Astrue On Social Security "Reform"

Social Security wanted to use the "first boomer goes on Social Security" story to promote using the web to do business with the Social Security Administration. However, it was also an occasion to talk about "Social Security reform". Here are some quotes from a Bloomberg article:

Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue said it is ``highly likely'' that policymakers will amend Social Security sometime between 2009 and 2011, when the next president has a "mandate'' to pursue far-reaching policy changes.

"It's just a question of timing,'' Astrue said. ...

There is more agreement among Democrats and Republicans on how to solve the issue than may be apparent from their public statements, he said.

"When you're behind closed doors, and you're not posturing for the public or for the media,'' Astrue said, "they say almost word for word the same thing.'' ...

"Nobody likes any of the options,'' he said. "Nobody wants to pay higher taxes. Nobody wants to cut benefits. So there's no easy answer one way or another, and so you can't expect anyone to say, `Oh yeah, that's terrific idea.' There is no terrific idea. The question ultimately will be: `What's the least painful idea?''

Behind closed doors Republicans were really saying they supported removing the earnings cap from FICA? Democrats were really saying they support benefit cuts?