That would be hard to get done, if as you recommend, the words social security cannot even be uttered.
Obama has spoken of raising the cap on SS, but somehow, those words haven't been repeated over and over again...or morphed, etc....because they don't support the meme that some want us desperately want to buy into; the worse of Pres. Obama and his intentions.
His quotes over time.....
“
The best way forward is to first look to adjust the cap on the payroll tax. ... Ninety-seven percent of Americans will see absolutely no change in their taxes under my proposal. ... What it does allow us to do is extend the life of Social Security without cutting benefits or raising the retirement age.”
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkDAdVJpF1U&feature=player_embedded “Second,
I do not want to cut benefits or raise the retirement age. I believe there are a number of ways we can make Social Security solvent that do not involve placing these added burdens on our seniors. One possible option, for example, is to raise the cap on the amount of income subject to the Social Security tax. If we kept the payroll tax rate exactly the same but applied it to all earnings and not just the first $97,500, we could virtually eliminate the entire Social Security shortfall.”
Article:
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/09/21/fixedincome_seniors_can_expect.php "....Warren Buffett, who makes more than $100,000 a year, the vast bulk of his income, he doesn’t pay Social Security taxes on it.
That could be modified or changed in a way that would help extend the solvency of Social Security."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DhBi2i3UZc Other statements on uncapping the payroll tax
September 22, 2007 — “If we kept the payroll tax rate exactly the same but applied it to all earnings and not just the first $97,000,” Obama wrote this week in an Iowa newspaper, “we could eliminate the entire Social Security shortfall.”
September 6, 2007 — “I think that lifting the cap is probably going to be the best option. Now we’ve got to have a process back in 1983. We need another one. And I think I’ve said before everything should be on the table. My personal view is that lifting the cap is much preferable to the other options that are available. But what’s critical is to recognize that there is a potential problem: young people who don’t think Social Security is going to be there for them. We should be willing to do anything that will strengthen the system, to make sure that that we are being true to those who are already retired, as well as young people in the future.”
April 27, 2008 — “In terms of raising the cap on the payroll tax, right now everybody who’s making $102,000 or less pays 100% of payroll tax on 100% of their income. There are about 3% to 4% of Americans who are above $102,000 in income every year. So if you want to talk about who’s middle class, me giving cuts to folks making $60,000 or $70,000, and potentially asking more from friends of mine like Warren Buffett. That’s a debate I’m happy to have with John McCain, because it’s the people making $75,000, $50,000, $60,000 who are hurting.”- Fox News Interview 2007
April 16, 2008 — “What I have proposed is that we raise the cap on the payroll tax, because right now millionaires and billionaires don’t have to pay beyond $97,000 a year. Now most firefighters & teachers, they’re not making over $100,000 a year. In fact, only 6% of the population does. And I’ve also said that I’d be willing to look at exempting people who are making slightly above that.”
Q: But that’s a tax on people under $250,000.
“That’s why I would look at potentially exempting those who are in between. This is an option that I would strongly consider, because the alternatives, like raising the retirement age, or cutting benefits, or raising the payroll tax on everybody, including people making less than $97,000 a year--those are not good policy options”- Philadelphia Primary Debate
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Obama will keep his promise not to cut Social Security Benefits, and the daily rumormongering and conjectures by some will not come to fruition.
Informed and documented discussion is fine.
Constructive Activist Actions supporting Social Security are excellent.
However, assumptions based on nothing more than the use of one word or the make up of 2 members of a multiple member Commission looking at everything fiscal is not, IMO.
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