I have always said that the thieves in the Federal government would never cut Social Security because old folks are very loud and vocal and they also vote.

So I was very surprised to see the headline that said Obama's gang of thieves were going to cut Social Security. Well I was surprised till I read the article and saw that the cuts will be in 40 years in 2050.

I suspect this is another one of those things where the government nannies get on soap boxes and yell very loudly as they pretend to cut spending.

If the Feds really wanted to cut spending they could end the Iraq and Afghanistan wars right now and that would save boatloads of money.

But that won't happen because the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are just welfare programs for the corporations who helped the politicians get elected. You know the corporations give the politicians boat loads of bribes which are called "campaign contributions" and in return the corporations receive mega bucks to help the American Empire kill brown folks in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source

Deficit panel leaders' plan curbs Social Security

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Andrew Taylor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The leaders of President Barack Obama's bipartisan deficit commission launched a daring assault on mushrooming federal deficits on Wednesday, proposing reducing annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security, gradually raising the retirement age to 69 and taking aim at popular tax breaks such as the mortgage interest deduction.

As part of a proposal to wrestle $1-trillion-plus deficits under control, their plan would also curb the growth of Medicare. It came a week after voters put Republicans back in charge of the House and told Washington that the government is too big.

However, the plan by Chairman Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson, the co-chairman, doesn't look like it can win the support from 14 commission members that is needed to force a debate in Congress. Bowles is a Democrat and was former President Bill Clinton's White House chief of staff. Simpson is a Wyoming Republican.

The two were among the first to acknowledge their plan's unpopularity — and to suggest it would be a nonstarter in Congress.

"We'll both be in a witness protection program when this is all over, so look us up," Simpson told reporters. Bowles said: "We're not asking anybody to vote for this plan. This is a starting point."

They weighed in as the Treasury Department reported that the federal government began the new budget year with a deficit in October that totaled $140.4 billion — down 20 percent from a year ago but still the third highest October shortfall on record. Even with the improvement, last month's red ink set the stage for what is expected to be a third consecutive year of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

The Social Security proposal would change the inflation measurement used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for program benefits, reducing annual increases. It will almost certainly draw opposition from advocates for seniors, who are already upset that there will be no increase for 2011, the second straight year without a raise.

The plan would also raise the regular Social Security retirement age to 68 in about 2050 and to 69 in 2075. The full retirement age for those retiring now is 66. For those born in 1960 or after, the full retirement age is now 67.

Better-off beneficiaries would receive smaller Social Security payments than those in lower earning brackets under the proposal.

The commission is supposed to report a deficit-cutting plan on Dec. 1, but panel members are unsure at best whether they'll be able to agree on anything approaching Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to about 3 percent of the size of the gross domestic product.

Building the needed support of 14 of its 18 members will be difficult. Cuts to Social Security and Medicare are making some liberals on the panel recoil. And conservative Republicans are having difficulty with the options suggested for raising taxes. The plan also calls for cuts in farm subsidies, foreign aid and the Pentagon's budget.

"This is not a proposal I could support," said panel member Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. "On Medicare and Social Security in particular, there are proposals that I could not support."

The plan released by Bowles is only a proposal put forth by him and Simpson. Members of the commission will resume debate on it later Wednesday and next week in a long-shot bid to reach a compromise.

The release of the proposal comes just a week after midterm elections that gave Republicans the House majority and increased their numbers in the Senate. During the campaign, neither political party talked of spending cuts of the magnitude proposed by Bowles, with Republicans simply proposing $100 million in cuts to domestic programs passed each year by Congress. "It's a very provocative proposal," said a Republican panel member, Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas. "Some of it I like. Some of it disturbs me. And some of it I've got to study."

But member Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., called the proposal "an aggressive and comprehensive plan for getting federal spending, deficits and the debt under control. ... This will not be the final proposal, but it is a significant step down the path of establishing fiscal responsibility."

Other proposals by Bowles and Simpson include:

_Increasing the gas tax by 15 cents a gallon to fund transportation programs.

