man, this better be a hoax!

In debt talks, Obama offers Social Security cuts

President Obama is pressing congressional leaders to consider a far-reaching debt-reduction plan that would force Democrats to accept major changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for Republican support for fresh tax revenue.

At a meeting with top House and Senate leaders set for Thursday morning, Obama plans to argue that a rare consensus has emerged about the size and scope of the nation’s budget problems and that policymakers should seize the moment to take dramatic action.

As part of his pitch, Obama is proposing significant reductions in Medicare spending and for the first time is offering to tackle the rising cost of Social Security, according to people in both parties with knowledge of the proposal. [more]

if this is true, it's insane! if seniors sit out the next election, dems will lose! and if you think you can get their support by exempting present seniors from cuts, forget it! you'd be asking them to throw their own kids and grandkids under the bus!

wake up! the social security and medicare trust funds still have surpluses. they are not part of the current crisis and are not yet adding to the deficit or the national debt. there's plenty of time to deliberate over solutions to their problems. think back to when we had a real crisis:

In 1982, projections indicated that the Social Security Trust Fund would run out of money by 1983, and there was talk of the system being unable to pay benefits.

recall how quickly the system got reformed:

The National Commission on Social Security Reform (NCSSR), chaired by Alan Greenspan, was empaneled to investigate the long-run solvency of Social Security. The 1983 Amendments to the SSA were based on the NCSSR's Final Report.

this time around we have not a year but decades to come up with a real solution.

we don't need to panic, damnit!

oh, and btw, raising retirement age should be off the table too. where you gonna find jobs for all those supposedly unretired oldsters who can't collect benefits yet? (don't say you'll make employers keep them on. that would just reduce new jobs available for youngsters entering the work force. it's the kind of law that causes economic instability, not to mention riots in streets.)