“None of them stand out as the great savior,” Volcker said of the government proposals. Reforming Social Security is “doable,” he said, in part by “jacking up the retirement age” and changing the benefit calculation so that it won’t rise as fast for higher-income Americans as it does under existing law.
This is all merely a propaganda effort to soften the blow that is coming. Remember, Obama has appointed a "Bi-Partisan committee to study the deficit" or whatever its called. I hope they are all volunteers, cause this doesn't require any high priced analysis. The Military, Social Security, Medicare budgets will all have to be cut deeply, along with each and every other department. I mean, really, what exactly has the Department of Energy accomplished? ROFL!! And the USDA? HAHAHAHAHLOLOLOLOLO!!!
Sorry, that got away from me. Anyway, we are going to see plenty more articles about what this "bi-partisan" committee is going to recommend, long before they recommend it.
And its the right thing to do. This is going to happen anyway, might as well convince the American people that it was our idea to do the right thing. I have come to the conclusion that it is no coincidence (and that he was no "loose cannon") that Kansas City Fed President Hoenig came out the other day about the impending fiscal and monetary disaster facing the U.S. No, this is a well orchestrated public relations push.
If you are under the age of 55 or so and you were counting on Social Security benefits at 65, you better make other arrangements. And that is just a guess. Who knows? Maybe TPTB will do the right thing and make the change immediately, though I doubt it... the AARP set is awfully powerful and very broke. Of course, if the tax collection rate does not climb from the depths reached in 2009, this will all happen rather quickly irrespective of what AARP wants.