AARP sounds alarm: Social Security must change

Washington woke up to a new political reality.

The nation's most powerful senior's group telling the Wall Street Journal it was ready to deal on cutting Social Security benefits. The AARP's policy chief John Rother admitting "some of our members will no doubt be upset."

So upset that within hours the AARP was insisting this was always their position, CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports.

"We can make changes that are modest and we can make changes with a great deal of lead time so we don't need to affect anyone who is currently retired today or near retirement," said said David Certner, AARP's legislative policy director.

But the group has long opposed such cuts.

As one of their ads says: "AARP has been working to preserve social security for more than 50 years."

Politicians on both sides were stunned.

"I think it's a very good thing," said Erskine Bowles, who co-chaired President Obama's fiscal commission. "I think they've recognized reality, that the trust fund of social security is operating in a substantial cash negative position."

Bowles' commission proposed trimming Social Security benefits for wealthy seniors and slowly increasing the retirement age to 69 by the year 2075 - incremental changes many lawmakers, like Republican Johnny Isakson, support.

"We could fix Social Security tomorrow just like they did in 1983 and not take a penny away from anybody but move the eligibility up to be more reflective of life expectancy," Isakson said.

But both parties have been reluctant to make those changes and risk angering the nation's most consistent voting bloc - seniors.

Said one senior: "Social Security is an insurance, it's not a gift, it's not welfare."

And that's where the AARP comes in. Its support for modest cuts could give lawmakers the political cover they need to fix Social Security at long last.

Why is AARP doing this now?

"Essentially it's because of the debt cutting talks that are going on right now on Capitol Hill led by Vice President Biden," Cordes explained. "Some proposals had been floated to bring Social Security into those talks to cut it as a way to bring down the debt and the AARP insists that Social Security should not be raided, that it didn't cause the debt and that it shouldn't be used to lower it."

[fedup12]

its funny all these staunch baby boomer republicans who vote every time they can to cut SS as long as they still get theirs.

[justme2012]

funnier how all the socialist democrats want their government pensions and union pensions SEPERATE from SS.

[starving1968-3]

by Nnmrnq June 19, 2011 5:43 PM EDT
JAMESC2002 and slownewsdayo!

You two have some serious psychological issues.







This from the guy that has to be educated on the most basic knowledge of our government and how it works.

[jcurran43]

I just don't get it. We keep hearing about the need to "reform" Social Security, however, in that frame work I never hear anyone mention "Means Testing" with regard to benefits. What am I missing here? Why does someone with a retirement income of over $100,000.00 need to receive a Social Security Check? I mean really! Or could the reason it doesn't get mentioned is because the people with power don't want to upset the people with hugh financial resources because those people finance their campaigns.

[Jellybean22]

When I was growing up, my "rich friends" who owned companies/factories/oil companies paid the social security taxes for all members of the family - most of whom had never worked one day in their lives. When I questioned my friend about her family's practice she told me "Mom saves her monthly benefits and each year when she and Dad go to New York over the holidays she uses it to buy her a new piece of jewelry." That was almost 40 years ago. Nothing has changed - the rich are still using the middle class to finance their "jewelry" - well, maybe one thing has changed, there are fewer members of the middle class and the "rich" class has more than tripled.

[justme2012]

Joe Biden is not about to give up his SS check every month!

[vmrhodes6]

I agree with retm-w. My dad told me about the goverment so called borrowing the Social security and my Brother works for the Postal office and thay also took from them. They need to stop spending and cut there own pockets before ours and see whats its like to fend for themselfs. The big raises and fat cats have to stop!

[retm-w]

And they wouldn't be paying out more if the surplus SS collected in the past wasn't stolen by the politicians. Better read up on SS history Nnmrnq, the politicians are trying every way possible not to pay that money back.

[hojo2]

Why can't we start change by cutting all the private benefits that our congressmen and senators have that they voted for themselves?

[RandolphStreet50]

Well that puts paid to me becoming a member of this outfit as long as the misleadership serving this crap up is in place. Just like the Napoleon-complex 4-eyed balding little Jew judge that broke up the Bell System, they have absolutely NO connection whatsoever to the people whose government-doled crumbs are already barely enough to keep them from starvation - and in more cases than should be in this so-called Greatest Nation, people have obscenely to resort to eating PET FOOD as a result. That elitist Bowles thing's brain is as misshapen as its putrid little head to demand that people who are skinned to the financial bone as it is be reduced to bleeding shards to keep this out-of-control corruption-infested waste-mismanaged Reepuglytoad-soaked government and its capitalist cronies on Wall Street pampered and padded. Death to 'em all sez me, and the only bitter comfort we can take from these amoral inhumane machinations on the part of the pettiest bipeds since Rockefeller Gould, Morgan and Carnegie slimed the earth is that one fine day - "soon, I trust" - they too will breathe their very deserved last.

[erichsh]

What a breathtakingly misguided rant. Do you ever look at actual numbers, Randolph - you know, revenues and expenses, cash flow projections, etc.? Do you have a clue about the aging demographic trends in this country - things like increased lifespan and fewer children to support the retirees? Or do you just have such a virulent, gut-level hatred for capitalism and blind love for government "redistribution" that all you can do is bleat meaningless, baseless crap like your post?

[trumpace]

The statement in your news story beginning with, "Bowles commission recommended trimming Social Security benefits...." is WRONG.

Bowles commission made no such recommendation. They were unable to come to an agreement so that they issued no official report.

Spreading untrue statements like this is not helpful.

[tinner110]

I tore up my AARP card when they pushed Obamacare and then got a waiver for AARP. Just like liberals one set of rules for them and another for you. Do not trust AARP they will sell any one out. And do whatever they are told by the democractic masters

[justme2012]

Waivers are for just the first phase of a ill written bill. There will be even more waivers as more parts of the law become known to the public.

You DO NOT pass laws to see what is in them and then give waivers to the very people that supported the bill without reading it.

[trumpace]

The AARP is an insurance selling scam, with a veneer of social responibility. Although it pretends to be democratic, in fact it's controlled by Bill Novelli.

They're one of the biggest obstacles. after the insurance companies, to our achieving real single payer health care because it would reduce their millions of dollars commissions from their insurance business.

They screwed their members and all seniors when they connived with some congress critters to pass that monstrosity Medicare part D. That caused them to lose 60,000 members.

Social Security is not in fiscal trouble according to the report of its trustees. It may need a few tweaks 10 years hence, but the only thing we should do now is to scrap the cap on the FICA tax. The real danger to SS is from those who claim they want to save it.

[RobAla]

AARP is admitting that Paul Ryan was right.

[doeriver]

Runl, RobAla, Run! The only independently verifiable private sector job that U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan held before entering federal employment as a college was his short stint as an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile (and Ryan's Wienermobile experience has undoubtedly influenced Ryan's congressional tenure and office, e.g.: Ryan's mobile district congressional office that rolls from town to town acros Ryan's congressional district and even Ryan's "Roadmap" (get it?) for America scheme)

[justme2012]

That is still more experience than anyone has been able to verify for Obama.