Republicans weigh plan to raise retirement age

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8163592/
Republicans weigh plan to raise retirement age
Measure would limit future benefits for better-off wage earners

The Associated Press
Updated: 10:31 p.m. ET June 9, 2005

WASHINGTON - Key Senate Republicans privately reviewed suggestions Thursday for raising the Social Security retirement age while limiting future benefits for upper-wage earners, officials said, as they sought momentum for legislation atop President Bush’s second-term domestic agenda.

At the same time, the prospects for swift Senate action on the controversial measure appeared to dim during the day, the result of internal GOP disagreement as well as implacable Democratic opposition to Bush’s call for personal accounts under Social Security.

“I don’t look for it until later on, in the fall,” said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.

Lott made his comments after he and other Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee attended a meeting where the panel’s chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, outlined suggestions to achieve financial solvency for the Social Security program.

<</SNIP>>

[roguevalley]

1. Given their runs on pensions and all the rest, they want to rid the

world of retirement. Permanent serfdom is the goal.

[Geo55]

2. Yeah , raise the retirement age an' lower the

minimum work age......start 'em young....keep 'em goin' 'til their bodies quit.....plant 'em

work for the "machine".

[Magic_Cookie]

3. Keep 'em Busy

So they don't have time to pay attention or get involved. Don't need any uprisings from the serfs.

[Geo55]

4. Ain't Gonna Work on Dizzy's Farm No More

"

[Occulus]

12. Good Christ. That image.

On topic, yes, this would be the beginnings of complete serfdom.

[Initech]

5. So is "work till you die" part of the "culture of life" now?

[Geo55]

6. coupla hours of "Fear Factor" will keep 'em mesmerized

[pinkpops]

7. I think the reality will be this:

Once you are over 50, if you are out of work you will have a difficult time getting it. Over 60, forget it. So if the SS age is, say, 70, you will have 10 - 15 years with no job and no SS.

[Joebert]

10. You know, you can read so much, and make so many connections...

But then there's a post like yours that is pure simplicity. And something that had never connected in my head.

That's a frightning one there.

5-15 years unemployed, no SS, and since their kids (if any) probably aren't making the big bucks either, that could make for an even worse situation.

Maybe this is their solution to SS. The people approaching the benefit age will have to wait so long, they'll die in poverty, and the account will not be in as bad shape.

Yikes.

So much for sleep tonight.

[warrens]

8. Like most people can afford to retire anyway

Set fire to the economy, loot the treasury to give tax breaks to the people who need them least, then sit back and giggle as the idiots vote for you again.

[Rex]

9. It's like wolves in a henhouse.

And no one is there to stop the wolves or cares! They will raise the age of retirement soon, any little amount of suffering Repukes can cause on the people they loath. Work us to death.

[central scrutinizer]

11. one more example of Repugs being the party of white people

Since life expectancy for minorities is quite a bit less than white people, this is one more way to screw them and help their white base.

[anotherdrew]

15. true, but really just rich vs poor. The rich live longer on average

[Straight Shooter]

13. I am not a CEO, nor a Senator. I cannot work like this until I'm 70.

Bad enough they raised it from 65 to 67.

Are those politicians forgetting that retired citizens make up a large portion of the volunteer force in America? They count on volunteers to keep many "compassionate" programs going.

This is insane. My neighbors and I are already talking about living in a commune because we're beginning to think that we aren't going to be able to survive economically as independent households. And, believe me, that pisses us all off to an extreme degree, even if we do get along. So much for the independent American.

[anotherdrew]

14. just make the retirement age 100, that'll fix SS real quick

[Geo55]

16. "They" have an agenda....

Never forget the phrase...."money is POWER".....you mean NOTHING to the "ownership class"........everybody sucks up , 'cause....gee , maybe I'll BE there someday......lol....that's how they keep you down.

play the game......you are not going to win.....(it's THEIR game)

[SoCalDem]

17. Who determines what is "well off"?

We already know that republicans think that veterans who make $20K a year, are considered "too well off" to qualify for some VA benefits..

[Warren Stupidity]

18. GOP Leaders Weigh Raising Soc. Sec. Age

WASHINGTON - Struggling to breathe life into President Bush's call for sweeping Social Security legislation, Senate Republicans are considering raising the retirement age and holding down future benefits for highly paid workers.

WS: note the framing and editorializing in that last phrase: "hold down future benefits for highly paid workers."

