Senate leader Dick Durbin says Congress shouldn't rule out Social Security cuts and means testing

[Better Believe It]

Durbin warns Gang of Six deficit plan could produce Social Security cuts
By Michael O'Brien
April 19, 2011

Lawmakers shouldn't be so quick to rule out changes or cuts to Social Security, a top Senate Democrat participating in bipartisan Gang of Six talks says in a new interview.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the majority whip who's negotiating with two other Democrats and three Republicans on a major deficit-reduction plan, broke from more liberal members of his party, who want to safeguard Social Security from any changes.

Durbin said he wouldn't be signing on to a "Sense of the Senate" resolution by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a liberal who caucuses with Democrats, saying that benefits should not be cut. And he warned that revisions to the program, such as means-testing benefits for wealthier Americans, could be among the changes suggested by the negotiators.

"Many of my friends on the left — and they are my friends; these are my roots, politically — are going through the stages of grief. Denial, anger, frustration, sadness, resignation," he said. "Because they understand that borrowing 40 cents for every dollar you spend, whether it's for a missile or food stamps, is just unsustainable."

Read the full article at:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/156719-durbin-warns-gang-of-six-could-produce-social-security-cuts

Senator Durbin, one of President Obama's appointments to the "deficit commission", would not make such public comments without the knowledge and approval of the White House. They are very close. BBI


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‘Gang of Six’ in the Senate Seeking a Plan on Debt
By JACKIE CALMES
April 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — Days after President Obama called for forming a bipartisan group in Congress to begin negotiating a $4 trillion debt-reduction package, the parties have not even agreed to its membership. Yet six senators — three Democrats, three Republicans — say they are nearing consensus on just such a plan.

The group’s oldest members — Senator Richard J. Durbin, 66, a progressive from Illinois who counts the Senate’s only socialist as a friend and ally, and Senator Saxby Chambliss, 67, a genial Georgia conservative whose nasty first campaign left lingering bad feelings among Democrats, and who is a confidant of Speaker John A. Boehner — illustrate that even with the mounting federal debt intensifying the partisan divide over spending and taxes, the severity of the fiscal threat is forging unlikely alliances.

If Mr. Durbin and Mr. Chambliss can cut a deal on Social Security and new tax revenues, their associates say, then just maybe all of Washington can come together.

For Republicans, that means accepting higher taxes and lower military spending. For Democrats, it would mean agreeing to curbs on the unsustainable growth of Medicare and Medicaid spending, as well as tweaks to Social Security, to avert a big shortfall in 2037 and as a trade-off for Republicans’ support on taxes.

Read the full article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/politics/17fiscal.html?_r=2&hp

[WCGreen]

1. I agree with the means testing....

But to off set that, they should get rid of the tax provision that taxes more than half of the benefit after AGI is over a certain amount. It's just not fair and no income should be taxed twice. In this and only this do I agree with the GOP.

[Better Believe It]

9. "Means testing" makes Social Security for the first time a government welfare program.

And owning a home, perhaps a car and having a 401K or other pension could mean a huge cut in your social security benefit, which you paid for.

The Senators will decide what constitutes "wealthy" in the working class.

Not you.

[yourout]

2. Do it and you can RULE OUT support from me.

[SugarShack]

15. Agree! and why is Durbin conceding power to a gang of anything????

[Ed Suspicious]

3. They better not take one red fucking cent of my Social Security from me,

or my family who also paid into this grand system, Not one cent!

[Egalitariat]

7. Do you agree with removing the cap?

Your argument, which links the paying of money directly to the receipt of benefits, is the main reason that SS has such broad support amongs all classes of people. If you remove the cap, and you don't allow people who pay more to receive more, then that support will erode quickly amongst the people whose payments and benefits are no long linked.

[Ed Suspicious]

10. I feel if the system is solvent for the next 30ish years as folks like

the good Bernie Sanders says, and if it takes a nudging up of the cap or blowing the cap straight to hell beyond that time to keep the social contract we were raised with, so be it. Why on Earth with three wars of choice going on and the fed giving trillions to the upper crust as reported by Matt Taibbi and general wall street shenanigans up the waazoo I don't see why we should be cutting away at the social safety net.

