[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Mail]  [Sign-in]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register] 

"The 2nd Impeachment: Trump’s Popularity Still Scares Them to Death"

"President Badass"

"Jasmine Crockett's Train Wreck Interview Was a Disaster"

"How Israel Used Spies, Smuggled Drones and AI to Stun and Hobble Iran"

There hasn’T been ... a single updaTe To This siTe --- since I joined.

"This Is Not What Authoritarianism Looks Like"

America Erupts… ICE Raids Takeover The Streets

AC/DC- Riff Raff + Go Down [VH1 Uncut, July 5, 1996]

Why is Peter Schiff calling Bitcoin a ‘giant cult’ and how does this impact market sentiment?

Esso Your Butt Buddy Horseshit jacks off to that shit

"The Addled Activist Mind"

"Don’t Stop with Harvard"

"Does the Biden Cover-Up Have Two Layers?"

"Pete Rose, 'Shoeless' Joe Reinstated by MLB, Eligible for HOF"

"'Major Breakthrough': Here Are the Details on the China Trade Deal"

Freepers Still Love war

Parody ... Jump / Trump --- van Halen jump

"The Democrat Meltdown Continues"

"Yes, We Need Deportations Without Due Process"

"Trump's Tariff Play Smart, Strategic, Working"

"Leftists Make Desperate Attempt to Discredit Photo of Abrego Garcia's MS-13 Tattoos. Here Are Receipts"

"Trump Administration Freezes $2 Billion After Harvard Refuses to Meet Demands"on After Harvard Refuses to Meet Demands

"Doctors Committing Insurance Fraud to Conceal Trans Procedures, Texas Children’s Whistleblower Testifies"

"Left Using '8647' Symbol for Violence Against Trump, Musk"

KawasakiÂ’s new rideable robohorse is straight out of a sci-fi novel

"Trade should work for America, not rule it"

"The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Race – What’s at Risk for the GOP"

"How Trump caught big-government fans in their own trap"

‘Are You Prepared for Violence?’

Greek Orthodox Archbishop gives President Trump a Cross, tells him "Make America Invincible"

"Trump signs executive order eliminating the Department of Education!!!"

"If AOC Is the Democratic Future, the Party Is Even Worse Off Than We Think"

"Ending EPA Overreach"

Closest Look Ever at How Pyramids Were Built

Moment the SpaceX crew Meets Stranded ISS Crew

The Exodus Pharaoh EXPLAINED!

Did the Israelites Really Cross the Red Sea? Stunning Evidence of the Location of Red Sea Crossing!

Are we experiencing a Triumph of Orthodoxy?

Judge Napolitano with Konstantin Malofeev (Moscow, Russia)

"Trump Administration Cancels Most USAID Programs, Folds Others into State Department"

Introducing Manus: The General AI Agent

"Chinese Spies in Our Military? Straight to Jail"

Any suggestion that the USA and NATO are "Helping" or have ever helped Ukraine needs to be shot down instantly

"Real problem with the Palestinians: Nobody wants them"

ACDC & The Rolling Stones - Rock Me Baby

Magnus Carlsen gives a London System lesson!

"The Democrats Are Suffering Through a Drought of Generational Talent"

7 Tactics Of The Enemy To Weaken Your Faith

Strange And Biblical Events Are Happening

Every year ... BusiesT casino gambling day -- in Las Vegas


Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

United States News
See other United States News Articles

Title: U.S. Debt Proposal Would Cut Social Security, Medicare
Source: Bloomberg
URL Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010- ... -social-security-medicare.html
Published: Nov 10, 2010
Author: Bloomberg
Post Date: 2010-11-10 14:08:17 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 6550
Comments: 20

The co-chairmen of President Barack Obama’s debt-reduction commission will propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare, as well as reductions in income tax rates in exchange for curbing tax breaks, according to a Republican aide who attended the meeting.

The chairmen’s plan is already causing some Democrats and Republicans on the 18-member commission to balk. The plan will be announced at 1 p.m. Washington time today, said commission spokesman Fred Baldassaro.

“This is not a package that I could support,” Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, said during a break in a private meeting by the commission. She said any package able to win 14 votes on the panel would have to look “very different” from the options being discussed.

Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, called the plan a “starting point for the conversation.”

“We’re not going to have an up-or-down vote on this,” said Durbin. “There are proposals in there that are painful. I told them I said there are things in here which inspire me and other things which I hate like the devil hates holy water. I’m not going to vote for those things.”

Some Republicans also expressed skepticism that the report would survive in its current form. New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg called the plan a “starting point.” Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas said “some of it I like, some of it disturbs me.”

No Endorsements

Schakowsky said no one outside of panel co-chairmen Erskine Bowles, former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, and Alan Simpson, a Republican former Wyoming senator, has endorsed today’s proposal.

The government is projected to run $8 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years, which would push the national debt up to more than $20 trillion. Obama directed the commission to find a way to reduce the annual deficit to 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product by 2015 from about 9 percent now.

Social Security and Medicare, the government health program for the elderly and disabled, will consume a steadily growing share of the federal budget.

The commission has been looking at curbing the more than $1 trillion in tax breaks Congress provides for items such as corporate research and child care, as a way to raise money.

The panel is seeking to reach an agreement by Dec. 1, when it’s due to report to Congress. Most economists say any effort to reduce the deficit will require some combination of spending cuts and tax increases.

Schakowsky said the plan aims to make Social Security solvent, not to reduce the deficit.

Still, she said, “It’s not the proposal I could support at this time.” Democrats are likely to resist spending cuts, while tax increases “would be a nonstarter” for many Republicans, she said.