_A three-year freeze in the pay of most federal employees and a 10 percent cut in the federal work force.

_Eliminating all congressional pet projects, known as earmarks.

Bowles and Simpson also are proposing a fundamental rewrite of the tax code, though they didn't offer a specific plan.

But the goal is to lower overall tax rates, simplify the code and broaden the taxpayer base. One option proposed is to completely eliminate so-called tax expenditures — including popular deductions like the mortgage interest tax break and a deduction taken by companies that provide health insurance to their employees.

They didn't specifically call for doing away with these popular tax breaks, instead listing that among a series of possible options.

While it may not survive, the Bowles-Simpson proposal illustrates the painful choices involved in tackling a deficit that presently requires the government to borrow 37 cents out of every dollar it spends.

Even with the dramatic proposals, the Bowles-Simpson plan would leave deficits of about $300 billion in 2015, the year by which Obama tasked the group with balancing the federal budget, except for interest payments on a national debt that now stands at $13.7 trillion. If the changes to Social Security are dropped, the deficit would be about $400 billion in 2015.

But the plan is an aggressive assault on the longer-term deficit crisis, which is fueled by spiraling costs for retirement programs.

___

AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger and AP writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Tom Raum contributed to this report.

"Current deficits require the government to borrow 37 cents out of every dollar it spends" - That is a lie or misstatement.

They pretend to borrow 37 cents of every dollar spent. In reality they roll the printing presses and print 37 cents of every dollars spent. The other 63 cents of every dollars spent is collected in taxes.

Why roll the printing presses and print money or "pretend to borrow money" as they do? Because people don't realized they are being taxed when the Feds print the money. But rolling the printing presses and printing money causes inflation which is a tax on anyone who holds US dollars.

Last but not least the headline for this article is a joke! The cuts won't kick in for another 40 years till 2050. They are just doing a lot of loud talking pretending to cut spending!

Source

Social Security, mortgage breaks ideas for slashing U.S. deficit

Social Security, mortgage tax breaks on the table

by Andrew Taylor - Nov. 11, 2010 12:00 AM

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - In a politically incendiary plan, the bipartisan leaders of President Barack Obama's deficit commission proposed curbs in Social Security benefits, deep reductions in federal spending and higher taxes for millions of Americans on Wednesday to stem a flood of red ink that they say threatens the nation's future.

The White House responded coolly, some leading lawmakers less so to proposals that target government programs long considered all but sacred. Besides Social Security, Medicare spending would be curtailed. Tax breaks for many health-care plans, too. And the Pentagon's budget, as well, in a plan designed to cut total deficits by as much as $4 trillion over the next decade.

The plan arrived exactly one week after elections that featured strong voter demands for economic change in Washington. But criticism was immediate from advocacy groups on the left and, to some extent, the right at the start of the postelection debate on painful steps necessary to rein in out-of-control deficits.

The plan would gradually increase the retirement age for full Social Security benefits - to 69 by 2075 - and current recipients would receive smaller-than-anticipated annual increases. Equally controversial, it would eliminate the current tax deduction that homeowners receive for the interest they pay on their mortgages.

No one is expecting quick action on any of the plan's pieces. Proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare are making liberals recoil. And conservative Republicans are having difficulty with options suggested for raising taxes. The plan also calls for cuts in farm subsidies, foreign aid and the Pentagon's budget.

The document was released by Democrat Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton White House chief of staff, and Republican Alan Simpson, a former senator from Wyoming.

Acknowledging the controversy involved, Simpson quipped to reporters: "We'll both be in a witness-protection program when this is all over, so look us up." Bowles said, "This is a starting point."

Controversial or not, Bowles said serious action was demanded. He declared, "This debt is like a cancer that will truly destroy this country from within if we don't fix it."

The government reported separately Wednesday that the deficit for past month alone was $140.4 billion - and that was 20 percent lower than a year earlier.

The red ink for all of the past fiscal year was $1.29 trillion, second-highest on record, and this year is headed for the third straight total above $1 trillion.

Current deficits require the government to borrow 37 cents out of every dollar it spends.

