Over the last month or so I’ve been getting emails from readers suggesting that President Obama, in an effort to meet Republicans half way on the budget front, will buy into the debt commission’s call for cuts to Social Security. I’ve seen a few opinion columns noted to this effect. But so far I’m just not seeing any evidence to suggest this is true.
As many have noted, one key issue is that the nation’s longterm debt problems — which are very real — don’t really have much to do with Social Security. Social Security is currently subsidizing the rest of the budget. And further out into the future, it’s just not the problem. The real and explosive problem is with health care and relatedly the political drive for tax cuts without any significant cuts on the spending side. But those are policy points. And the political calculus for a Democratic president just doesn’t add up either.
In any case, I’m not saying it’s impossible. I just haven’t seen any convincing evidence. If you have, let me know.
