State of the Union

[SirSaxa]

Tbird

Here's a recent piece from the ultra-conservative WSJ:

WSJ - Economists Optimistic on Growth

Excerpts
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal are increasingly optimistic about the pace of the recovery, predicting the U.S. will grow at better than a 3.2% annual rate in each quarter this year.

"The U.S. economy appears to have successfully navigated the adjustment from a recovery driven primarily from economic stimulus and inventory rebuilding to one driven by private domestic demand and rising exports," said economists at Wells Fargo & Co. "Three percent growth looks pretty good, particularly with housing stuck in low gear."

These are not partisan references or opinion pieces I am linking for you. WSJ, CNBC... are right leaning media outlets.

[EasyEd]

I think Democrats and Republicans could reach an agreement without too much difficulty to raise the retirement age for Social Security for those who are now age 40 or younger (or name an age). That's doable. How about doing that by itself instead of taking on issues such as means testing?

[SirSaxa]

Jan 28, 2011 16:39:49 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

I think Democrats and Republicans could reach an agreement without too much difficulty to raise the retirement age for Social Security for those who are now age 40 or younger (or name an age). That's doable. How about doing that by itself instead of taking on issues such as means testing?

Does that seem more equitable to you Ed? I mean that as a legitimate question.

The problem I see with raising the age is exactly the one I mentioned before. Maybe for people who work in an office, an extra year or two isn't a big deal. But for men and women who perform very demanding physical labor?

Really, if we could agree on everything else with the US long term budget outlook and that was the last piece needed, adding a year or two of extra work 25 years from now is not unreasonable. It just doesn't seem like the place to start since SS is not nearly the problem that Medicare is, that Defense is, and that tax cuts have proven to be.
Just my opinion.

[EasyEd]

I'm not saying this is the most pressing thing to do but it's one that is significant and I believe could easily pass. Then we could move onto the next thing.