The "coalition of the ascendant" is the
new conventional wisdom around D.C., with serious pundits soberly advising Democrats that they must cut loose the old people if they ever hope to appease young people and win an election again. The call to punish the old in the name of Democratic electoral victory
started with Ron Brownstein and was
picked up by Ezra Klein. Now it's Beltway "sage" Charlie Cook, snidely mocking Democratic “Flat Earth Society members” who “ignore the numbers and think we can just go on.” Never mind that most of Cook's "Flat Earthers" have plenty of ideas on keeping Social Security sustainable that don't involve a catfood diet for granny or generational warfare, are younger voters really calling for austerity for the parents and grandparents?
Not if you actually ask them. That's what the National Academy of Social Insurance did in a major report [pdf] released in January. They asked 2,000 Americans ages 21 and older what they wanted to see happen to Social Security. Here's what they said they want:
- Gradually, over 10 years, eliminate the cap on earnings taxed for Social Security. This would mean that the 5% of workers who earn more than the cap would pay into Social Security all year, as other workers do.
- Gradually, over 20 years, raise the Social Security tax that workers and employers each pay from 6.2% of earnings to 7.2%. The increase would be so gradual that someone earning $50,000 a year would pay about 50 cents a week more each year, with the employer’s share increasing by the same amount.
- Increase the COLA to more accurately reflect the inflation actually experienced by seniors, who typically pay more out-of-pocket for medical care than other Americans.
- Raise Social Security’s minimum benefit so that a worker who pays into Social Security for 30 years can retire at 62 or later with benefits above the federal poverty line ($10,788 in 2011). Currently, lifetime low-wage workers are at risk of falling into poverty in their old age, even after paying Social Security taxes throughout their working lives.
And here's the age breakdown of who supports this approach.
No, Democrats, you don't need to cut Social Security to appease anyone, or at least not anyone besides Republicans. Republicans and the Very Serious People who have based their entire austerity program on an
Excel spreadsheet error. You've heard of death by spreadsheet? This is taking it to a new level. And it won't win any Democratic votes.
Send an email to President Obama and congressional leadership telling them to strengthen Social Security instead of cutting it.