[RC]

12. The real reason why Social Security is in trouble in the first place.

The living Wage jobs that paid into Social Security are being eliminated and outsourced.
The fix is to change the Tax Code so as to NOT reward corporations for outsourcing.
Raising any caps on Social Security is not the solution. By raising the cap, the original problem, outsourcing, remains.
If you remove the cap, and you don't allow people who pay more to receive more, then that support will erode quickly amongst those people whose payments and benefits are no long linked.

In other words, raising the cap is just diddling with the symptoms, it is not dealing with the root cause, rising unemployment and loss of our Living Wage jobs. We need to deal with the root cause.

[slipslidingaway]

16. !!! Also SS has two sides of the equation, there are caps on what is contributed and ...

what is paid in benefits.

[RC]

29. "If you remove the cap

and you don't allow people who pay more to receive more, then that support will erode quickly amongst the people whose payments and benefits are no long linked."

[slipslidingaway]

30. Exactly, we should be talking about this in addition to the point you raised. n/t

[RC]

33. Right. Just raising the cap sounds to me like a simple republican talking point.

A solution too simple, that does not address the problem.

[slipslidingaway]

43. A great sound byte, but we need to look deeper, unfortunately it is all about the "ten words"...

or so without any meaningful discussion of jobs lost overseas, as you pointed out.

And SS has two sides of the equation ... it is my understanding that there is a relationship between SS taxes paid and the benefits derived from contributions. If we change the cap on one end do we just discard the cap on benefits, if so, what are the implications?

A discussion we need to have.

[JDPriestly]

You are so right, RC.

[slipslidingaway]

17. We should be more concerned with Medicare benefits ... IMO. n/t

[bullwinkle428]

4. So he considers Bernie as a friend and ally. Time for Bernie

to deliver a well-deserved ass-kicking.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Just raise the fucking cap already

Then NO ONE can complain about SS "going broke"

Is this message only available in the Basque language?

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. If that is what a "progressive" sounds like, I don't wanna be one.

[Better Believe It]

8. Bi-Partisan Senate 'Gang of Six' may solve U.S. debt mess

'Gang of Six' may solve U.S. debt mess
By John Avlon, CNN Contributor
March 10, 2011

The heroes of this story are the so-called Gang of Six. The group is led by Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Saxby Chambliss, who are joined in meetings by Senate veterans of the president's deficit reduction panel -- Republicans Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo and Democrats Kent Conrad and Dick Durbin. The group's off-site negotiations have attracted more than 30 of their Senate colleagues.

The leaders of the bipartisan Gang of Six can give political cover to this practical reality: We can't cut or tax our way out of this problem alone. Now the time has come to move from talks to specific proposals, putting the principles of deficit reduction into legislative language.

"The bipartisan Senate group that is focusing on fiscal responsibility and sustainability is a positive example of members who are dedicated to progress over partisanship," adds former Comptroller General David Walker, currently director of the Comeback America Initiative. "Their efforts should be applauded and expanded over time."

But if you're part of the 93% of Americans who say they want to see less partisan fighting in Washington, it's time to stand up and support efforts like the Gang of Six. Send the message that you want to see more senators have the courage to join in the cross-aisle talks. It's one way to counteract what might be called the "Charlie Sheen-ification" of political coverage -- rewarding bad behavior with attention while ignoring responsible efforts to actually solve problems. Encouraging efforts like the Gang of Six is the antidote.

Read the full propaganda opinion piece at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/10/avlon.bipartisan.progress/#


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Senators pitch debt reduction to business elite
By BOB LEWIS
March 8, 2011

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss are taking their federal debt-reduction idea on tour looking for buy-in from key business and corporate leaders.

