Cuts to Social Security/ What do you think?

@ Craig. There are valid arguments that can be made on both sides of the issue, which speaks to the value public debate.

That said I have several issues with Obama’s proposal. The first is that the primary goal is to raise the debt ceiling. Cutting costs to spend more money does not address the real issue, which is our willingness to continue borrowing to finance government spending http://www.usdebtclock.org/.

The second issue is that Obama’s proposal changes the contract we made among ourselves by changing social security from a social insurance program to another tax on income (which isn’t truly progressive) as another way of financing government spending. The real issue for me is the way we spend money. We tend to throw money at a problem rather than thinking about how we can accomplish more with less.

The third issue is that there are a lot of people who, for a variety of reasons, depend on social security. (Mary listed several.) I believe we have a moral and ethical obligation to care for those who are least among us.

Medicare / Medicaid and Social Security are the two largest items in the federal budget, and they should considered when reevaluating government spending (along with other changes). For example, could we overall our healthcare system to improve healthcare and provide it at a lower cost (rather than patching programs together)? What about limiting benefits to those above a certain income level, i.e., provide social security to those who really need it?

I realize that mine is a limited response. There are a lot of things we need to examine. Let’s address the real issues rather than resorting to “redefining” things that continue to mask the real problems.