Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the looming depletion of Social Security’s Retirement and Survivors Trust Fund. Of course, you’d expect a serious nonpartisan discussion of the options. Right. The reality is that there were sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats favor a plan to remove the cap on wages subject to the FICA tax. Republicans thought that idea was terrible but had no plan of their own or at least not one they’ll release.
Actually, it’s fairly easy to figure out the Republicans plan. They will demand a plan that includes both benefits cuts and tax increases. However, the overwhelming majority of Republican legislators will vote against the plan. They will only supply the bare minimum number of votes needed for passage. Then, they’ll campaign against Democrats for cutting benefits and raising taxes. Jujitsu! I don’t think Democrats will fall for this but maybe they’ll never have control of both houses of Congress and the White House as well as the will to get past the Senate filibuster so they can do what they think needs to be done.
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