Warner, a centrist Democrat, and the conservative Republican Chambliss told Virginia's business elite Monday that it will take more than cuts to discretionary and entitlement spending to pay down a federal debt that's about $14 trillion and growing by about $1.5 trillion a year.

Warner and Chambliss say they're among a nucleus of about one-third of the Senate's members who are talking about a mixture of cuts to discretionary and entitlement spending, raising the Social Security retirement age and cutting such prized business and personal tax breaks as the mortgage interest deduction.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LR2KJO0.htm

[Better Believe It]

11. Bi-Partisan Senators plan to cut Medicare and Social Security wins powerful new allies in Senate.

Deficit Proposal Picks Up New Allies
By DAMIAN PALETTA And NAFTALI BENDAVID
March 10, 2011

The effort of a bipartisan group of senators to attack the long-term budget deficit has won notable new support in recent days, raising lawmakers' hopes of reaching a deal within weeks. Sens. Mark Warner (D., Va.) and Saxby Chambliss (R., Ga.), who are leading the push, believe they have the tentative backing of 31 senators: 16 Republicans and 15 Democrats.

Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, who co-chaired the White House's deficit-reduction commission last year, have embraced the effort and launched a new nonprofit organization to raise public awareness about the debt and possible solutions.

Pete Peterson, the New York billionaire who often funds projects aimed at cutting the debt, met with Messrs. Warner and Chambliss Wednesday morning and said in an interview later he was "seriously" considering giving money to the nonprofit.

And Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), who many had seen as a potential obstacle of the senators' effort to build a larger consensus within Congress, threw his support behind the process Wednesday.

Read the full story at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703453804576191010111787594.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

Peter Peterson seems especially optimistic about the chances of reaching a bi-partisan deal to cut government "entitlement" programs and the White House budget director, Jacob Lew said the White House thinks "it's a good thing" this bi-partisan group is exploring those kinds of ideas. Remember, everything is on the table for consideration on how to cut government deficits on the backs of working people and the elderly. BBI

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. I just sent him an email

and told him if the he and Democrats continue to cower to the Republican rhetoric and cut ANYTHING from Medicare or Social Security, he has lost 3 votes in our family. Democrats need to STOP this shit and they won't STOP THIS SHIT as long as they're continually rewarded by being reelected! I-HAVE-HAD-ENOUGH.

[slipslidingaway]

14. Clue - Hoyer, Clyburn Continue to Tout Retirement Age Increase

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/07/28/hoyer-clyburn-continue-to-tout-retirement-age-increase/

"Some House Democrats have tried to use John Boehner’s comments about raising the retirement age against Republicans in the fall elections, but that becomes impossible to do when Steny Hoyer keeps going out and undermining the effort by mimicking Boehner.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer reiterated Tuesday that raising the retirement age for Social Security benefits should be on the table as an option for cutting the deficit — even though some of his fellow Democrats have ripped the idea and groups have started airing ads against it <...>

“Age is one of the considerations that is obviously on the table,” Hoyer said. “It was in 1983” when the last major Social Security commission resulted in raising the retirement age to 67 <...>

He sought to portray the split between the two parties on Social Security as one party being for privatization and the other against it rather than on the retirement age issue. Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) also mentioned a higher retirement age as a possibility.

The left hand doesn’t know what the other left hand is doing. The DCCC pounced on Boehner’s comments on the retirement age. Nancy Pelosi told Netroots Nation she was firmly against any increase. But Hoyer and Clyburn have been touting this consistently..."

[ProSense]

18. "Scrap the Cap"

Scrap the Cap, Strengthen Social Security (Sen. Harkin, April 4)

Harkin, Reid and Sanders need to have a talk with Durbin.

[JDPriestly]

39. The cap should be scrapped.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

19. Durbin also understands Social Security is a separate issue from the deficit w/ its own problems.

When I've heard him say SS should be on the table it struck me that he knew he was calling the republican bluff about SS having anything what-so-fucking-ever to do with the budget deficit. In other words he's saying 'fine, let's deal with the SS problem and let's deal with the deficit but we're going to find out real quick that the two things aren't in the same column on the spreadsheet.'

