Comments on: Alan Simpson unloads on Oakland protesters

By: Elwood

Elwood — Tue, 29 May 2012 18:54:09 +0000

@ # 8 John W.

All is fair in love, war and politics they say.

By: JohnW

JohnW — Tue, 29 May 2012 18:28:58 +0000

Re: #7

Well said, J Hammon. If people don’t like Simpson’s bedside manner (patient being the nation’s fiscal situation), then listen to Bowles, the Democrat and former president of the University of North Carolina. It fries me that we didn’t seize the opportunity to get going on this. Mr. Budget Responsibility, Paul Ryan, was on the commission and voted against it. That was a clear signal to Obama that, if he tried to implement some version of the report, the Republicans were going to crucify him because of the taxes.

By: J Hammon

J Hammon — Tue, 29 May 2012 01:43:40 +0000

Simpson could clearly have been more genteel in his response, but the clear fact is that this country has a huge problem with our finances, including Social Security. While I do not like every aspect of the recommendations in the Simpson Bowles report, I do agree that it is a very good compromise that addresses very real and very critical problems our country must address.

Bottom Line: “Read the report.” – - And then our congress needs to stop the partisan bickering and find a set of compromises, such as those in the report.

By: JohnW

JohnW — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:22:52 +0000

Re: #5 Gschwartz

Simpson is overly blunt in the way he makes his point. But there is no getting around the facts. Social Security is being paid for now through a combination of the payroll taxes and drawing from the trust fund that accumulated during the surplus years. When the trust fund bonds are redeemed, the government borrows the money to pay off the bonds, which adds to the deficit. It’s an urban legend that the government “stole” the trust fund to pay for other government expenditures. In about 20 years, the trust fund will be fully depleted. At that point, Social Security benefits will be paid solely from the payroll tax. Estimates are that the payroll taxes will then cover only 75% of scheduled benefits. Obviously, adjustments have to be made. We could just do nothing and wait until that time arrives, at which point, the 25% cut in benefits would be pretty much automatic.

By: gschwartz

gschwartz — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:08:50 +0000

“Shared sacrifice” is the biggest hoax perpetrated on the public yet.

All the sacrifices have been made by the 99 percent for the benefit of the 1 percent, like Simpson. The past three decades have seen the greatest transfer of wealth from working people to the rich in our nation’s history.

And then you have gasbags like Alan Simpson who want to inflict more suffering and pain on working people by further gutting our social safety net. No thanks.

By: Bob Loblaw

Bob Loblaw — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:04:33 +0000

BRAVO Alan Simpson. All people like Steve Smith are interested in is goring someone else’s ox. He doesn’t want to do anything to help close out deficit and pay down our debt. Thats someone’s elses’s job.

Shared sacrifice is an alien concept in this country.

By: JohnW

JohnW — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:31:34 +0000

I’m in general agreement with Simpson Bowles on SS. However, Simpson seems to have gone on a rant about pictures in a brochure rather than addressing the 10-point argument CARA made in opposition to Simpson Bowles. Most of their ten points about Simpson Bowles are factual. Their solution is to lift the cap on income subject to the SS payroll tax. I don’t agree with that, because it effectively increases the marginal tax rate on a middle income person making more than $110k from 28% to 34.2%. However, it would have been more constructive for Simpson to explain the reasons why Simpson Bowles didn’t go in that direction than ranting about “greedy geezers.”

By: gschwartz

gschwartz — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:47:13 +0000

Smith is being polite. Simpson is a gasbag who has been a mean spirited hack for decades. The biggest threat to Social Security is from greedy Wall Street privateers and its sycophants like Simpson who could care less about wiping out the retirement security of tens of millions of Americans.

Here’s what the Tursttes actually found:
• Social Security has a large and growing surplus
• Without any Congressional action, Social Security will continue to pay benefits to America’s eligible working families for decades
• With only modest legislated increases in revenue, it will continue to pay those benefits for the next century and beyond.

If Simpson were honest, which he is not and never has been, he would say if you are really concerned about the future of Social Security, there is one genuine reform, and it is not cutting benefits or raising the retirement age for people already hurting from the economy tanked by Simpson’s friends on Wall Street.

Lift the payroll tax cap — the only problem is that it would mean a greater contribution from the wealthy people whom Simpson is doing everything he can to protect.

By: Elwood

Elwood — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:28:49 +0000

Simpson tells it like it is.

Smith is a hack.