Page 31 - Means Testing News Today

For every 1 person on social security. today 3 people work for every 1 person on social security. by the time the baby boomers retire, 2 people will wok for every 1 person on social security. it must be reformed now if we want to prevent a shock 10, 15 years from now. >> lets game this out then. lets say this is a brilliant strategy. what happens next, do the republicans take the bait and say we are the party of smaller government, were going to raise the retirement age, well have means testing....

Among the fiscally moderate types they are disappointed there wasnt more austerity. >>shepard: who is the man or woman with the political courage to stand up and say what the economists have said is the truth and you are smiling because you know it is the truth that social security will have to be pushed later, age of retirement has to be pushed later and in the end we will have means testing, means testing, and no one will admit it and no one will say it because they dont want to lose their job...

Medicaid, social security, pentagon. nothing. >> look at this, 23 percent of the spending is medicare and medicaid. and 22 percent is defense. and 23 percent is social security. that is 68 percent of spending, hands off. not even the republicans are talking about. >>shepard: no politician has the courage to tell the truth. i dont understand it. are they going do let the country go bankrupt? we have worked for hundreds of years and this bunch that happens to be sitting on it will let it go? >> re...

Convenient to produce overseas than here. these are impediments that are not about how much you pay the employee. its how much you pay in time and waste to the government. >> darrell issa, harold ford, good morning. i applaud your efforts in trying to determine whats getting in the way of jobç creation. >> harold, come back, you were a champion for this. >> you talk about the entitlement, would you be willing -- i like your story 65 or older and the younger kids getting the money. would you be...

And they will make it in the private sector. >> but youre saying theyre not doing anything productive, and that would be my word. whats your word for someone whos not productive? >> i dont think its a question of whether those people are productive. im sure theyre good people. the question is should the federal government be doing all the things its doing? its in too many lines of business. it needs to shrink back. >> a political question. why are you guys so political? i thought you were purist...

>> thats what a lot of progressives support. >> but do you support means testing? >> we support reforming social security so that long term its sustainable. >> you just slipped into something thats interesting, which is where some people think you should cut. are you one of those who believe that people who make a ton of money, retire with a ton of money shouldnt get the same benefits as somebody whos retired on, say, a teachers salary, someone who doesnt have a whole lot of money when they quit...

Income. >> right. but thats -- >> youre means testing. >> thats what a lot of progressives support. its going to -- >> do you support means testing? >> we support reforming social security so that lodge term its sustain -- long term its sustainable. >> you slipped into something thats interesting, where some people think you should cut. are you one of those who believe that people who make a ton of money, retire with a ton of money, shouldnt get the same benefits as someone whos retired on, say,...

And as you pointed out earlier in the show, it tends to be on heart break items like trauma care centers. were going to have to raise taxes. i dont know if we have to do it tomorrow. the budget deficit is not as serious a krcrisis as people ar making out. it will become a serious crisis. the earlier we address it, the better off well be. we have to bite the bullet and do something about it. its got to be done by the wealthy. i hate to say that because eliot is my friend and hes wealthy. id like ...

Income. >> a means test? >> well, no -- >> you said upper end of the income. youre means testing. >> thats what a lot of progressives support. >> but do you support means testing? >> we support reforming social security so that long term its sustainable. >> you just slipped into something thats interesting, which is where some people think you should cut. are you air ware that people that retired with a ton of money shouldnt get the same benefits as somebody who retired on a teachers salary and ...

It really does. this is perpetuated by people who dont like government. >> means testing, raising the retirement age? >> im not going to go to those backdoor methods to whack social security recipients. im not going to do that. we have a lot of things we can do with this debt. but one of the places where im not going to be a part of picking on is social security. >> did you hear senator harry reid say social security is fine? now, whos lying. senator reid or the republicans? they say its a crisi...