Still, the plan was rejected as "simply unacceptable" by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a top Obama ally.

The White House held its fire. Spokesman Bill Burton said, "The president will wait until the bipartisan fiscal commission finishes its work before commenting."

The Social Security proposal would change the inflation measurement used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for benefits, reducing annual increases.

It immediately drew a withering assault from advocates for seniors, who are already upset that there will be no inflation increase for 2011, the second straight year.

The plan would also raise the regular Social Security retirement age to 68 by about 2050 and to 69 in 2075. The full retirement age for those retiring now is 66. For those born in 1960 or after, the full retirement age is now 67.

Better-off beneficiaries would receive smaller Social Security payments than those in lower-earning brackets under the proposal, and the amount of income subject to Social Security taxes would be increased.

"The chairmen of the Deficit Commission just told working Americans to drop dead," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement.

From the right, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, whose opinions carry great weight among Republicans, blasted the plan for its $1 trillion in tax increases over the coming decade. But Bowles and Simpson say eliminating costly tax deductions could bring income tax rates way down.

For every $1 of new revenue, the plan demands $3 in spending cuts. That was acceptable to Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a panel member. "If we do the cuts, I'll go for it," he said. "We may have to go for some revenues at some point."

The entire commission is supposed to report a deficit-cutting plan on Dec. 1, but panel members are unsure whether they'll be able to agree on anything approaching deficit cuts of the size proposed. And even if they could, any vote in Congress this year would be non-binding, Simpson said.

"Before anybody starts shooting down proposals, I think we need to listen, we need to gather up all the facts" - Mr. President you and Congress have been spending our money like drunken sailors for the last 50 years. What more facts do we need?

The alleged National Debt is $11 trillion plus, that is $36,666 for every man, woman and child in the USA or $73,333 for every adult in the USA. What part of "your spending our money like a drunken sailor" don't you understand Mr. President?

Now if you consider the unfunded mandates like Social Security and Medicare the amount of money the Feds owe jumps by a factor of about 4 and is about $150,000 for every adult in the USA. What part of "your spending our money like a drunken sailor" don't you understand Obama?

Source

Obama to Congress: Stop shooting down deficit proposals

By Charles Dharapak, AP

Good morning from The Oval, and Happy Veteran's Day -- President Obama is in Seoul, South Korea, where today he said lawmakers in the United States should hold off on comments about his fiscal commission's proposals to slash the federal budget deficit through spending cuts, ending tax breaks, and a revamping of the Social Security system.

"Before anybody starts shooting down proposals, I think we need to listen, we need to gather up all the facts," Obama told reporters.

He added: "If people are, in fact, concerned about spending, debt, deficits and the future of our country, then they're going to need to be armed with the information about the kinds of choices that are going to be involved, and we can't just engage in political rhetoric."

Obama said he will await the commission's Dec. 1 formal report before commenting in detail. Members "are trying to round up 14 votes for certain aspects of the recommendations, and I want to make sure that they've got the room and the space to do so," he said.

The commission proposals -- outlined here by USA TODAY's Richard Wolf -- drew fire from many of Obama's fellow Democrats, including outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She and other Democrats were particularly critical of proposals to change Social Security, including lower benefits for upper-income recipients and reduced cost-of-living increases.

"We're going to take it out on senior citizens?" said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., one of Pelosi's appointees to the deficit reduction panel. "I am virulently against that proposal."

At a news conference in Seoul, Obama said he opposes special spending projects known as earmarks, and wants to eliminate waste from the federal budget -- but those alone won't come close to cutting the national debt now pegged at $13.7 trillion.

"We're going to have to make some tough choices," Obama said. "The only way to make those tough choices historically has been if both parties are willing to move forward together."

In other news:

Obama delivered his Veteran's Day speech to U.S. troops in South Korea -- and delivered a stern message to North Korea.

One of the package bombs from Yemen was designed to explode over U.S. territory, USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson reports.

U.S. and South Korean negotiators are still unable to nail down a free trade agreement.

A Pentagon study says there is little risk to ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.