Not among the suggestions outlined Thursday by Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is a cost-cutting approach that has drawn favorable reviews from Bush. It would curtail future benefits paid to middle-income as well as upper-income workers, a proposal that has sparked a fresh round of criticism from Democrats already opposed to the president's call for voluntary personal accounts for younger workers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050610/ap_on_go_co/social_security;_ylt=Ag_YGwwTpF_TMLnlOgXjxgCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2bW85OXIzBHNlYwNwbA--

WS: actually the 'trial balloon' (there is no legislative proposal from republicans regarding SS) would cut benefits for middle-income workers, not 'highly paid workers'.

Also, no details at all were provided regarding what the retirement age would be raised to. (It is already scheduled to go up to 67 from 65. I note that there are lots of high paying jobs for people in their late 60's so this is surely not a problem.) :sarcasm:

This is just the same deadend rethuglican crap to turn SS from a universal old age pension/disability insurance program into a means tested welfare program. What's the difference? Consider if your car insurance came with a clause that basically said 'we'll set the deductible when you make your claim based on how much you have in your bank account at the time.'

Here is my plan: the lying thieves have to start paying back the funds they have 'borrowed' (and I am being generous) from the SS trust fund to finance their tax cuts for billionaires when the bills start coming due in 2018.

[Supersedeas]

19. If ya survive, then ya might get your money--underhanded way to justify

PRIVATE ACCOUNTS

[acmejack]

20. New retirement age 97

Early at 95, enjoy your retirement folks!

[KlatooBNikto]

21. Wearing my Republican hat, I am going to support raising the age

to 130.And Bush is going to ask Falwell, Robertson and Dobson to intercede with God to raise our lifespans.

[acmejack]

22. Thank heavens for *

and his direct line to God!

[MichiganVote]

23. Republican politicians are muggers in a suit and tie

Thieves one and all!

[JPZenger]

26. Retire the Congressmen Who Propose This

Too often when we think if retirement age, we think of some guy in an office. However, there are still many people who do physical work every day. By age 65, they are worn out.

We should forceably retire any member of congress who proposes further increases in the retirement age. The answers to Social Security is simple - a) raise the maximum income that is subject to social security taxes, and b) stop diverting $300 MILLION A DAY from the Social security trust fund to pay for Bush's tax cuts for the rich.

[MichiganVote]

34. Time for ballot busting..take away their benefits for a change

[DoYouEverWonder]

24. Why don't they just raise

the cap on the amount of income that they tax? That way the rich people have to pay their fair share into the fund. Oh, we couldn't have that now? It wouldn't be prudent.

[sadiesworld]

27. Why not repeal the * tax cuts for the fantastically wealthy?

Why allow the thugs to use the SS program as a scapegoat for their fiscal mismanagement? We have a debt problem, not an SS problem.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

25. Assuring Wal-Mart another generation of Greeters...

[Bob3]

28. Oh yes that'll work

Another brilliant idea from the house of fuckwits.

Sorry for the cursing but Jesus they make me mad. God in heaven rather than pry a few pennies from them there rich folks they'll put the hurt on the everyday worker.

Is there Bastille somewhere we can storm? I'm starting to feel dangerous.

[truthisfreedom]

29. well, that's just fine, but they'll need the Dems to overhaul the age-

discrimination laws and disability discrimination laws, plus a whole host of new laws... for example, to provide an hour of nap time for every hour worked. to provide safe places to store walkers and charge electric wheelchairs. defibrillators located every 50 feet inside the workplace, and trained medics on location at all times. it goes on and on.

bushco lives in an imaginary land where they think can bend and break the laws of science, society and humanity with impunity, but they're only a bunch of thugs in brooks brothers suits until mommy Dem comes home and swats them down like little flies. and mommy Dem's rounding the corner with the groceries, bushco. you can almost smell the exhaust from the old Biscayne.

[Ilsa]

30. I just hope that employers don't continue to push people

out the door early due to age. Of course they will...they'll want younger, cheaper labor with less in healthcare costs.

[Neshanic]

31. Just get it over with. Dems should say RW want to end retirement.

Really, is that not what they want? Just another opportunity for us to tell the truth. Retirement is not a Republican Moral Value.

RMV's. Think what is right, just and compassionate, then think the exact opposite. Then you are thinkin' RMV's.

[kentuck]

32. The Democrats should point out :

The reasons we don't have the money and why they want to raise the age is because they gave the money away to their wealthy friends with their taxcuts. There is no free lunch and now they are asking future retirees to pay for their giveaways. Thanks to the Republican Party.

[Massacure]

33. Retirement ages are bushit.

A office worker could probably easily work into their 70s, but people who do more labor intensive jobs such as construction probably have difficulty working past 60. The nature of the job and ability of the workers should dictate the retirement age, not the government.