austerity, Dem-style
[oh Rangel, you’re so far left!]
New York Daily News - November 29, 2006
We must alter Soc Sec, Rangel says
Raising retirement age or reducing benefits can’t be ruled out if the
Social Security system is to be saved from going bust, Rep. Charles
Rangel said yesterday.
“All of these things are on the table to find some way to make
certain that Social Security is solvent,” said Rangel, who is poised
to take control of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
Rangel (D-Harlem) discussed the fate of Social Security - which some
have estimated will have a cash-flow problem as soon as 2017 and run
out of money by 2040 - during a Manhattan breakfast talk sponsored by
Crain’s New York.
Any solution will cause some pain, according to Rangel. “If you call
tax increases pain - and I do - that’ll be a part of the mix, too,”
he said. “There’s no easy way to do it, but it has to be done.”
But the congressman also swore Social Security and Medicare health
benefits would not be scrapped entirely. “If you’re talking about
getting rid of entitlements, forget about it,” he said.
- Celeste Katz