Rubio and Bush are not alone in proposing cuts. Chris Christie in his announcement speech stated as his first order of business, "We need to fix a broken entitlement system." He repeated the assertion this Sunday. Scott Walker has said, "Washington has kicked the can down the road on entitlement programs. We need a leader who will implement true reforms."
Even leading Democrats have been willing to deal on Social Security, a development that Congressman Pepper, whose Library and Center are located at Florida State University in Tallahassee, would not have stood for. President Obama supported a revision to move to a "chain CPI" cost of living, meaning a loss of $1,000 annually in ten years by changing the categories used as markers -- but only if the GOP agreed to tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans. Republicans refused the deal while selectively trying to say Obama is willing to cut Social Security. The President has now pulled changing to Chain CPI off the table.
The nation needs Pepper's courage on this issue. Following Carter Commerce Secretary Juanita Kreps' statement in 1978 suggesting increasing the retirement age to 68 for full Social Security-retirement benefits, Pepper demanded and got a meeting of Kreps with himself and House Social Security Chairman James Burke (D-MA). Pepper proclaimed that he and Burke would "fight it to our death." Kreps asked, "Even (delaying the start) to the year 2000?" Both members exclaimed, "Yes!" Kreps finally responded, "Well, I haven't made the proposal anyway."
When we hear "reforms" and "cuts" in Social Security, proponents actually mean using the money for tax breaks for the rich and commissions to Wall Street brokers for partial privatization. At the upcoming debate and beyond, listen carefully because those are giveaways that neither seniors nor the nation must endure.
Robert Weiner is former chief of staff of the U.S. House Aging Committee under Chairman Claude Pepper and spokesman for the Clinton White House. Eric Alves is senior policy analyst at Robert Weiner Associates and Solutions for Change and former spokesman for the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Higher Education.
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