‘I will not break a social, economic and moral contract’

If the 112th Congress fails to address the so-called fiscal cliff, writes 1st District Congresswoman-elect Carol Shea-Porter, she and the 113th Congress will be prepared to act on day one.

Shea-Porter acknowledges Democrats and Republicans will need to compromise, but she draws a line in the sand over cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits:

I will not compromise on Medicare and Social Security benefits. The Congressional Budget Office says if we do nothing, spending on Medicare and Medicaid will rise to 10 percent of the economy by 2037. We cannot ignore this. … I want to see us control costs and hold down spending increases, but I will not support forcing seniors and people with disabilities to dig into their wallets to make up for bad policies, lobbyists’ influence on Congress and our tax code, for “subsidies for the rich and famous,” … and for waste, fraud and mismanagement across the spectrum.

I simply will not break a social, economic, and moral contract with working men and women in America….

Quote of the day: Handouts from government

It amounted to a government takeover of social responsibility, We don’t need more handouts from government, and we don’t need government leaders attacking religion for cheap political gains.

— State House Speaker Bill O’Brien on the New Deal, the comprehensive series of social and economic programs enacted during the Great Depression that included the Social Security Act.

Congressman Frank Guinta’s breathtakingly cynical campaign to ‘save’ Social Security

Today, New Hampshire Congressman Frank Guinta wrote of a “responsibility” to keep Social Security and Medicare “on a solid footing” for his two young children.

I am the father of two young children who are in grade school. I don’t want to face them 25 years from now and have to tell them why Social Security and Medicare won’t be available for them. Rather, I hope I will be able to tell them in 25 years, “Because Americans acted responsibly back in 2012, you will be able to count on Social Security and Medicare being there for you when you reach retirement age.”

Just two years ago, while campaigning for Tea Party support, Guinta spoke of a very different future for his children: “They shouldn’t know what Social Security is!”

Government’s the problem here, ladies and gentlemen. When Social Security was created, you didn’t have the wealth of private sector solutions for lifetime savings that you have today. We have to honor the obligations that have been made to those who are reliant on the federal government — older generations. But future generations should seek different private sector solutions and have personal responsibility start to lead the way. My kids are 6 and 5. They shouldn’t know what Social Security is!

VIDEO: Guinta on Social Security’s 77th Anniversary

Congressman Frank Guinta, May 22, 2010:

Government’s the problem here, ladies and gentlemen. When Social Security was created, you didn’t have the wealth of private sector solutions for lifetime savings that you have today. We have to honor the obligations that have been made to those who are reliant on the federal government - older generations. But future generations should seek different private sector solutions and have personal responsibility start to lead the way. My kids are 6 and 5. They shouldn’t know what Social Security is!

‘Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid Work for NH’

Social Security

• Social Security provided benefits to 254,752 New Hampshire residents in 2010, 1 out of 5 residents, including 167,720 retired workers, 42,504 disabled workers, 15,956 widow(er)s, 7,922 spouses and20,650 children.

• Social Security provided benefits totaling over $3.4 billion in 2010, an amount equivalent to 5.5 percent of the state’s annual GDP (the total value of all goods and services produced).

• The average Social Security benefit in 2010 was $13,386.

• Social Security lifted 73,000 New Hampshire residents out of poverty in 2008. Without Social Security, the poverty rate of elderly women would increase from 8.3 percent to 46.5 percent.

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Social Security “Keeps Many of Our Elderly in Poverty”

A New Hampshire House resolution urging Congress “to privatize all aspects of Social Security” was approved by the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee in a 8-6 vote. The infamous Rep. Lynne Blankenbeker explains why.

The initial intent of social security as a survivor benefit plan was certainly noble and laudable. But social security has morphed into a benefit plan that keeps many of our elderly in poverty. … Simple math will tell any logical person there are just not going to be enough taxpayers to sustain the huge number of beneficiaries.

Actually, the projected shortfall in the Social Security Trust Fund can be fixed with “modest changes” to payroll taxes and benefits while privatization would exacerbate it.

And the claim that social security perpetuates poverty is absurd. Without Social Security, according to the latest available Census data (for 2008), 19.8 million more Americans would be poor. But Blankenbeker has at least one fan of her fuzzy math: Congressman Frank Guinta.

