Social Security
March 23, 2023 — John Hinderaker
If you haven’t been following the news from France, that country is being roiled by President Macron’s attempt to reform the pension system. The current age of eligibility for government pensions is 62, the lowest in Europe, and Macron wants to raise it to 64. This London Times article is as good a place as any to catch up with what is happening: An increasingly violent and radical protest movement
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October 5, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
When conservatives attack the Democrats’ attempt to pass an enormous reconciliation package, we focus on the cost and the left-wing agenda items the Dems are imposing, some of which have little to do with what is properly the subject of budget reconciliation. These are valid attacks and they resonate not just with strong conservatives, but also with those on the center-right. When Joe Manchin criticizes the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package,
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December 24, 2015 — John Hinderaker
The New York Times headlines an article by Eduardo Porter: “An Aging Society Changes the Story on Poverty for Retirees.” The American Interest hails the article as evidence that the Times is finally acknowledging reality with regard to public retirement benefits: In this story, NYT is facing what everybody knows: The retirement systems of the 20th century won’t work in the 21st. U.S. retirees will see declining social security payments
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November 5, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
I have heard several Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz, publicly wish that the GOP would fight as hard for conservative principles as President Obama fights for radical leftist ones. It’s a good thought, but I wonder whether those expressing it realize the full implications. One crucial way that Obama fought for his radical leftist principles was to conceal them when running for president. For example, he didn’t support gay
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May 6, 2015 — John Hinderaker
When asked what I think of the Republican presidential field, I have said–until now–that I like everyone in it, in various ways. That changed yesterday when Mike Huckabee threw his hat into the ring. A reader expresses my view of Huck: The Huckster is a left populist. It’s just pro-life statism. Particularly appalling, as this reader points out, were Huckabee’s promises on Social Security and Medicare: This is outright left-wing
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March 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Every day, it seems, there are signs of the Democrats’ increasing desperation. They obviously don’t like what they see in the polls and are worried about November. But what to do about it? It would be hard to ratchet up their customary hysteria much higher, so they are reaching deeper into their bag of tricks. One of which–everything old is new again!–is demagoguing Social Security. It is a tried and
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October 23, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The Can Kicks Back is a web site, and a campaign, run by a group of millenials. The group has embarked on a national tour in support of generational equity, which is described here. This video provides a quick introduction: The group’s theme is generational equity: young people are being shafted by the Obama administration and everyone else in Washington who refuses to do anything about the federal debt. This
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April 5, 2013 — John Hinderaker
A friend who has been on this particular case for a long time writes: Yet another NOW they tell us moment: President Obama had Senate Republicans nodding in agreement during a recent ice-breaking dinner as he described a basic problem for the nation’s fiscal future: For each dollar that Americans pay for Medicare, they ultimately draw about $3 in benefits. What’s more, he added, most people do not understand that.
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March 6, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Earlier this evening, Paul suggested that Republicans should be open to a “grand bargain” as long as it includes significant entitlement reform. In principle, I don’t disagree. But is there any realistic possibility that the Democrats will agree to entitlement reform? One might think so, since everyone acknowledges that the current regime is unsustainable, and if entitlements are not reformed they either will be repealed, or our economy and our
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January 22, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Liberals are feeling triumphant these days, but in the backs of their minds there must be a sense of foreboding. They won this year by demonizing Republicans and by bribing various demographic groups with government largesse. But the Left’s tactical victory can’t conceal the fact that its ideology is bankrupt. The left’s real enemy isn’t Republicans, it is arithmetic. Welfare states are collapsing all around the world. Ours is on
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January 2, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Higher taxes on the “rich” have dominated discussion of the McConnell-Biden deal, but it has also been widely reported that the legislation will raise taxes on more than 77% of all U.S. households. In fact, the Tax Policy Center has calculated that 46% of the additional taxes raised in 2013 will come from the bottom 80% of Americans. So why haven’t we been hearing more about this? The tax that
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December 12, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
President Obama’s goal in the fiscal cliff negotiations seems clear. He wants to force the Republicans to swallow increases in the tax rates of high-earners and thereby bring in at least one trillion dollars in revenue. Alternatively, if the Republicans won’t swallow rate increases for the “wealthy,” he wants to see everyone’s taxes go up and be able to blame Republicans for it. The Republican goal also seems clear. They
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August 16, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
While much attention has been paid, deservedly, to Joe Biden’s “put y’all back in chains” riff, his remarks (the same day) about Social Security received little notice. But they too show the Vice President of the United States to be a demagogue and a fool. According to the White House pool report, during a visit to a restaurant in southern Virginia, Clueless Joe told diners: Hey, by the way, let’s
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August 13, 2012 — John Hinderaker
Democrats have been quick to pounce on Paul Ryan’s budget, which was enacted by the House of Representatives and incorporates significant entitlement reform. The Democrats, of course, have no budget at all–astonishingly, they refuse to adopt one. They have no plan for entitlements other than to allow them to go bankrupt and, presumably, be repealed by Congress. The Democrats apparently believe that most voters prefer no plan to salvage unsustainable
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July 31, 2012 — Steven Hayward
One of my long time analytical axioms is that only Republicans can fix our health care system, and only Democrats can fix runaway entitlements. This is a variation of the point I have argued before on Power Line—last year here, and again here—that large changes in social policy can only proceed with the consent—not necessarily the agreement, but the consent—of the minority party. That’s why virtually all milestone social legislation
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May 24, 2012 — Steven Hayward
I haven’t always been a fan of former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson, but do not miss his recent letter to a greedy geezers lobby group in California. Politico has the whole story, but here’s the complete text of Simpson’s letter, which is, shall we say, “candid,” even for a westerner: To Whom It May Concern: Erskine Bowles and I thoroughly enjoyed our time on the West Coast and received an
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April 9, 2012 — Steven Hayward
One of my favorite themes is to trace the immense distance today’s liberals have traveled from the liberalism of Franklin Roosevelt. Liberals used to hate it when Ronald Reagan quoted this remark FDR made in a speech to Congress in 1935: “The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national
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