Here is a roundup of the top trending stories on Social Security and Medicare for 4/4. Not all stories reflect our views:
DEBT/DEFICIT
Larger debt debate looms on the Hill-USA TODAY. Former Republican senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, who co-chaired Obama's fiscal panel, says: "You don't use the word 'cut' in Social Security. You use the words 'restoring solvency.' "The wildcard in the deficit talks is the White House. Obama has vowed to act upon some commission recommendations, including corporate tax changes But his proposed 2012 budget had few specific proposals. http://www.usatoday.com/...
In Budget Debate, Will Lawmakers Cross Party Lines?-NPR. Democrats have campaigned as the champions of Social Security ever since Franklin Roosevelt launched the program in the 1930s. But Jim Kessler, of the moderate Democratic think tank Third Way, suspects that tactic is outdated. http://www.npr.org/...
GOP Aim: Cut $4 Trillion-WALL STREET JOURNAL. Republicans will present this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade and transform the Medicare health program for the elderly, a move that will dramatically reshape the budget debate in Washington. http://online.wsj.com/...
SOCIAL SECURITY
And your kids are not setting you up in Costa Rica-MSNBC. The fear that Social Security will disappear is overblown. Although some fixes need to be made, you shouldn't worry about losing this key linchpin to retirement security. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/...
Don't blame Social Security-THE HILL (SEN. HARKIN). For this reason, I simply do not understand those who insist upon cutting social security benefits now in order to prevent benefit cuts in the future, especially when there are simple and fair ways to shore up social security that will not require benefit cuts. I have a modest proposal for ensuring that Social Security benefits will be paid in full for generations to come: Higher-income earners should pay into Social Security at the same rate as working families. Why is it that a factory worker making $50,000 pays the payroll tax on 100 percent of her income, while a banker making $500,000 pays the tax on only the first $106,800, just 21 percent of his income? Let’s raise the cap! http://thehill.com/...
MEDICARE
GOP budget plan would revamp Medicare and Medicaid to slash deficit-LOS ANGELES TIMES. House Republicans' 2012 federal budget plan will propose significant changes to Medicare, shift control of Medicaid to the states and aim to chop more than $4 trillion from the deficit over the next decade, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday. http://www.latimes.com/...
House Republicans Propose $4 Trillion in Cuts Over Decade-NEW YORK TIMES. Recognizing the political risk of significant changes in Medicare and Medicaid, the health care program for poor Americans, Mr. Ryan emphasized that such spending would continue to rise under the Republican budget plan, just not as sharply as it would have otherwise. http://www.nytimes.com/...
GOP Proposals On Medicare Could Shift Costs To Beneficiaries-KAISER HEALTH NEWS. Politicians of all stripes have been decrying the nation's soaring debt and say that taming entitlements is crucial to curbing spending. So far, President Barack Obama hasn't proposed big changes. But some Republican leaders have called for a major overhaul of Medicare, a $520 billion program that covers nearly 47 million older and disabled Americans. Given the political peril involved in tampering with Medicare, the question is: How serious are the Republicans? The answer: Plenty serious. http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/...