Free Republic

Can Social Security save Democrats this fall?By Chris Cillizza September 1, 2010; 10:08 AM ET Democrats, faced with a worsening national political climate and daunting historical midterm election trends, are turning to Social Security as an issue where they believe they can score political points and set the stakes of what a Republican-controlled Congress would look like. **SNIP** The strategy behind the Democratic attacks is simple. Older voters are deeply suspicious of any changes to the retirement program -- it's not an accident that Social Security is referred to as the "third rail of American politics" -- and they also...

Social Security, what Social Security? The Sunday, August 15, 2010, edition of the Herald Democrat, headlines read, "Obama claims GOP trying to destroy Social Security." There's no secret that Social Security is already destroyed. For more than two thirds of the 75 years of the Social Security Administration's life, it has been under the control of the Democratic controlled administrations. The so called "Social Security's lock box" was robbed in 1962 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration. They took their "private key" and unlocked the sacred "locked box" of the Social Security "trust" funds. They transferred "trillions of...

Around 7:30 this morning, noted financial columnist for the New York Times Andrew Ross Sorkin made an astounding statement that I can only paraphrase. He said that a recent Paul Krugman piece in the NYT was encouraging that the Social Security Trust Fund may actually be in better shape than generally believed and may actually have a longer expected life than the (around) 2037 forecast. When Joe Kernan and the guest at that time (Ed Yardeni) challenged him saying there's nothing in the trust fund, Ross Sorkin came back saying "well I found Krugman's piece very persuasive." The link is...

Obama: Social Security won't be privatizedBy the CNN Wire Staff August 18, 2010 12:08 p.m. EDT Columbus, Ohio (CNN) -- President Barack Obama pledged Wednesday that the Social Security system won't be privatized while he is in the White House. In a town-hall style meeting with a few dozen residents of Columbus, Ohio, Obama said "modest" changes can keep the government pension system solvent for decades. Republicans have called for transforming the government program to a private savings account as a way to help keep it going as America's aging population stresses its financial health. "It will not be privatized...

President Obama said Social Security is not in crisis and only modest changes are needed to keep it solvent. The president acknowledged at a small town hall gathering in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday that the pension fund "has to be tweaked because the population is getting older" but said Republicans' plans to drastically overhaul the program are wrong. "Social Security is not in crisis," Obama said. "We're going to have to make some modest adjustments in order to strengthen it." Social Security has become a significant campaign issue during the August recess — Democrats have attacked the GOP,

The Third Rail: What To Do With Social Security?Touching Entitlements Poses Danger for Both Parties By Z. BYRON WOLF August 16, 2010 Painting Republicans as bogeymen who want to privatize sacred entitlement programs, Democrats have turned to Social Security to save them in the coming Midterm election. David Wright on what voters were saying on biggest day of mid-term primaries."I'll fight with everything I've got to stop those who want to gamble your social security on Wall Street," President Obama said in his weekly video address on Saturday, the 75 anniversary of Social Security's enactment. Along with Medicare, Social Security...

Don't they usually wait until after Labor Day to do this? Ten days ago, I asserted that that the administration's cynical use of Andy Griffith for a patently political promo on behalf of Medicare ("This year, as always, we’ll have our guaranteed benefits, and with the new healthcare law, more good things are coming: free check-ups, lower prescription costs") was "the foundation for the biennial Democratic scare-the-seniors campaign."Well, the Social Security portion of that scare campaign kicked in this morning.

Obama claims GOP trying to destroy Social Security21 minutes ago By ERICA WERNER Associated Press Writer (AP:WASHINGTON) President Barack Obama used the anniversary of Social Security to trumpet Democrats' support for the popular program and accuse Republicans of trying to destroy it. Seventy-five years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday: "We have an obligation to keep that promise, to safeguard Social Security for our seniors, people with disabilities and all Americans _ today, tomorrow and forever." Some Republican leaders in Congress are "pushing to make privatizing...

Sen. Reid holds Reno rally to celebrate 75 years of Social SecurityLast Updated: Thursday August 12, 2010 6:30pm PDT Reno, NV - Social Security is turning 75 years old and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid held a rally for senior citizens in Reno Thursday to celebrate. Social Security has been a hot topic in the race for Reid's Senate seat against Republican opponent Sharron Angle. Angle says Reid is trying to kill Social Security by raiding its "trust fund." Reid is reminding voters of Angle's words during before the Republican primary election. At that time, Angle said Social Security needed...

