It was good to hear Harry Reid reiterate that he wasn't willing to use Social Security as a bargaining chip in these budget negotiations since the Obama administration seems to be split over whether they should work with Republicans to chip away at it. Reid was not supportive of Bernie Sanders’ proposal to require a 2/3 vote to make any cuts to the program. That said, when O’Donnell pressed him on whether he’d support either reducing benefits or raising the retirement age, Reid stood firm that there was no reason to do that any time in the near future and said we’ve got a decade or more to revisit it if changes need to be made. Good for him for drawing a line in the sand. That said I wish he’d would have told O'Donnell he’s open to raising the income cap to keep it solvent for the out years right now. MSNBC has the entire unedited interview with Harry Reid at O'Donnell's site. Video of Bernie Sanders’ proposal: [youtube]iFT2x2yo6GM[/youtube] Source: Crooks & Liars Video Cafe
I was watching Morning Joe as I usually do every morning and they said Sen. Reid is lying. One way or the other this should make for some interesting debate.
I personally think the SS age should be raised as life expectancy has increased due to medical advances however it shouldn't be raised for those at retirement or near retirement. I see no argument against raising the retirement age from 65 to 67 over a several year period (anyone currently over 50) would be grandfathered in.