[EFerrari]

20. LOL

[kenny blankenship]

21. And THAT is what passes for a Democrat these days

or almost passes. Fuck him and all his kind.

[ProSense]

22. Obama backs lifting income cap for Social Security

Obama backs lifting income cap for Social Security

[SnoopDog]

23. Sure... Until it is taking 'off the table' just like single payer.

As the old saying says... "talk is cheap - it takes money to buy whiskey"...

[slipslidingaway]

31. There are caps on what is paid into the system and what is taken out of the system...

should we change just one side of the equation and how will that change the perception of SS?

[JDPriestly]

40. Then why did Obama appoint all those anti-Social-Security folks to

the deficit commission?

Obama says one thing and does another. I do not trust him, especially not on this.

[WinkyDink]

24. That "stages of grief" crap is disturbingly condescending and minimizing the threat.

[jillan]

25. Wow - I used to love Durbin, what the hell happened to him?

[JDPriestly]

41. He is rich and owes his position to the big corporations who donate to him.

He probably doesn't need Medicare or Social Security, so he thinks nobody does.

[kentuck]

26. They are not on the same page with the President...

The President was out fighting for the poor and middle-class today. He was defending Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Democrats are acting as if he doesn't exist.

[sad sally]

27. Hmm...not so sure there's much sunlight between them - seems more

likely this is the old good cop (Obama) bad cop (gang of 6) and in the end, us average Americans will be the losers.

[kentuck]

28. I don't think so..

I think they are not on the same page.

[slipslidingaway]

32. I want to see actions when it counts. n/t

[Better Believe It]

35. You're right. President Obama is on their page.

The rest is just "bad cop, good cop" theatrics and campaign rhetoric while they cut a bi-partisan deal behind the scenes.

[JDPriestly]

42. When and where did the president fight for Social Security and Medicare today?

[bobbolink]

34. Face it, folks. This is the END of the New Deal.... and it is being done by the DEmocrats!

FDR is spinning in his grave... his own party is betraying him.

Those of us who lost hope a while back are seeing that we are, sadly, right. :cry:

Rip it up, Durbin.... destroy it all. Hope it makes you feel ever so powerful... and rich.

[Better Believe It]

36. They first took baby steps, not they plan to take much bigger steps.

But, just one step at a time, not all at once, in order to lessen resistance.

[bobbolink]

38. The pace will speed up, but the frog won't boil.

I'm willing to bet the next step is trading all the safety net for poor people to make SS "secure", and the middleclass will sell us down the river in a heartbeat.

[slipslidingaway]

44. We need to watch our own party with as much detail, or maybe even more, than we ...

watch the other party.

[bobbolink]

45. You are exactly right. But its much more fun blaming the RW. Which means that it is not yet bad

enough for us ALL to get serious about it.

[slipslidingaway]

46. It makes good theater, constantly blaming the other party while people ...

suffer.

Unfortunately I think you are right, people do not pay attention until they are hurting, we're not there yet.

:(

[bluestate10]

47. Get over it. The New Deal distributed northern wealth to the south and interior west.

The distribution of blue state SS and Medicare taxes southward is what is fueling teabaggery and religious rightism in the south and interior west. Durbin is right, cuts will happen. People like Sanders have their head in the sand, if SS and Medicare cuts are engineered by republicans, expect those cuts to go soft on the people that pay little to nothing into the system but get enormous benefits from it, southern and interior western seniors, the very people that vote blood red. Durbin is closer to right on this than Sanders and Pelosi are.

[JDPriestly]

37. The means-testing would be OK except that Social Security would lose

the support of the few wealthy Americans who still support it. And that would be terrible.

Cutting Social Security will divide the American people even more than they are divided now.

It would also divide families. It's a horrible mistake. It must be avoided no matter what it takes. If we can't support seniors, we certainly cannot support a defense industry or Congressional staff.

Why can't members of Congress do their own work? Why do they need staffs? Staffs cost a lot of money? Let's fire them all.