Mike Stark: 'James Clyburn- On Deficit Commission, Means-Testing Social Security'

 

Source:Mike Stark- House Majority Whip James Clyburn, talking about Social Security.

"The number three Democrat in the US House of Representatives is widely perceived as being fairly liberal.  Here he says he has confidence in the President's deficit commission, does not believe that a Value-Added Tax is on the table and that social security should be means tested." 

From Mike Stark

Jim Clyburn who's one of the members of Congress in both the House and Senate that I respect the most in both party's, has this exactly right: Democratic Socialists in Congress and around the country should jump all over this potential deal. 

Means-testing for Social Security and Medicare and reforming it in a way for people who actually need it, meaning wealthy people paying more into Social Security and collecting less if anything and giving more benefits to the retirees who actually need Social Security income to pay their bills, making the program more of a Welfare Insurance program for the people who actually need it and eliminating early retiree income for high-earners as well, would save Social Security and Medicare.

We should also be reforming Medicare in a way that reforms it for the people who need it by increasing Medicare taxes on high-earners and having them pay more in premiums. In exchange Democrats would get an excise tax on millionaires as well as substantial, somewhere in the ballpark of 70-100B$ a year in defense cuts. 

Conservative Republicans are already on board for defense cuts and some of them are already on board tax hikes, but they would probably have to start at around a million dollars a year, not 250K$. They would probably also need tax reform including corporate tax reform, that eliminates tax loopholes and lowers rates. 

This for me would be a grand bargain for Democrats and their left-wing (if not Far-Left) base, because they would get a millionaires tax and serious defense cuts. Social Security and Medicare would be reformed, but not in a way that hurts anyone who needs it but helps us get our deficit and debt under control. 

Anyone who's truly interesting in moving the debt ceiling as well as the broader deficit and debt issue past us, so we can concentrate mostly on the economy again and bringing our troops home, should take this deal. Anyone who just wants this issue to fire up their base will of course say no. 

President Obama wants to make this deal, I believe House Speaker Boehner wants to make this deal and I believe Senate Leader Reid wants to make this deal. 

If people on Social Security and Medicare who need those programs aren't hurt by it, which they wouldn't be and then he could sell the deal to the Senate Democratic Caucus. The question is will the fringe bases in both party's allow the deal to happen or not.