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Two Republicans Advocate Entitlement Reform: ‘Because We Have To,’ Christie Says
Cybercast News Service ^ | April 20, 2015 - 6:58 AM | Susan Jones

Posted on 04/20/2015 7:27:43 AM PDT by Olog-hai

Both Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are speaking bluntly about entitlement reform, advocating means-testing for Social Security retirement benefits as a way to save the system for those who need it.

“These are real ideas,“ Christie said in New Hampshire on Friday. “And, you know, I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘Well, why would you possibly want to suggest those things?’ Because we have to. We have to. And if you want to start a national conversation, let’s start one that matters.”

“We’re $18 trillion in debt,” Graham told Fox News Sunday. “Eighty million baby boomers are going to retire in the next 20 to 30 years. We’re going to wipe out Social Security and Medicare. We have to adjust the age of retirement for younger people. People of my income level are going to have to have their benefits means-tested.” […]

Christie said it’s a question of cost—and of making the system “fairer for everybody.” …

(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Government; US: New Jersey; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: 2016election; abortion; chrischristie; christie; deathpanels; election2016; entitlements; lindagraham; lindseygraham; meanstesting; medicare; newjersey; newjerseyfathead; obamacare; repealeveryword; rinos; socialsecurity; southcarolina; zerocare
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To: Olog-hai

I paid into SS for the past 35 years under the promise that it would be there when I retired. Now they want to turn SS into just another welfare benefit.


41 posted on 04/20/2015 8:10:02 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (True followers of Christ emulate Christ. True followers of Mohammed emulate Mohammed.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard
Good for them. Everyone should be talking about entitlement reform.

Indeed, but in true RINO fashion they have come up with one of the worst ideas for entitlement reform conceivable -- means-testing Social Security. These are men without honor. Even though the notion that money was being put away for retirees was never true, there was an implicit understanding that if one paid one's taxes to support the program, one would get a specified pension at normal retirement age. Means-testing is a breach of faith. The way to fix Social Security (and Medicaid) is to push the normal retirement age for both programs up to just past normal life-expectancy at birth. (When 65 was chosen as "normal retirement age", life-expectancy at birth was 64 years.) Again, to keep faith with those who have been paying the taxes to support both programs this needs to be done gradually.

I would propose for current 18 year-olds, the age to qualify by benefits under both programs be 79 (about a quarter year older than the current life-expectancy at birth), for current 62 year-olds (or older) they be left where they are, and for everyone in between, interpolate linearly and round-off to the nearest month. For new crops of folks entering the job market, the age to qualify should adjust upward as life-expectancy increases.

42 posted on 04/20/2015 8:10:13 AM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know...)
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To: FR_addict

The GOP-e won’t talk about that particular one-sixth of the economy that they are happy the government took over. Bad enough they lied on a pledge to repeal it, switching to “repeal and replace” when pressed on the issue by the media.

Government pension “reform”? How about abolition? I don’t remember hearing that the public had a vote on creating the CSRS.


43 posted on 04/20/2015 8:12:16 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Blood of Tyrants

That’s what it was intended to be in the first place. Anything from the government with the name “social” attached to it in these days (and in FDR’s day) has the implied “ist” suffix.


44 posted on 04/20/2015 8:14:49 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Lou L

Bookmark for later. I have a longer response, but not on my phone.


45 posted on 04/20/2015 8:16:09 AM PDT by justlurking (tagline removed, as demanded by Admin Moderator)
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To: Gamecock

Let’s just means test politicians like Christie and Graham instead.


46 posted on 04/20/2015 8:16:58 AM PDT by TADSLOS (A Ted Cruz Happy Warrior! GO TED!)
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To: PGR88
The only true entitlement reform will be bankruptcy of the US Government.

You hit the nail on the head. Nothing will change until everything goes down. Till then it's kick the can.
47 posted on 04/20/2015 8:21:22 AM PDT by evaporation-plus
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To: Lou L

I will get hit hard by this too. I’m in the roughly 45 to 60 age bracket that paid in and most likely will have my benefits reduced or retirement age increased and I’m OK with that as long as its part of an overall plan that spreads the pain.

The idea that “I paid in so my benefits shouldn’t be touched” is unrealistic. I paid in so that people who are now dead could live on more than they saved. That money is gone. No one has it. The “government” doesn’t have some big pot of money they can open up to keep my benefits going. And even if we cut Welfare and Food Stamps, which we should, it won’t come close to paying for current benefit levels.


48 posted on 04/20/2015 8:22:45 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: Jimmy Valentine

I agree with you Jimmy Valentine !

I’m 77 years old.Been paying into Medicare since they split off from Social Security,and still paying !

The illegals ARE collecting on Medicare.The people who ran out of Unemployment Benefits are getting Medicaid thanks to some doctors who are willing to stretch the standards for Disability Coverage for Medicaid.As for my Social Security.I’ve been in the Work force since age 13 , fulltime
since age 16 , U.S.Navy at age 17.Honorable Discharge at age 21.Since that time I missed four weeks of work ‘till I retired.

Fatboy and Lindsley don’t think We deserve what we’re getting ?!! Two RINOS who don’t deserve MY vote even without
the “ So called entitlements” remarks.

