Mitch McConnell still talks a good Republican game about Social Security "reform," but
that doesn't mean he's jumping on the bandwagon with House Republicans to do anything about it any time soon.
"The only way to do entitlement eligibility changes is on a bipartisan basis," he said on Thursday at an annual Republican retreat in Hershey, Pa. "In terms of the Senate we do not intend to be offering unilateral, one party-only entitlement eligibility changes."
The GOP leader's comments amount to a promise that Senate Republicans won't offer proposals to cut entitlement benefits without Democratic support, remarks that are notable given a rule change by House Republicans that critics say seeks to leverage a relatively routine shortfall in the Social Security disability trust fund anticipated in 2016 into broader changes to the 80-year-old program. Social Security advocates are girding for battle. […]
He signaled that retirement programs would eventually have to be scaled back.
"We all know the entitlement programs are in serious trouble some sooner than others," McConnell said on Thursday. "But it is a perfect candidate for agreement when you have divided government."
As a matter of fact, we don't all know that the programs are in "serious trouble," and for that reason it is not a good candidate for agreement. This time, Democrats can save Social Security from what McConnell so euphemistically calls "entitlement eligibility changes" (read: "benefit cuts") by just refusing to play ball and by upping the stakes. What's going to sell better to seniors in all those swing states that have Senate elections in 2016: raising the retirement age and means testing, or raising the payroll tax cap so that people making more than $120,000 a year pay in on that excess? Worst case scenario, the status quo is maintained and the disability fund is
safe until 2017. And if Democrats work hard—and
run hard—on saving and strengthening Social Security, they get the Senate and White House back and can actually do it.