Comments for NPR Joins Drive to Cut Social Security at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 14 out of 14 comments http://www.cepr.net Mon, 20 May 2013 22:48:18 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7544 I should have said "lower future benefits." Such preemptive cuts (for the same level of taxes) simply cannot be justified as a matter of reasonable public policy. - urban legend Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:50:49 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7543 We should wait until we have a better idea whether and when the trust fund will be depleted and continuing revenues will be inadequate to fund fully projected benefits. These are projections that, in fact, have bounced all over the place ever since the "Baby Boom Trust Fund" was established. They are the SSA's best guess, which is what long-term economic projections necessarily must be. In 1997, the projected exhaustion date was 2029 -- 32 years in the future. In 2003, only six years later thanks to a strong economy and high employment, that projected Doomsday date had not dropped to 26 years as it should have if SSA could still say 2029 was the right date, had been pushed 13 years farther into the future(2042), or 39 years into the future. Not such a ringing slogan: "Help the sky is falling although admittedly, it should fall later than we told you a few years ago." Of course, with the weak economy, which SSA believes is the reason for new payroll tax revenues not matching benefits this year -- and not that we have actually reached the so-called tipping point when we will permanently have to move to using the interest accumulated in the Trust Fund -- it has moved back closer again, but only to 2037. With such uncertainty, it would be completely irresponsible to ask anyone to pay more in or to accept lower benefits now. We need to keep watching, but it is too early to take the kind of steps, even raising the ceiling, that are being bandied about. In 1983, when the structure was revised by Greenspan and Reagan, Social Security was going to be unable to fund benefits fully [b]that very same year[/b]. We can wait awhile to get a better lay of the land when we are unlikely to face a problem for almost another 30 years. - urban legend Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:47:01 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7541 Mister Shelby shows his lack of knowledge every time he comments on an issue. He doesn't understand economics nor does he care to. He just repeats the talking points of his "masters". Social Security could be fixed very simply by raising the cut off point or raising taxes by a minuscule amount. But heaven forbid a politician even mentioning the T word. Someone needs to lead on this issue. - Grich Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:24:06 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7538 Some say we should adjust social security now, where the change would be very small, while others say we should wait until the surplus runs out, and then make a bigger adjustment. I wonder which is closer to the truth. - Tony Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:41:20 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7537 "When the government pays back the bonds held by the Social Security trust fund it will effectively be replacing the bonds held by the trust fund with other bonds." There is no reason that at least some of the debt can't be retired with money from income and other taxes. In fact, this is the crux of the matter; the main reason that SS is under attack is probably that high-income people want to keep their income-tax rates low. It is not likely that these people, or most politicians, are really concerned about the level of the debt, since it has been increasing since 1981. - skeptonomist Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:33:48 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7532 [b]Randy[/b] wrote, [quote]What if we demand that any new revenue from reforming Social Security would NOT be loaned to the Treasury...[/quote] That's not the problem. The problem is that people who pay into SS don't have a so-called "property interest" in the bonds held by SS. That's the reason that the government can renege on the implicit promise in the SS trust fund (via legislative action) but not on bonds held by private parties. Only way to legally renege on the latter is by inflation. - liberal Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:53:12 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7530 See my recent blog post on the subject here: http://www.rationalrevolution.net/blog/index.blog?entry_id=2133122 The fact is that Social Security never had added one dime to the deficit and it never will, it is in fact forbidden by law from ever running a deficit. The Republicans (and some Democrats) are trying o default on the debt held by the Trust Fund (which don't forget was established by Alan Greenspan and Ronald Reagan). - ratinoalrevolution Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:32:51 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7515 De-fund Now-Pandering-Right radio! - NewsFromAnnArbor Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:34:03 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7514 ... I recommended that OTM take a look at NPR/Welna's SS coverage, and interview Dean. - SLittlehale Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:10:31 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7513 If social security held marketable securities would that really protect it? I don't know the answer to this but wouldn't it still be possible to target the program? Presumably the serial numbers of the bonds held by the trust fund would be recorded somewhere. Couldn't Congress still single out just those particular bonds and default on them? Sure, it would have a larger panic inducing potential but is it technically possible? Does anyone know the answer? - einniv Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:50:39 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7512 that make it very difficult for me to give a hoot if public broadcasting gets the axe. - McMike Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:29:55 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7510 What if we demand that any new revenue from reforming Social Security would NOT be loaned to the Treasury and would instead be prohibited from being loaned to the Federal Government other than through the secondary markets using marketable securities, a special account would be held for SSA at the Federal Reserve. I would be that much of the talk of reforming Social Security would go silent because the funds could not be used to address the current deficit. - Randy Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:03:04 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7509 [quote]"Republicans also believe [emphasis added] the very best time to fix Social Security is now, during a time of divided government when both Democrats and Republicans can share ownership of any changes."[/quote] Uh huh. Like Republicans 'believe' the very best time to shut down massive subsidies to nuclear power plants is now in light of the Japan disaster when both Republicans and Democrats can 'share ownership' of the change. The best time to slam the middle class up against the wall and shake down what money's left from the last three years of plunder and blunder is now, while the Great Austerity Lie still has momentum, because after it fails the political backlash is going to make the current protests look like a goddamn panty waist tea party. They broke it then, they're breaking it now and they own all of it without 'sharing' a goddamn bit of the carnage with anyone else. - izzatzo Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:47:42 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/npr-joins-drive-to-cut-social-security#comment-7508 this NPR report was awful, fact-free and conveyed GOP propaganda uncritically. We wouldn't hear such a lazy, biased piece on BBC. It's lucky that NPR listeners often get a one hour BBC broadcast every day. That way, they get a sense of what real, responsible journalism is like.NPR is just getting worse, as they face defunding from their key information sources, GOP liars. - Nancy Cadet Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:50:20 +0100