If they want to reduce REAL entitlement scams , get the Illegals out of entitlements,and all the other Career leeches out of food stamps ,etc.,etc.


49 posted on 04/20/2015 8:22:53 AM PDT by skinny old man (Still lurking and posting after all these years(20 yrs ?)(more ?)(seems like more...))
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To: lacrew
Means testing for SS = punishing anyone who took personal responsibility for their own retirement.

Christie was talking about phasing out SS after $80,000.
50 posted on 04/20/2015 8:26:24 AM PDT by evaporation-plus
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To: Olog-hai

40 years of ‘The Great Society’ and $8 Trillion have gotten us... what?

Look at any downtown liberal democrat controlled welfare ghetto and tell me how their lives are improved?

When do you stop doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?


51 posted on 04/20/2015 8:27:12 AM PDT by Mr. K (Palin/Cruz - to defeat HilLIARy/Warren)
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To: Jimmy Valentine

Bless my memory !

I remember reading an Article in Reader’s Digest,when I was Stationed in Coco Solo,C.Z.( 1955 to 1957),that all of the money going (supposedly)into Social Security ended up in General Funding. Now that from 1957 !!


52 posted on 04/20/2015 8:34:05 AM PDT by skinny old man (Still lurking and posting after all these years(20 yrs ?)(more ?)(seems like more...))
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To: Mr. K

“When do you stop doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?”

For the democrats, when they stop voting for them.


53 posted on 04/20/2015 8:39:12 AM PDT by areukiddingme1 (areukiddingme1 is a synonym for a Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and tired of liberal BS.))
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To: Gamecock
I paid into a program with the promise of getting money back

So you are saying: (1) The government promised to give you your money back, and (2) you believed it.

54 posted on 04/20/2015 8:40:11 AM PDT by Eric Pode of Croydon (I wish someone would tell me what "diddy wah diddy" means.....)
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To: Jimmy Valentine

When I was at Coco Solo,C.Z in 1957,I can remember reading an article in Reader’s Digest.The article stated that the Government was using Social Security Deductions for General
Purposes.Tha’s how long they’ve been scamming us.


55 posted on 04/20/2015 8:45:49 AM PDT by skinny old man (Still lurking and posting after all these years(20 yrs ?)(more ?)(seems like more...))
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To: Olog-hai

What those two RINO snakes are really saying is, “Let’s take the benefits away from anyone who, though they worked and paid into and EARNED their benefits, IF IN THE PROCESS they were frugal and accumulated an investment nest egg. Let them live on the nest egg so we can give ALL the benefits to the layabouts and gimmedats to ensure their votes forever.

As part of this plan, they just MIGHT eliminate the Death Tax and fool people into thinking they’ve done them a favor.

But when the current benefits are withdrawn from the workers and savers, those people will be forced to deplete their nest eggs to support themselves in retirement. So in many cases there’d be nothing left to tax, anyhow. IMHO.


56 posted on 04/20/2015 8:57:19 AM PDT by Tucker39 (Welcome to America! Now speak English; and keep to the right....In driving, in Faith, and politics.)
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To: Jimmy Valentine; Gamecock
...are speaking bluntly about entitlement reform, advocating means-testing for Social Security retirement benefits.

already happening; my SS payback was reduced significantly because of a stock sale/purchase that resulted in a zero change in total value.
SS informs me that they "cut only in response to IRS reports" but I'm not counting on having prior installments restored after a far less active reporting period in 2014.

57 posted on 04/20/2015 9:05:49 AM PDT by norton
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To: Olog-hai
The federal government is a rushing torrent of waste. Properly managed, it could run just fine on 500 billion less a year and no one would miss a service or benefit. These guys, like all politicians, are too cowardly to stop the gravy train to inside careerists and outside rent seekers.

If they had the cojones they could solve this issue without cutting benefits to real people. Every election cycle someone gives it lip service in the form of "cutting-waste-fraud-and-abuse" but no one ever does it.

58 posted on 04/20/2015 9:06:44 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: hinckley buzzard
If they had the cojones they could solve this issue without cutting benefits to real people.

People who work/worked and pay/paid into the system tend to be Republicans, and therefore don't really count. People like millenials who live at home, don't work, collect disability for things like PTSD due to being insulted on Facebook are the voters today's politicians want to target and please.

Once SS is bankrupt, they will have to start doing things like starting a Federal Housing Tax (Federal level property tax), Personal Property Tax (Federal) for the "wealthy" (people with assets over $12K), and so on.

Both the Dems and the GOP are going after the same voters... the people who think work is an outdated and obsolete "tradition" and would prefer that the government tend to all their needs so they can pursue other interests (art, music, computer games, etc.).

59 posted on 04/20/2015 9:17:43 AM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: Gamecock
Because you spent the money I have been putting in that program my entire working life like drunken Sailors on shore leave!

That's very unfair to drunken Sailors. They have to spend their own money!

Regards,
GtG

60 posted on 04/20/2015 9:47:18 AM PDT by Gandalf_The_Gray (I live in my own little world, I like it 'cuz they know me here.)
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