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May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
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May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
May 9, 2005
/ 30 Nissan, 5765
Time for Dems to step up to the plate
By
Cokie and Steve Roberts
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Until now, President Bush has traveled around the country, talking about
the flaws in the Social Security system but not offering any realistic
remedies. That changed with his press conference last week.
The president advanced a plan called "progressive indexing" that works
this way: Lower-income workers would keep all of their promised
benefits, while checks to middle- and upper-tier recipients would rise
at a slower rate.
It is not a perfect plan, mainly because it includes no new taxes. And
means-testing Social Security could erode support among wealthier
beneficiaries. But the president made a sound and even courageous offer
on a highly controversial issue. In response, Congressional Democrats
should now come up with some ideas of their own.
Frankly, we're not optimistic. Democrats are so angry at the president,
and so eager for revenge, that they have absolutely no interest in
joining the debate and sharing the blame. Their strategy is clear: let
Bush and the Republicans take the heat, and hope the voters will punish
the GOP in the next election.
That might be good politics, but it is poor public policy. As Bill
Clinton has clearly warned, an aging workforce makes the current system
of financing retirement unsustainable. Legislators in both parties
should put the national interest ahead of partisanship and look for a
common solution.
That's exactly what happened in 1983, when Democrats like Pat Moynihan
and Republicans like Bob Dole shared the risk of raising both the tax
rate and the retirement age. But 22 years later, the climate on Capitol
Hill is very different. Communication across party lines has collapsed,
and both sides are responsible.
In their hearts, many Democrats still feel Bush stole the election of
2000. At first the new president tried to assuage their ire, reaching
out to senators like Ted Kennedy on education and Max Baucus on taxes.
But after the GOP recaptured the Senate in 2002, the president shelved
his "uniter not a divider" approach and governed in a far more partisan
way. Democrats, in turn, hardened their resistance, afraid to give the
president any sort of victory before his re-election campaign.
That campaign built up more scar tissue. Democrats resented the attacks
on John Kerry's character and war record, and the successful campaign to
oust Senate leader Tom Daschle. Once they returned to Washington,
Republicans used their enhanced power arrogantly, undermining ethics
rules in the House and threatening judicial filibusters in the Senate.
In return, Democrats have become more united than ever in opposing the
president's agenda. They see Social Security as their one chance to
regain power, and polls show they might be right. In the latest ABC News
survey, fewer than one in three Americans support the president's
handling of Social Security; by a 5 to 3 margin, they express more
confidence in the Democrats on the issue. As Democratic pollster Geoff
Garin gleefully told USA Today, "The more time he (Bush) spends on this,
the worse it gets for him."
The president's plan needs work. Not only does it fail to raise any new
revenues, it probably cuts too deeply into benefits for the middle class.
Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, has a good idea that
interests the president: raise the cap, now at $90,000, on wages subject
to the Social Security tax. That change would shift a greater burden for
financing the system to upper-income taxpayers.
While Republicans like Bush and Graham are coming forward with serious
ideas, however, the Democrats are sitting on their hands.
Granted, some of their gripes are reasonable. The president's proposal
for private accounts has some merit, but they would do nothing to shore
up the structural defects in the system. And besides, they're a
deal-breaker for Democrats. So if the White House really does want
action, it should listen to Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the
Finance Committee, and take those accounts off the table. The solvency
of the system should be Congress' first priority.
Moreover, the president should tell Senate Republicans to back off their
threat to end filibusters on judicial nominations. If that threat is
carried out, the atmosphere in the capital would be poisoned for years
to come.
But if Democrats have grievances, they also have responsibilities. It is
their constituents, more than the Republicans', who depend on Social
Security to cushion their old age. Just saying no to Republican ideas is
not good enough. It's their turn to answer the president with proposals
of their own.
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© 2005, NEA
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