GOP vs. Social Security

by Jed Lewison

Tue Jun 29, 2010 at 03:10:04 PM PDT

John Boehner is now pledging that if he's elected Speaker, Republicans will cut Social Security and raise the retirement age to 70. I'm not kidding:

 

ON RAISING THE SOCIAL SECURITY RETIREMENT AGE: 
On Social Security, we're all living a lot longer than anybody ever expected. I think raising the retirement age, going out twenty years from now, not affecting anyone close to retirement, and eventually getting the retirement age to seventy is a step that needs to be taken.

ON BANNING OUTSIDE INCOME FOR SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS: 
If you have substantial non-Social Security income while you are retired, why are we paying you at a time when we're broke?

ON MAKING CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY THE GOP'S #1 FISCAL PRIORITY: 
I think Social Security would be the most logical place to start. It's just a matter of numbers.

This is a big deal. It's not just that he wants to cut Social Security, it's that he says cutting Social Security would be at the center of the GOP's fiscal policy if Republicans win the November elections.

And not only is Boehner saying he wants to raise the retirement age to 70, he also is proposing to ban Social Security recipients from earning "substantial" amounts of outside income. That's a truly radical notion: John Boehner thinks people who have paid Social Security taxes their entire life should be denied Social Security if they earn outside income above a certain level.

So in Boehner's view, everybody should pay for Social Security, but only some people should get it, and they shouldn't get it until they are 70. And he's pledging to push that agenda as Speaker. I think his ideas are ridiculous but he's right on one thing: they do deserve to be at the center of the debate. Voters deserve to know that Republicans will try to gut Social Security if they win the elections this fall.