“Social Security” on The Daily Caller

The trustees for Social Security and Medicare have been reporting the imminent bankruptcy of Medicare, and to a lesser extent Social Security, for years with the dates of financial doom coming closer and closer. This year everything magically improved. The professional “senior groups” rushed to USA Today to declare: “There is no entitlement crisis.” (more)

In a high-profile essay in the Washington Post, think tank scholars Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein declared that the current morass in Washington can almost entirely be laid at the feet of the GOP. (more)

The news that Social Security will face shortfalls in the near future is not good news for the federal program that millions of American seniors and disabled folks rely on to help make ends meet. Clearly something needs to be done to fix Social Security. My fear is that Republicans are going to try to gut Social Security under the cover of “reforming” the program by eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse.” (more)

2033 is the year Social Security trustees predict that the Social Security trust fund will run dry. According to a study released on April 23, “Projected long-run program costs for both Medicare and Social Security are not sustainable under currently scheduled financing, and will require legislative modifications if disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers are to be avoided.” (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security is rushing even faster toward insolvency, driven by retiring baby boomers, a weak economy and politicians’ reluctance to take painful action to fix the huge retirement and disability program. (more)

The Good News (more)

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Obamacare exceeds the federal government’s power under the U.S. Constitution. In the 220-year history of the Republic, the federal government has never before forced citizens to buy a product. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mixing deep cuts to safety-net programs for the poor with politically risky cost curbs for Medicare, Republicans controlling the House unveiled an election-year budget blueprint Tuesday that paints clear campaign differences with President Barack Obama. (more)

Mitt Romney turned 65 this week, but, according to reports, he won’t be enrolling in Medicare. (more)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Rick Santorum called Mitt Romney “too timid” on his plan to reform Social Security, and compared the former Massachusetts governor with President Obama’s positions on the issue. (more)

So much for “hope and change”; “Yes, we can”; and the grammatically questionable “change we can believe in.” After three years of Barack Obama, the verdict is in. The official slogan for the era of Obama should be: “Dude, where’s my welfare?” (more)

BRENTWOOD, N.H. — Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum committed one of the gravest sins in Republican politics on Wednesday evening by knocking the revered former President Ronald Reagan at a packed town hall meeting. (more)

(Reuters) – The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government’s debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior Treasury Department official on Tuesday. (more)

Key features of payroll tax and jobless benefits bill passed Friday by the House and Senate: (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate leaders agreed on compromise legislation Friday night to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for two months while requiring President Barack Obama to accept Republican demands for a swift decision on the fate of an oil pipeline that promises thousands of jobs. (more)

House Speaker John Boehner told The Daily Caller that extending the payroll tax holiday along with spending cuts is “responsible” and won’t hurt Social Security. (more)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told The Daily Caller that the Social Security or “payroll” tax cut should not be “endless,” but that a year-long extension would not hurt the program as Social Security Trustee Charles Blahous has predicted. (more)

When it comes to political posturing, the current fight over extending this year’s payroll tax cut is a classic. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats backed away from their demand for higher taxes on millionaires as part of legislation to extend Social Security tax cuts for most Americans on Wednesday as Congress struggled to clear critical year-end bills without triggering a partial government shutdown. (more)

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich in 1995 called Social Security “the most widely accepted government contract in America” and said it should be “off the table” when working toward a balanced federal budget. (more)