Forced to Retire, Some Take Social Security EarlyUnable to find work, unemployed turn to reduced Social Security checks early to stay afloat The Associated Press By MATT SEDENSKY MIAMI August 8, 2010 Paul Skidmore's office is shuttered, his job gone, his 18-month job search fruitless and his unemployment benefits exhausted. So at 63, he plans to file this week for Social Security benefits, three years earlier than planned. "All I want to do is work," said Skidmore, of Finksburg, Md., who was an insurance claims adjuster for 37 years before his company downsized and closed his office last year. "And...

The Strengthen Social Security Campaignby Dave Johnson Social Security is once again under attack. Time after time Social Security has come under attack. Do you remember the Bush "privatization" campaign a few years ago? Each time the attack uses a different myth, repeated over and over. Then, in between attacks, the myths continue circulating. This time they're trying to make people think that Social Security contributes to the budget deficit. It doesn't. They say this because so many people are worried about budget deficits. If polling showed that people were worried that their arms are going to turn into green...

"...There were no disclaimers saying this is subject to change and nowhere did it indicate that “past performance is not indicative of future results” as these pillars of rectitude require of all private sector companies to slap on their literature. Madoff put out those similar fraudulent performance statements, although his at least had the standard market risk disclosures; so..." continued

Two private investigators — working separately — have discovered that Obama has been using a Social Security card and a number that only applies to people who lived in Connecticut. And we have no record that he ever lived — or even had a mailing address — in Connecticut.

The media are forever trying to create a division in the Republican Party between those who care most about so-called social issues and those who want priority for fiscal issues. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is the most recent politician to fall into this trap by asserting that the next president "would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues." The truth is that social and fiscal issues are locked in a political and financial embrace that cannot be pried apart. Those who emphasize runaway government spending and out-of-control debt and deficits must face the fact that those trillions...

6 ways to get more Social SecurityMarriages -- even former ones -- can have significant financial advantages. Here's a look at how having said 'I do' can win you more in retirement benefits. By U.S. News & World Report Couples who are currently married, or who have stayed together at least 10 years, tie together their working records -- and the resulting Social Security checks -- as long as they both shall live. In the case of Social Security payments, the result is often better for the couple than it would have been for a single person. Spouses have Social...

Who Judges the Judges: Reporters Without Borders Seems To Have A Geopolitical Agenda Politics / Social Issues May 05, 2010 - 07:09 AM By: F William Engdahl An organization calling itself Reporters Without Borders (RWB; French: Reporters sans frontières, or RSF) has just named Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, China’s President Hu Jintao, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev and Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko to their list of Forty Worst Predators of Press Freedom for 2010. Most significant about their list of ‘bad guys’ is the geopolitical relation of those leaders and those countries to the current ‘enemies list’ of...

controversial proposal has students horrified at a Bergen County middle school on Wednesday. The principal is asking parents to join a voluntary ban on social networking. Eighth grader Ali Feinberg told CBS 2 she uses her iPhone to check her Facebook account "a lot" and some of her friends said the same. Now all have to talk to their parents about getting off the popular social network. It won't be easy. "I am very addicted to Facebook," Feinberg's classmate Elizabeth Dolan told CBS 2. Anthony Orsini, the principal at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, sent out an e-mail Wednesday...

There's nothing wrong with Social SecurityThat's the claim made by a "progressive" web site. Boy, are they wrong. By Mark R. Crovelli, Guest blogger / April 7, 2010 I read Counterpunch.com on a regular basis for two reasons. First, I visit the site for its extremely good articles discussing the foreign-policy follies of Western governments. Few sites feature harder-hitting and more consistently anti-interventionist critiques of the policies pursued by Western governments. The second reason I like to visit Counterpunch is to give myself a good laugh. Nothing in the world amuses me more than when self-styled "progressives" attempt to discuss...

The bursting of the real estate bubble and the ensuing recession have hurt jobs, home prices and now Social Security. This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The Economic Elite Versus The People of the USA Politics / US Politics Mar 21, 2010 - 09:53 AM By: David DeGraw Throughout this report, I have presented statistical and fact-based evidence to demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched against 99% of Americans. Despite the efforts of the mainstream media and most current politicians, awareness of this reality is spreading throughout the United States.A recent Rasmussen poll found that only 21% of Americans think that the government has the consent of the governed. An Opinion Research Corp. survey revealed that 86% believe “the system of government is broken.”...