1983 Social Security Reform Included Tax Increases

07Oct08

Memo to John McCain:
It’s absurd to be talking about how awesome the 1983 Social Security reforms were, because they were “bipartisan”, when they included tax increases you won’t support to fix the problem now.
Also if the 1983 Social Security compromise was such a great fix why do we still need to fix social security? [...]

Filed under: Politics   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Entitlement, John McCain, John McCain Social Security Benefits Cut, Presidential Debate, Social Security

But If You Take John McCain’s Lie at Face Value Then Hillary Clinton’s a Liar

28Aug08

I’ve written a couple of times about how I think the news media fact checkers just don’t seem to be aware of the definition of the word “fact”. My core idea is that they have a mission creep where by the existence of any doubt in any statement they make is wrongly labeled. If any [...]

Filed under: No Category   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: John McCain, Social Security

Social Security Will Definitely Be There in the Future

14Aug08

I saw Matthew Yglesias use this video of John McCain calling Social Security as “disgrace” earlier today.
The questioner starts by saying that young people assume social security won’t be around for the them, which is perhaps the most commonly asserted falsehood in the American political scene. There are only two scenarios broad possibilities [...]

Filed under: Politics   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: John McCain, John McCain Social Security Benefits Cut, Social Security

The Washington Post Hates Old People

29Oct07

Here is an editorial by Robert M. Ball challenging the bizarrely well represented idea that social security benefits must be cut. It starts
The Post stated: “It’s no more responsible for Republicans to rule out tax increases [to strengthen Social Security] than it is for Democrats to insist on no benefit cuts.” The Post praised, as [...]

Filed under: United States, Washington D.C.   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Ageism, Robert M. Ball, Social Security, The Washington Post

The Era of Big Government, Carbon Taxes, and BRICs

18Oct07

So I’ve been thinking a lot about big picture political economy questions. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of the national discourse is driven by larger trends that are rarely mentioned in the context the particular stories they drive.
I think there are three primary trends going on in America and the [...]

Filed under: No Category   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: BRICs, Ezra Klein, Global Warming, Political Economy, Social Security