Government’s the problem here, ladies and gentlemen. When Social Security was created, you didn’t have the wealth of private sector solutions for lifetime savings that you have today. We have to honor the obligations that have been made to those who are reliant on the federal government - older generations. But future generations should seek different private sector solutions and have personal responsibility start to lead the way. My kids are 6 and 5. They shouldn’t know what Social Security is!

The full House is scheduled to vote on House Concurrent Resolution 39 tomorrow.

In One Chart: Social Security Is Not a Ponzi Scheme

Campaigning in Iowa, Gov. Rick Perry again called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme.”

“It is a Ponzi scheme for these young people. The idea that they’re working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie,” Mr. Perry told the crowd . He added during a later stop in Des Moines, “I haven’t backed off anything in my book. So read the book again and get it right.”

Nick Baumann explains some of the differences and similarities between Social Security and a Ponzi scheme in a Venn Diagram:

Welcome to New Hampshire, Gov. Perry

In Portsmouth this morning, Rick Perry got his first taste of retail politicking, New Hampshire style. Here’s how one of his home state newspapers, the Dallas News, covered it:

Gov. Rick Perry hit a buzz saw of protest and pushback Thursday morning in this liberal corner of New Hampshire.

Hecklers drowned him out as he popped into a bakery to greet voters. They hardly had to bother; nearly everyone Perry interacted with came armed with a pointed question about his views on climate change and the large number of uninsured Texans.

Whether it was masochism, a lapse in planning, or optimism that he could charm a bunch of Democrats into converting wasn’t clear. Maybe his aides wanted to give Perry a dose of humility after days of national attention.

The crowd hammered Perry over his positions on evolution, health care and climate change, but it was Social Security and Medicare — which Perry has called an unconstitutional Ponzi scheme — that generated the most heat.

Inside the café, Gail Mitchell and a companion grilled him: “You said Social Security was unconstitutional.”

“Social Security’s going to be there for those folks,” Perry answered his inquisitors, making reference to the elderly.

“But you said Social Security is unconstitutional,” Mitchell repeated.

“I don’t think I — I’m sorry, you must have,” Perry said before stopping himself.

Instead of elaborating, Perry stuffed a generous piece of popover in his mouth. (Perry called them “pop ups.”)

“I’ve got a big mouthful,” Perry said.

Rick Santorum: On Abortion and Social Security

Yesterday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum denied saying there are not enough people to pay into the Social Security system because so many women have had abortions.

Santorum said the comment, which has been attributed to him, was made by a caller on a radio show. While he said he could see the logic, he would never equate abortion with economics.

Here’s the direct quote from Santorum, recorded March 29, 2011, on WEZS:

“This caller is absolutely right. The reason Social Security is in big trouble is we don’t have enough workers to support the retirees. Well, a third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion, because one in three pregnancies end in abortion.”

You can listen for yourself. The discussion in question begins at the 50:18 mark.

Santorum: Social Security Makes You “Less of a Person”

In his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Rick Santorum has aligned himself with Tea Party activists and right wing extremists in the GOP seeking to end Social Security and Medicare.

Friday night, in a keynote speech for the Strafford County Lincoln-Reagan Day dinner, Santorum attacked Social Security and Medicare as “drugs.”

Santorum said the Democrats talk about entitlements the way dealers talk about drugs.

“Close your eyes, like you’re listening to a drug dealer outside a schoolyard,” he said. “They see entitlements as a way to make you dependent, weaker, less of a person than you are, drugging you into submission to a government who promises a high to take care of you.”

That Was Then, This Is Now: Guinta on Social Security

Has Frank Guinta had a change of heart about privatizing Social Security? Or is he lying about his intentions? Voters deserve an answer.

Frank Guinta, September 29, 2010:

I believe we need a solution to preserve Social Security which does not privatize the system, does not raise taxes, and does not cut existing benefits.

Frank Guinta, May 22, 2010:

Government’s the problem here, ladies and gentlemen. When Social Security was created, you didn’t have the wealth of private sector solutions for lifetime savings that you have today. We have to honor the obligations that have been made to those who are reliant on the federal government - older generations. But future generations should seek different private sector solutions and have personal responsibility start to lead the way. My kids are 6 and 5. They shouldn’t know what Social Security is!

Cross-posted to Blue Hampshire