The panel consists of current and former lawmakers from both political parties, as well as corporate executives and other experts. An agreement would require the vote of 14 of the commission’s 18 members.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 10.

#1. To: All (#0)

A bit more detail here:

Panel proposes $3.8T savings plan, Social Security changes

WASHINGTON — The leaders of a federal commission charged with finding ways to reduce the government's $13.7 trillion debt Wednesday recommended more than $3.8 trillion in savings over the next decade.

The proposal includes sweeping changes to Social Security, the elimination of popular tax breaks and subsidies for special interests, and nearly $1.5 trillion in "illustrative" cuts from defense and domestic spending programs.

The panel's chairmen, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, began trying to sell the plan to their 16 commission members Wednesday, three weeks before the panel must report its findings and recommendations to President Obama on Dec. 1.

"America cannot be great if we go broke," their proposal says. "Our economy will not grow and our country will not be able to compete without a plan to get this crushing debt burden off our back."

For any of the proposals to reach Congress, 14 of 18 commission members must agree — a high bar, considering six were named by congressional Democrats and six by Republicans.

Because of the weak economy, the co-chairmen recommended that none of the proposals take effect until 2012.

Highlights of the plan include:

• Future changes to Social Security designed to ensure its solvency for 75 years, rather than 27 years as currently designed. Wealthier recipients would get less in benefits, wealthier workers would pay more in payroll taxes, and the retirement age would be raised to 69 by 2075.

To make the plan more palatable, a new special minimum benefit would be added to keep minimum-wage workers who completed their careers above the poverty threshold in retirement.

• Eliminating more than $1 trillion in tax breaks and subsidies. This would contribute to deficit reduction while also enabling lawmakers to lower some tax rates and simplify the tax code.

Under one option, the top rate for individuals could be cut from 35% to 28%, and to 26% for corporations. The alternative minimum tax, used to ensure that upper-income taxpayers don't avoid taxes completely, would be eliminated. The federal gas tax, now 18.4 cents a gallon, would be increased gradually by 15 cents.

• About $200 billion in annual spending reductions, equally divided between defense and domestic programs. Weapons systems would be cut, earmarks for parochial projects eliminated, and the federal workforce would forfeit jobs, pay levels and benefits.

Spending would be capped in 2012 at this year's levels, then reduced 1% a year through 2015 before being indexed to inflation.

Other savings include reductions in health care payments to doctors, lawyers, drug companies and others. Patients would pay slightly more in deductibles and copayments.

Farm subsidies would be slashed by $3 billion a year. Interest costs would be slashed by $673 billion over the decade.

Savings would grow over time, from $69 billion in 2012 to $372 billion in 2015 and $761 billion in 2020. Taken together, the proposals would reduce the debt to 60% of the nation's economy, considered an acceptable level, by 2024. By 2037, the budget would be balanced.

Commission member Andy Stern, who retired this year as president of the Service Employees International Union, said the proposals include "lots" of objectionable provisions. Still, he said, "It's not as if doing nothing is a really great option either."

www.usatoday.com/news/was...gs-social-security_N.htm#

Brian S  posted on  2010-11-10   14:12:20 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Brian S (#1)

What? You mean solving our fiscal problems isn't painless? Screw that, let's throw the bums out and bring someone else.

In all seriousness, one would hope that this is the start of a serious discussion on fixing our financial future. But I'm not very optimistic.

go65  posted on  2010-11-10   14:48:39 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: go65 (#2)

In all seriousness, one would hope that this is the start of a serious discussion on fixing our financial future. But I'm not very optimistic.

You shouldn't be.

After all, I posted the data that shows we're already hopelessly bankrupt, as a nation.

People talk about the $1T of debt that we owe China...? LOL. The total debt- not including China- is $120T. That is, about $400,000 for every person in the USA. Men, women and even newborn children. Between me, my wife and two daughters, our family "owes" $2 MILLION in debt.

I keep telling you, there are only two ways that this can end:

1. Default on ALL government debt, or
2. Inflate the money supply into the stratosphere (*hint* There's a reason why they call Bernanke "Helicopter Ben.")

If the government defaulted on all debt now, it'd be very painful... But the longer they wait before they face the music, the worse it's gonna' be.

You keep acting as though we can "solve" the profligacy of our government by raising taxes and cutting spending...

Get real.

It's too late for such measures to have ANY effect on the overall debt.

The ship is sinking. Better to abandon ship, while we still can, rather than get dragged down with it.

Capitalist Eric  posted on  2010-11-10   17:34:02 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: Capitalist Eric (#8)

After all, I posted the data that shows we're already hopelessly bankrupt, as a nation.

You referred me to the writings of a guy who argued that "Jews drink the blood of innocent gentile children".

Sorry, I don't really pay any attention to your writings, no matter how much HTML scripting you use. Good day.

go65  posted on  2010-11-10   18:34:52 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 10.

#17. To: go65 (#10)

You referred me to the writings of a guy who argued that "Jews drink the blood of innocent gentile children".

LMAO!!!!

Ignoratio Elenchi.

Absolutely classic red-herring!!!

You'll say or do ANYTHING, to stay willfully ignorant, WON'T you? I've said for a long time, that be a liberal/socialist/communist, you have to be willfully ignorant, or mentally deranged. That is to say, stupid or insane.

You're BOTH.

You prefer ignorance to knowledge. You prefer lies over the truth.

You're an idiot. Thanks for the laughs!!!

Capitalist Eric  posted on  2010-11-10 22:23:26 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


End Trace Mode for Comment # 10.

TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Mail]  [Sign-in]  [Setup]  [Help]  [Register] 

Please report web page problems, questions and comments to webmaster@libertysflame.com