The Opinion Blog

The peril of leadership

Saturday’s editorial:

In an episode sadly reminiscent of the health-care reform debate, Republican U.S. Rep. John Boehner was publicly lambasted this week for the apparent modern-era sin of proposing a serious policy solution to a serious governmental problem.

Specifically, Boehner (the House Minority Leader) gave an interview in which he proposed three changes: raising the Social Security retirement age to 70 over time, tying benefits to increases in prices (which rise more slowly than Social Security’s current index, wages) and reducing benefits for wealthy retirees who do not need them. Denunciations from Democrats were swift and furious. “Callous, outrageous and frankly un-American,” said U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat also from Boehner’s state of Ohio. Amercans United for Change, one of the many left-leaning groups that pounced, said called his ideas “an assault on the safety net that has kept generations of seniors from poverty” that would “launch a nuclear bomb” on Social Security.

Not Across the Board

Wednesday’s editorial argues that Congress should send an extra Social Security check to the people who depend on it the most, but not to all recipients.

It's now official although by no means unexpected: There will be no automatic cost of living increase for Grand Strand seniors receiving Social Security and other federal retirement payments. To ease the impact a bit, President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders propose $250 payments to 57 million Americans. This would be a second $250 payment, the first coming earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package.

Start Talks on Social Security

Today's editorial considers the urgency of reforming Social Security and presents one possible option for moving forward.

Although flashier issues - the war in Iraq, illegal immigration and blame for the choking economy - tended to dominate the campaign trail in 2008, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham made his own unsuccessful attempts to fix a drying-up Social Security system one of his key stump issues. When he was a 22-year-old college student, both of his parents died, leaving him to raise a 13-year-old sister on Social Security survivor's benefits.

"I know what it's like to need it," Graham said during a televised debate in October, echoing comments he had made earlier to a crowd of supporters at Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort.

On Tuesday, as if the economic news about the present day were not gloomy enough, the U.S. Treasury told us what the future holds: In seven years, Social Security will begin paying out more money than it takes in, and by 2037, that deficit will devour what is now a $2.4 trillion trust fund for Social Security. Exacerbated by the recession, these grim dates are several years sooner than previously expected.

Defend Social Security -- at gunpoint if necessary

Ripped from the wires ... Froma Harrop explains why she reaches for her Winchester when she hears conservatives denigrating Social Security:

By FROMA HARROP

"Round up everybody that can ride a horse or pull a trigger,'' John Wayne says in "Chisum.'' "Let's break out some Winchesters.''

Early retirees suck the life out of the economy

Ripped from the wires ... Are you a boomer planning an early retirement? Professor Andrew L. Yarrow explains why you're about to become a leech on the fanny of society.

By Andrew L. Yarrow

When I hear my fellow baby boomers gleefully talk about their elaborate plans to retire ASAP, head for the Tuscan hills or otherwise continue their lifelong quest for "self-actualization,'' I have to bite my tongue.

It's not that I'm all work and no play. But there's just something -- make that lots of things -- wrong, in general, with retiring at 55, 62 or even 65. I would go so far as to call it profoundly selfish and unpatriotic.

Dropping out of the work force while still in one's prime means ending one's contributions to America's strength, mortgaging our children's and grandchildren's future and leeching trillions of taxpayer dollars from the economy.

Don't let them frighten you about Social Security

Ripped from the wires ... Columnist Froma Harrop warns us not to fall prey to Bush administration scare tactics on Social Security.

By FROMA HARROP

The stock market hasn't been this nasty since the 1970s. House prices continue their dive, and consumer confidence has gone splat. The rocketing federal budget deficit will probably orbit Mars by the time the government finishes cleaning up the mess left by the housing bubble it so blithely let fester.

Good job, fellas. The Bush administration doesn't have a heckuva lot of credibility left on economic matters. But some members think they have one little ideological game left to play. Scare people out of their wits about Social Security.