Aha…no matter that Social Security is full funded and solvent for the next 25 years. There are still people who want to promote the Social Security "crisis"…and they reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue where apparently a fight has broken out:
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and Sperling’s deputy, Jason Furman — leading figures in the president’s economic team — are pressing Obama to cut Social Security benefits if necessary, say sources familiar with their positions.
Ok, I get why these guys are sharpening their knives: Geithner is Wall Street’s man in the White House and would be happy to deliver, eventually, a nice chunk of the Social Security funds to Wall Street via a privatization scheme, which can’t be far off if benefit cuts are on the table. And Sperling is a graduate of the Bill Clinton School of Thinking–to hell with the people (see: NAFTA) if I can frame myself as a "moderate" or "centrist".
But, turns out some of the political hacks think this could be a disaster:
But Obama’s political team, led by David Axelrod, David Plouffe and Jim Messina, are urging the president to understand that backing benefit cuts could prove disastrous to his 2012 reelection hopes, sources say.
I’ll just say this: I’ve not been one to believe that Obama should face a primary, for simple practical reasons (as in, money and "what, you’d rather have Palin/Barbour etc…"). But, if they try tu cut Social Security benefits, I will support ANY progressive who runs against him in a primary.
