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In reply to the discussion: Why doesn't anyone talk about raising the cap for social security? [View all]ProSense
(116,464 posts)14. President Obama addressed this at the AARP
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
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
From the President's DNC speech:
<...>
Now, Im still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my bipartisan debt commission. No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No democracy works without compromise. I want to get this done, and we can get it done. But when Governor Romney and his friends in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy, well, what did Bill Clinton call it -- you do the arithmetic. (Applause.) You do the math. (Applause.)
I refuse to go along with that and as long as Im President, I never will. (Applause.) I refuse to ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaires tax cut. (Applause.)
I refuse to ask students to pay more for college, or kick children out of Head Start programs, or eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are poor and elderly or disabled -- all so those with the most can pay less. Im not going along with that. (Applause.)
And I will never -- I will never -- turn Medicare into a voucher. (Applause.) No American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. They should retire with the care and the dignity that they have earned. Yes, we will reform and strengthen Medicare for the long haul, but well do it by reducing the cost of health care -- not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more. (Applause.)
And we will keep the promise of Social Security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it, not by turning it over to Wall Street. (Applause.)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/07/remarks-president-democratic-national-convention
Now, Im still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my bipartisan debt commission. No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No democracy works without compromise. I want to get this done, and we can get it done. But when Governor Romney and his friends in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy, well, what did Bill Clinton call it -- you do the arithmetic. (Applause.) You do the math. (Applause.)
I refuse to go along with that and as long as Im President, I never will. (Applause.) I refuse to ask middle-class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaires tax cut. (Applause.)
I refuse to ask students to pay more for college, or kick children out of Head Start programs, or eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are poor and elderly or disabled -- all so those with the most can pay less. Im not going along with that. (Applause.)
And I will never -- I will never -- turn Medicare into a voucher. (Applause.) No American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. They should retire with the care and the dignity that they have earned. Yes, we will reform and strengthen Medicare for the long haul, but well do it by reducing the cost of health care -- not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more. (Applause.)
And we will keep the promise of Social Security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it, not by turning it over to Wall Street. (Applause.)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/07/remarks-president-democratic-national-convention
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And we can't raise revenue without letting "leeches" engage in blood letting as well....
tokenlib
Oct 2012
#2
social security *has* means testing already. SS is taxed at 85% for those with more than $32K
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#39
You misunderstand the term. Taxing income is very different from means testing.
Bluenorthwest
Oct 2012
#77
no, you misunderstand. social security benefits didn't use to be taxed. that began under reagan
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#79
+1. so many people so eager to mess with SS, so few eager to mess with income taxes.
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#40
The problem is that once you disconnect payments from benefits for the rich you open the possibility
dkf
Oct 2012
#36
+1. if those things don't get fixed you can kiss SS goodbye. also kiss your pensions and savings.
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#41
we don't need to do a damn thing about social security today. not a damn thing. and if the
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#43
try projecting 75 years to infinity if you want tricks. kind of how the post office prefunds their
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#42
Why hasn't either side talked any about the middle class tax increase coming on Jan 1. The
doc03
Oct 2012
#27
Thanks, that's a very informative source about the point I made concerning income inequality.
Jim Lane
Oct 2012
#46
actually there is. it's what keeps ss from turning into something that can be categorized as
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#51
it would, actually, because the top 10-20% of wage earners would be paying for most of the program.
HiPointDem
Oct 2012
#63
I am talking about our illustrious politicians. Bernie Sanders is not included in that group
still_one
Oct 2012
#55