The Atlantic: on Social Security


Cory Booker: Don't raise retirement age, except maybe for young workers

Booker has been deemed suspicious when it comes to entitlement reform. The sole concrete criticism was Booker "hinting that he'd be open to raising the Social Security retirement age for young people -- before backtracking furiously when progressives called him on it." Booker had been paraphrased in the Bergen Record as saying that he "opposes raising the retirement age for most people in the country -- except, perhaps, for people in their 20s or younger." When the vagueness of that position prompted furious criticism, Booker tweeted that he opposes all cuts to Social Security and Medicare; would, if anything, expand the programs; and also opposes raising the retirement age and curbing benefits through the "chained CPI" inflation index.

But the case against Booker seems to rest chiefly on tone and approach. It seems clear Booker will not be riding to Washington on a wave of esteem from national progressives.

Source: The Atlantic, "Why Do Liberals Hate Booker," by Molly Ball, Aug 23, 2013

Julian Castro: Trust Fund needs immigrants to shore up Baby Boomers

Castro said, "I understand the struggle that a lot of people go through, because I understand that struggle myself." He comes at the topic of immigration in a way no one in the field has quite articulated--I watched him choke up when speaking about the conditions at the Homestead detention camp, outside of Miami, a few weeks ago.

"This president is failing us, but we're also failing ourselves to allow this to happen," he told me there. Immigrants need to come, Castro said, going beyond the moral argument by saying it's because the Social Security trust fund is running out, and without them, Baby Boomers will be broke. "That's not an argument that's based on emotion. That's not an argument that's based on just what's happening today," Castro told me. "It's based on the personal interest of every single senior citizen out there, no matter what your background is."

Source: The Atlantic magazine on 2019 Democratic primary Jul 25, 2019

  • The above quotations are from Columns and news articles in The Atlantic.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Social Security:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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