail n/t

[BlueCaliDem]

27. Would you like that

written in his blood as well before you're convinced?

Again, President Obama is on record saying he wants to raise the income cap on higher income earners as a way to strengthen Social Security and he has always, always maintained he would not cut benefits to seniors.

[eridani]

29. Excuse me, but this is one of the top three campaign issues, given that--

--56% of the electorate is expected to be 55 or over. That he won't reaffirm earlier promises totally sucks.

[BlueCaliDem]

30. He *has* reaffirmed it just a few weeks ago at the AARP meeting

on September 21st, 2012, which wasn't too long ago. That's why I asked if you wanted that written in his blood.

That said, Romney has been pretty clear that he will pursue a proxy war with Iran through Syria, and as we've seen with GWBush, that would mean he'll have to dip into the Social Security funds to do so since he also plans to cut taxes for the rich.

[Wounded Bear]

7. We don't need to preserve SS for seniors......

We need to preserve it for our children and our grandchildren.

[ProSense]

9. Yes we do, and

"We need to preserve it for our children and our grandchildren."

...I children are future retirees.

[RebelOne]

28. We DO need to preserve SS for seniors.

I am a SS recepient and it needs to be preserved also for the seniors now collecting it. If I didn't have it, I would be in poverty.

[ProSense]

11. Kick! n/t

[Tennessee Gal]

12. Thank you for posting this. Good information to have. nt

[ProSense]

13. Yeah, but

I wonder why this is sinking?

And, you're welcome.

[flamingdem]

15. K&R

[ProSense]

20. Another. n/t

[spanone]

17. k&r...

[msanthrope]

18. K&R for the truth. Just more bedwetting by some. nt

[ProSense]

19. Kick! n/t

[Cha]

21. Thanks, ProSense... here it is in Black and White

It could not be more Clear. And, yet I see threads with the sky falling down because they're worried about what President Obama would do to Social Security if he just had the chance.

I had no doubt before this article that our Social Security is safe with Pres Obama and VP Biden.

If mittLies had his way..not so much. Adelson needs more tax breaks, doncha know.

[ProSense]

23. Yes, clear. n/t

[jberryhill]

26. But I read on DU that it's Soylent Green either way