Another bipartisan panel proposes cuts to Social Security, Medicare

[Hannah Bell]

For the second time in a week, a prominent bipartisan commission has proposed resolving long-term US budget deficits at the expense of the working class.

Days after the chairmen of President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare and the jobs and wages of government workers—coupled with major tax cuts for the rich and for corporations—the Bipartisan Policy Center has put forward a remarkably similar plan.

The Bipartisan Policy Center panel, headed by former Clinton administration budget director Alice Rivlin and former Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, calls for indexing Social Security benefits to life expectancy so that as the population ages, benefits decline. This would be coupled with the implementation of a 6.5 percent national tax on consumption, cuts in benefits for Medicare and Medicaid recipients, and a multi-year freeze on discretionary spending.

Like the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility—which is also chaired by a former Clinton administration official (Erskine Bowles) and a retired Republican senator (Alan Simpson)—the Rivlin-Domenici proposal would also “simplify” the US tax system, in this case down to two tax brackets, almost entirely to the benefit of the rich.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/nov2010/defi-n18.shtml

[Lasher]

1. I propose that this panel go fuck themselves.

[Le Taz Hot]

2. Raise the cap!

Even better, ELIMINATE IT! Problem solved. Just a reminder that the leading edge of the Boomers are going to begin retiring in 2011. The timing is NOT a coincidence.