The Administration, the Bloggers, the Homeowners (And Yes, Me)
The bloggers who attended briefings from a "senior Treasury Department official" last week have interpreted the concept of "deep background" in several different ways. I attended one of the briefings and initially didn't plan to write about it at all. Others did write about it. One writer named the official,...
What Did a Senior Administration Official Really Say About Social Security?
Progressive bloggers were ready to have a "stroke" after Mike Allen from Politico reported that the Administration wants to take action on Social Security -- action that's likely to include cuts. Many were relieved when Tim Fernholz of the American Prospect, who attended the same briefing Allen did,...
Why Are Democrats Losing the Social Security Issue?
The Republican Party's attempt to privatize Social Security under George W. Bush was wildly unpopular. At least one Republican Congressional candidate is openly calling for Social Security cuts, and Rep. Paul Ryan's widely-publicized "Roadmap for the Future" includes both privatization and benefit cuts. With all these...
Techno-Thriller: Why Was Goldman Sachs So Worried About One Nerdy Sentence?
It sounds like the plot to a dozen movies: Picture a corporation so powerful that its tentacles circle the globe and reach into the highest corridors of power. Yet a single sentence on an ex-employee's obscure website forces it to move into action. That sentence is so important that it...
Republicans and the "Left" Agree: Defending Social Security Is a Political Winner
Here are two numbers that should warm the heart of anyone who wants to end sectarian bickering and build a bipartisan consensus for change:
68% of likely voters polled believe that we should not cut Social Security and Medicare to reduce the deficit.
60% of Republicans agree.
If We Put 10 Million Americans Back to Work, That Social Security "Shortfall" Would Disappear
There's a great deal of alarmist talk these days about the fact that Social Security won't be adding to its surplus this year. Instead it will call in some interest payments (and possibly other monies, too) on the money Uncle Sam borrowed from its fund. (When a rich person...
Social Security: The "IOU ... Nothin'" Argument Strikes Again
Allan Sloan, Senior Editor at Fortune and a frequent Washington Post contributor, is usually a smart and fair guy with a knack for seeing through the usual DC economic spin. That's why it's particularly disappointing to see him get it wrong on Social Security trust funds, and in a way...
Conservanomics: A Church Without Bishops (But it's Got Sarah Palin and Invisible Tax Fairies!)
Conservative economics has often felt like religious dogma, with its elevation of "a rising tide lifts all boats" to unintended extremes and its unfounded belief that lower tax rates create higher revenue. But, at least as far as that second article of faith is concerned, Conservanomics is becoming a church...
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