One thing we have learned this election year is that smart, experienced politicians like John McCain and Hillary Clinton promise to save Social Security by forming a commission but say it would be a mistake to offer specifics, while rookies like Barack Obama make suggestions like raising the cap on wages subject to the payroll tax so that people making over $200,000 would pay more, allowing veterans like Clinton and McCain to attack him as a tax raiser. But sometimes the dance gets ridiculous. On Sunday, McCain -- who has been supportive of privatizing schemes in the past -- does his standard dance of of avoidance on ABC: " 'There is nothing I would take off the table. There was nothing I would demand,' McCain told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on 'This Week.' 'I think that’s the way that Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill did it -- and that's what we have to do again.' "When asked if that includes a possible hike in the payroll tax, McCain reiterated that nothing -- including such a tax hike -- is 'off the table.' " Then, this morning, we get an e-mail from the Republican National Committee. The title: "AP - Details missing from Obama's Social Security plan." Horrors! The accompanying AP story notes: "Barack Obama's bid to place a new Social Security tax on very high incomes is either a bold or foolhardy plan, depending on who critiques it. But its potential impact is almost impossible to gauge because he ...
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One thing we have learned this election year is that smart, experienced politicians like John McCain and Hillary Clinton promise to save Social Security by forming a commission but say it would be a mistake to offer specifics, while rookies like Barack Obama make suggestions like raising the cap on wages subject to the payroll tax so that people making over $200,000 would pay more, allowing veterans like Clinton and McCain to attack him as a tax raiser. But sometimes the dance gets ridiculous. On Sunday, McCain -- who has been supportive of privatizing schemes in the past -- does his standard dance of of avoidance on ABC: " 'There is nothing I would take off the table. There was nothing I would demand,' McCain told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on 'This Week.' 'I think that’s the way that Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill did it -- and that's what we have to do again.' "When asked if that includes a possible hike in the payroll tax, McCain reiterated that nothing -- including such a tax hike -- is 'off the table.' " Then, this morning, we get an e-mail from the Republican National Committee. The title: "AP - Details missing from Obama's Social Security plan." Horrors! The accompanying AP story notes: "Barack Obama's bid to place a new Social Security tax on very high incomes is either a bold or foolhardy plan, depending on who critiques it. But its potential impact is almost impossible to gauge because he ...