Obama against raising Social Security retirement age
Share with others:
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has decided not to endorse his deficit commission's recommendation to raise the retirement age, and otherwise reduce Social Security benefits, in tonight's State of the Union address, cheering liberals and drawing a stark line between the White House and key Republicans in Congress.
Over the weekend, the White House informed Democratic lawmakers and advocates for seniors that Mr. Obama would emphasize the need to reduce record deficits in the speech, but that he would not call for reducing spending on Social Security -- the single largest federal program -- as part of that effort.
Liberals, who have been alarmed by Mr. Obama's recent to shift to the center and his effort to court the nation's business community, applauded the decision, arguing that Social Security cuts were neither necessary to reduce current deficits nor a wise move politically. Polls show that large majorities of Americans in both parties -- even in households that identify themselves as part of the tea party movement -- oppose cuts to Social Security.
"Most of us would like to see the Democrats remain the strong defenders of Social Security, which they have to be if they want to win the next election," said Roger Hickey, co-director of the liberal Campaign for America's Future.
Administration officials said Mr. Obama was unlikely to specifically endorse any of the deficit commission's recommendations in the speech, but cautioned that he was unlikely to rule them off the table, either. On Social Security, for example, he will probably urge lawmakers to work together to make the program solvent, without going into details, congressional sources said.
Democratic lawmakers, nonetheless, quickly moved to capitalize on the president's decision, scheduling an afternoon news conference to call attention to the man Republicans have chosen to deliver the GOP response to Mr. Obama's speech: Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee.
Two years ago, Mr. Ryan published a plan to balance the budget titled "A Roadmap for America's Future," which called for deep cuts in both Social Security and Medicare spending. While Republicans as a group have been loath to publicly embrace the details of Mr. Ryan's plan, Democrats argue that Mr. Ryan's role as the voice of the party on fiscal issues suggests that Social Security soon will join nondefense appropriations on the GOP chopping block.
First Published January 25, 2011 12:24 am
