| We’re surprised that so many of our friends are praising Nikki Haley – the former governor of South Carolina and UN Ambassador – for her “political courage” during the GOP presidential debate last week in Miami when she endorsed cutting Social Security benefits and raising the retirement age.
Courage? How about political stupidity for walking right out front of a Democratic firing gallery? The DNC is on cloud nine. They can’t believe their good fortune. Their ad consultants are already preparing a blizzard of campaign ads against those scheming Republicans for cutting Social Security to seniors. (Remember the ads about Paul Ryan pushing granny in the wheel chair off the cliff? Here we go again!) Do you think abortion is a tough issue for Republicans? Wait until you see the carnage from GOP suggestions about Social Security cutbacks. Will Republicans NEVER learn? Every time they talk about cutting Social Security – dating back to the early Reagan years when OMB director David Stockman said he would balance the budget by cutting Social Security COLA increases – they get politically shellacked. Over and over and over. But for some reason, the Republicans are like moths attracted to this flame. By the way: Democrats would only go for any raise in the retirement age or any benefit adjustments in exchange for raising the payroll tax, which would increase marginal tax rates by another 10 to 15 percentage points and kill the economy. This has all the makings of a political and economic catastrophe. The AVERAGE Social Security benefit today is a measly $1,705.80 a month. That’s after paying 40 years of a 12% payroll tax imposed on every paycheck they earned. The GOP should be talking about how to make Social Security a BETTER deal for seniors, not a worse one. If Congress hadn’t stolen payroll tax money (and spent it on other programs) but merely deposited the funds in a passbook low-interest savings account – retirees would be getting two to three times MORE than Social Security is promising to pay. If the money had been put into a 401k plan the monthly benefits would be five to 10 times higher. In the coming days, we will show how to create optional Buy America accounts that will pay every young worker way more in their retirement years – not less Nikki Haley Is Getting Some TERRIBLE Economic/Political Advice |
