Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) charges Obama with "beginning the unraveling of Social Security"

[Better Believe It]

17. "With this bill, we can no longer say that Social Security doesn't contribute to the deficit"

Payroll Tax Cut: Tom Harkin Slams President, Democrats For Risking Social Security
By Michael McAuliff
February 17, 2012

"This Congress will be making a grave mistake -- a grave mistake -- and reinforcing a dangerous precedent," Harkin said in a dramatic Senate floor speech late Thursday. "And I’m dismayed that Democrats, including a Democratic president and a Democratic vice president, have proposed this, and are willing to sign off on a deal that could begin the unraveling of Social Security."

Harkin argued that Social Security had always been strong and protected because it was funded by its own dedicated tax stream that ensured every American would be guaranteed a basic income in their retirements, and that the program added not "even one dime to the deficits or the national debt." "With this bill, we can no longer say that. We can no longer say that Social Security doesn't contribute to the deficit," Harkin said.

He argued that a far better plan would have been to simply grant working Americans rebates on their income taxes, the way Presidents Obama and George W. Bush had done in recent years.

"This, I believe has been the hallmark and the underpinning of the party that I've been proud to belong to," Harkin said. "Cutting the payroll tax is a bad idea, terrible idea. I'm embarrassed that it's being proposed by a Democratic president and a Democratic vice president."



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/17/payroll-tax-cut-tom-harkin_n_1284334.html