http://www.youtube.com/v/S7PkQcs-kow?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Read the article: Pensions minister: reforms are not Ukip response
Elite conventional wisdom is losing on Social Security
In the past two weeks, two radically different proposals for the future of Social Security have provoked widespread discussion in the media.One proposal was made by President Barack Obama, as part of his proposed budget. This called for using inflation adjustments to deprive the middle-class elderly of nearly 10 percent of their promised Social Security benefits if they lived to their 90s, while only the poor would be shielded from the cuts. Obama’s proposal was angrily denounced by progressives and conservatives alike.The rival proposal came in a policy paper called “Expanded Social Security,” written by Steven Hill, Robert Hiltonsmith, Joshua Freedman and me, and published by the New America Foundation’s Economic Growth Program. Our plan called for a major expansion of Social Security benefits, on the grounds that Social Security is far more efficient and reliable than the other two “legs” of the retirement security “stool” — employer pensions (both defined-benefit pensions and 401Ks) and tax-deferred private savings accounts like IRAs.Continue Reading… … Read More
Social Security cuts are Inexcusable
The reason President Obama’s proposal to cut Social Security benefits is tragic is that it is simply not necessary. His plan is to use a different method to compute how much benefits are raised to offset inflation. But Social Security will add very little to federal spending over the next 30 to 40 years. As a proportion of national income (GDP), It will rise from 5 percent to 6 percent. At the same time, retirees are set to get much less money from their pensions because so many were forced to depend on 401(k)s and defined contribution plans rather than traditional pensions with defined benefits.But a new report from Goldman Sachs economists puts the Obama decision in an even harsher light. The federal deficit is coming down rapidly on its own. In a piece entitled, “The Rapidly Shrinking Federal Deficit,” Goldman notes that the deficit averaged 4.5 percent of GDP in the first calendar quarter, compared to 10.1 percent in fiscal year 2009. The reasons are faster economic growth, higher taxes, and reduced government spending.Continue Reading… … Read More
Uncut stage mock eviction of UK welfare baron from £1.9 million home
The organizers of the demonstration said that he spearheaded many of the policies, which have been adopted by the current government including cuts to housing benefits, which will affect people claiming benefit with spare bedrooms and is being dubbed the “bedroom tax.”Lord David Freud is a welfare advisor and parliamentary under-secretary of state for work and pensions in Westminster.Under the changes, families living in council or housing association accommodation will lose 14 per cent of their housing benefit if they have one spare bedroom and 25 per cent if they have two or more.UK Uncut said protesters had travelled to Lord Freud’s house to deliver a mock eviction notice, “who wants to evict a millionaire?” The slogan is taken from the popular UK TV game show, “who wants to be a millionaire?”UK Uncut said it would bring the devastating impact of the cuts home to “millionaire misery makers”.Despite a police presence, reports in the British media said the mood of the demonstration was relaxed with street theater and people handing out leaflets. Demonstrators also protested outside the home of Ian Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary in Swanbourne, Buckinghamshire.More than 20 protesters with disabilities presented Mr. Duncan Smith with an eviction notice.A new benefit was introduced earlier this month under Mr. Duncan Smith’s instigation called the personal independence payment (PIP) which will replace the disability living allowance (DLA). The change is expected to save around £2.2 billion by 2015-2016.There are currently 3.3 million people claiming DLA compared to 1.1 million when it was introduced in 1992. Mr. Duncan Smith has labeled the current system “ridiculous” as people are given benefits without further checks being made, which makes the system vulnerable to abuse.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said that the benefit reforms were crucial in helping people to find employment rather than abandoning them to claim benefit year after year. “The changes are essential to keep the benefits bill sustainable so we can continue to support people when they need it most across the UK,” BBC cited a spokesman from the DWP as saying. … Read More
Obama’s budget offends just about everybody. Is that compromise?
Obama’s proposed budget will call for reductions in in the growth of federal Social Security pensions and other benefit programs in an attempt to strike a compromise with congressional Republicans.(… ;
Obama Offering To Cut Pensions For Deficit Deal
Under a proposal that would cut the deficit by $1.8 trillion over 10 years, the president will offer to apply a less generous measure of inflation to calculate cost-of-living increases, the official said on condition of anonymity … Read More
Obama making historic mistake on Social Security
President Obama reportedly is unveiling a budget using the chained CPI inflation measure to cheat elderly Americans out of the benefits they were promised. In two previous posts I’ve explained the perversity of the current debate about Social Security. The tax-favored private components of America’s mixed private-public retirement system — programs like employer pensions, 401Ks and IRAs — are inefficient, volatile and subject to manipulation by overcompensated, fee-extracting money managers. In contrast, the Social Security program is simple and efficient, and has low overhead costs. And yet the bipartisan establishment, including many “progressive” Democrats as well as Republicans, wants to cut Social Security — the part that works — and expand tax-favored private savings, the inefficient, unstable and inequitable part.Continue Reading… … Read More
