Monday, August 17, 2015

There Might Even Be An Opportunity Here

Imagine if the Democratic party loudly united to expand Social Security benefits, highlighting the contrast between their very popular view and the very unpopular position of Republicans.
It’s remarkable, then, that most of the Republicans who would be president seem to be lining up for another round of punishment. In particular, they’ve been declaring that the retirement age — which has already been pushed up from 65 to 66, and is scheduled to rise to 67 — should go up even further.

Thus, Jeb Bush says that the retirement age should be pushed back to “68 or 70”. Scott Walker has echoed that position. Marco Rubio wants both to raise the retirement age and to cut benefits for higher-income seniors. Rand Paul wants to raise the retirement age to 70 and means-test benefits. Ted Cruz wants to revive the Bush privatization plan.

On one hand voters would like it. On the other hand, Fred Hiatt might say mean things. So I guess it's complicated.