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Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 | 3:34 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Bluster and hot rhetoric aside, the White House and House Republicans have identified areas of significant overlap that could form the basis for a final agreement after "fiscal cliff" posturing gives way to hard bargaining. Both sides now concede that tax revenue and reductions in entitlement spending are essential elements of any deal. If the talks succeed, it probably will be because House Speaker John Boehner yields on raising tax rates for top earners and the White House bends on how to reduce spending on Medicare and accepts some changes in Social Security. The White House and Boehner ...
Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this article.
Social Security and Medicare are trust funds, not budget items.
Raise the SS retirement age from 65 to 67? Give me a break!
If a person was born in 1948, their retirement age is at 66. If a person was born in 1960 or later, their SS retirement age is 67, ALREADY.
I gather that even though SS & Medicare are trust funds, they want to go back and add a year to the retirement age, amending the Social Security Amendments Of 1983, eliminating the age 66+ group.
That will really reduce the debt and deficit, even though neither are part of the debt and deficit.
That negotiation is nothing but a ploy to make it look like they are doing some spending cuts to reduce the debt.
Reducing or eliminating COLA, cost of living increases has been a goal of Republicans fore ages.
Workers be aware that if the COLA recipe changes for seniors, it won't be long before yours will change as well by your employers. It is a sure thing, decreasing wage growth even further.
Yet, there is no concern for the seniors who are at poverty level, suffering even worse if they can't even get cost of living increases.
The arguments make it more and more attractive to build euthanasia centers. (A great profit maker for business.) Better than starving to death or the pain and suffering from health issues one cannot afford to get care for.
If the Republicans want to end SS & Medicare, just let them run out of money and forget the cuts. Why make people suffer from inadequate funds to live on or to receive medical? care?