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As Talks Open, Democrats Show Signs of Division
President Obama and congressional Democrats, astonishingly united through recent fiscal fights with Republicans, were showing some divisions as budget negotiations opened on Wednesday between the House and Senate to avert another crisis in coming months. Democrats in Congress insist that Republicans,…
Social Security Serves Those Who’ve Served
On Nov. 11, we honor our Nation’s veterans for their service to America. What better time than now to tell you—and for you to help spread the word—about the many benefits and wealth of information Social Security has available for…
Comic Broadway gem opens Friday at the Spindrift
From its 1986 Broadway Playbill synopsis, the play “Social Security,” by Andrew Bergman, was explained in the following sentence. “An art gallery owner and her husband are thrown into a panic when her mother intimates that she may be living…
Politicians Need to Be Honest With Older Voters
Do retirees have too much political clout in the U.S.? Senior citizens generally turn out in higher percentages than other groups in society. They do this for a variety of reasons: (1) they have more time to follow politics because they…
Senate Republicans Preview Budget Conference
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) just got off the phone with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan on Monday when he offered a preview of his opener at the budget conference this week. In short: Expect a wonky hearing, with dashes of…
Most Americans adding debt faster than savings
More than half of Americans with 401(k) accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are putting away money for retirement, according to a new study which indicates the average 401(k) user puts around 11 percent of his income away for retirement…
Making Grown-Up Choices: A Republican View
Being an adult means making tough choices to do the right thing. Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable in their current form. This is a question of math, not ideology. Most of my Democratic colleagues agree that reform is needed,…
Can we save Social Security?
Yes, Social Security can be fixed. There’s a long-term deficit problem, but it’s far from a crisis yet. Projections show the trust fund will run out of money by 2033. At that point everyone’s benefits would have to be cut…
Marriage and Abortion are Economic Issues
Political discussions commonly assume there are two separate sets of issues. There’s a social agenda – issues like abortion and marriage. And there’s an economic agenda – issues like federal spending, debt, taxes, and government programs like entitlements. It’s assumed these two…
Washington Memo: We must not balance the budget on the backs of seniors
Last week, reasonable Republicans and Democrats in Congress voted to end the government shutdown and eliminate the threat of default. It was not a perfect solution, but a necessary compromise. As part of the compromise, Congress agreed to try to focus…