Top Democratic Pollster Says Don't Mess with Social Security Or Else Face the Wrath of Voters in '14

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/fixing-and-expanding-social-security-wildly-popular



***SNIP

What follows are remarks by longtime Democratic pollster Celinda Lake on how Americans across the political spectrum want Social Security securely funded and expanded, including raising taxes to do that. Lake said this reframing will become a Democratic theme in 2014 and could become one of the biggest upcoming political issues, even though it is being ignored by the Washington establishment.

Here are Celinda Lake’s remarks as transcribed by AlterNet:

“I want to tell you what real people think. First of all, Social Security is one of the most popular programs out there. It is wildly popular with the public. White men, who usually are not that good about government, love Social Security. They don’t want government to do anything to hurt their Social Security. Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike, are all wildly in favor of Social Security. And even young people, and we were some of the ones who did the original research that showed that millennials were more likely to believe in UFOs than believe that Social Security would be there when they retired, still like Social Security. And as they have spend more time in this economy, are more adamant about it, both because they see the impact it has on their grandparents and their parents, and also they see how really difficult it is to put retirement away.

“People believe overwhelmingly that Social Security has been good for the country, not bad for the country. We did some great work with Social Security Works and the task was how do we message successfully Social Security? My number-one answer, not facetiously, was keep out of the way. It’s a core value. It’s more popular than apple pie on the Fourth of July. We have to make sure that our messaging doesn’t diminish the strength for Social Security.

“My second point is, people think Social Security is completely unrelated to the deficit. They believe overwhelmingly that it’s a different pot of money. And it is a key way to keep this economy going—and a key way to avoid the deficit, to the extent that the deficit is produced by keeping people out of needing government services. If you want to keep people out of government services, you support strong Social Security.

“People do think there should be some changes, but the kind of change matters. It used to be that Americans were all, yahoo, let’s go, change. And now people say, there’s good change and there’s bad change.... The number-one change that people want is to lift the cap [in which only the first $113,700 in income is taxed to pay for the program]. And when we first started going around with data on this—and it’s true in every state we polled, North Dakota, Montana, Alaska, every state—people want to lift the cap.

[newfie11]

1. Damn right

As far as I'm concerned anyone messing with SS is a Dem in name only.
This might be the push a third party needs.

[Doctor_J]

3. someone needs to tell the president

"My party has become too dependent on entitlements"

"I would consider the chained cpi"

[newfie11]

6. Exactly

I have told him as well as many others but it seems to fall on deaf ears. This also goes for TPP!

[fasttense]

2. when talking about SS I always ask the question can you

give me one good reason that I should pay SS taxes on 100% of what I earn while someone making over $100.000 gets a tax break on paying SS taxes?

Mitt Romney made 20 million when he was running for President but only paid SS taxes on the first $100.000.

So why should he get a tax break on $19,900,000.00 ?

Shouldn't he be paying the same percentage that the rest of us do?

[spanone]

4. they're talking to republicans, right?

[Snarkoleptic]

5. Dems are on top as the pugs continue to destroy themselves.

To work toward a grand bargain or otherwise tamper with the "The Big 3" would be a fine example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
IMHO

[The Wizard]

16. Hey DC oligarchs

Here's your fucking grand bargain, right here.

[B Calm]

7. If they are going to mess with it, RAISE THE DAMN CAP

and shut the hell up!

[LuvNewcastle]

8. If they think the Iraq War Resolution votes were used against them, they ain't

seen nothing yet. People will come out in droves to vote against the fuckers that vote for this. Any Democrat who votes to cut Social Security in any way will never get my vote again. Period. I don't care if it's a choice between a traitor Democrat and a teabagger, I'll either vote third party in that race or not vote at all.

[City Lights]

9. I'd be surprised if these results surprised anyone. nt

[bobGandolf]

10. Another winning position the dems....

should be screaming loud and louder, over and over until 2014.

[dhill926]

11. enthusiastic k & r......

[blkmusclmachine]

12. Obama still lusts after a "Grand Bargain" with the Tea Party. If he gets one, we're screwed in '14.

That may be the Plan.

[MisterP]

13. well, how else are they going to blame their own voters?

"we had to drop SS because you didn't vote for us after we dropped SS!"

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, xchrom.

[lark]

15. Yes "people" , as in regular working class folks want social security to apply to all income.

Our president does not go along with the wishes of the common folks. He wants to decrease the amount social security pays so rich folks and their corporations can continue to pay low rates/nothing. Luckily, we have Bernie on the committee, so that shouldn't get off the ground this time. Thank you Harry Reid, for once I approve of your choice.

[Indyfan53]

17. We Democrats need to get ferocious!

We need to stop cowering in the corner when repubs yell at us and call us commies. We need to yell back the facts at them and call them fascists.

[chuckstevens]

18. Blue Dog Dems

Blue Dog Dems won't listen and will fuck this up some how. If the Democratic Party would be as disciplined as the Republicans, they would win both elections and in the court of public opinion.

[grahamhgreen]

19. Boom.

[Enthusiast]

20. I pledge, I will not cast a vote for any Democrat that votes for

Chained CPI or some stealth equivalent.

Further, I will not donate to the campaign of any Democrat that has expressed a willingness to even consider Chained CPI, or some stealth equivalent, as a means to bring down the deficit.

[snot]

21. If they do mess with it, maybe Liz Warren gets elected.

[toby jo]

22. Making it a theme in 2014 is a great idea - it'll sell.

And it's a simple sell - put it right out there next to all those supply side off-shore dollars.

This? or That?

[Volaris]

23. we need a "top democratic pollster" to tell us these things?

All i can say is that if the answer is 'yes', we're fucked come november no matter what else we might do.
Just sayin.
Peace and go get out the vote.

[freshwest]

24. K & R... Althouggh the cap will be lifted in the ACA

I've posted this over and over and it's in my Journal. AFAIK, there is no serious objection to this anymore. There was when the ACA was first being discussed, by those with high income. It was going to be lift the cap or apply means testing, that was the threat.

YOHABLO had numbers for me when I remembered this discussion:

76. If you are referring to the FICA tax .. $113,700: and yes this cap should be eliminated.

We really could solve a lot of problems by eliminating or either jacking it up to say $500,000. You see these are very wealthy folks we're talking about. They won't be relying on Social Security or Medicare to see them through to ultimate end. They've got money stashed away... dividends, investments. You get the picture. So they could care less. You almost never, never hear about this on MSM ..do you? Hmmm wonder why?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014619542#post76

And it's never in MSM, which is why this keeps on coming up.

Changes in taxes on higher income due to the ACA:

Below is a summary of several of the tax law changes that are effective beginning in 2013 and 2014.

Increased Medicare Hospital Insurance Tax

For tax years beginning in 2013, the ACA provides for an increase in the Medicare hospital insurance (HI) tax rate. The HI tax is one of two taxes that comprise the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes imposed on employers. The other FICA tax is the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance tax. FICA taxes are imposed separately on employers and employees. Self-employed individuals pay an alternative tax, which is essentially equal to both the employer and employee portion of the FICA taxes. Employers pay FICA taxes on wages paid in connection with employment, while employees pay FICA taxes on wages received. The HI tax rate is presently equal to 1.45 percent on wages paid and is not subject to a wage cap.
Beginning in 2013, the ACA increases the HI tax rate for certain “high-income” individuals. An additional HI tax is imposed at a rate of 0.9 percent on taxpayers with wages above: (1) $250,000 and filing a joint return; (2) $125,000 if married filing separately; and (3) $200,000 for all others. For employers, the increased HI taxes will require greater compliance monitoring because of the introduction of graduated rates. In other words, employers will need to be prepared to closely monitor wages.

Surtax on Non-Wage Income for High-Income Individuals

For tax years commencing in 2013, the ACA introduces a surtax on certain high-income individuals, which is imposed at 3.8 percent. The base of the surtax is the lesser of either “net investment income” or the portion of a taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross receipts that exceeds the threshold amounts. The threshold amounts are $250,000 for joint returns, $125,000 for married filing separately and $200,000 for all other taxpayers.

http://www.casinoenterprisemanagement.com/articles/september-2012/fees-and-taxes-learning-aca

There is more there; the search results I am getting are aggravating. Most of them are commerical, so I apologize. The official sources are being pushed so far down in the results that sometimes they do not show up at all.

But these are things that progressives have wanted for a long time. And they were all tucked into the ACA, which is one of the many reasons that the GOP hates it so much. JMHO.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023931805#post26

More from ProSense:

...The ACA changes that and makes the wealthy pay more via additional taxes on ordinary and investment income.

Employers already take out 7.65 percent of workers’ wages to support the elderly and disabled. Of that, 1.45 percent goes toward paying Medicare’s hospital bills. Obamacare increases the Medicare hospital tax by 0.9 percent, beginning in 2013, for anyone who earns more than $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers). It also creates a new, 3.8 percent tax on investment income, setting income thresholds at the same $200,000 and $250,000 levels mentioned above. Taken together, those two provisions are expected to generate $210.2 billion over the next decade.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022078875

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022903550#post87

Anyway, enough for now.