Ryan Streeter
Today’s Republican Panel sends a message to the GOP loud and clear: the grassroots think that spending cuts, not Social Security and Medicare, are the key to solving our deficit.
This is not all that different from the public at large surveyed last week by CBS, though a majority in that poll thought taxing the rich was the primary means to tackle our problems, something respondents in the Republican Panel don’t buy.
Still, by an overwhelming majority, 56% to 3%, respondents favor broad spending cuts to reforming entitlements as the main way to tackle the deficit.
I have argued here, here, and here that Republicans who are squishy on entitlement reform may prefer that the public continues to think that spending cuts alone are the solution. That way, any success on spending cuts this year will give them a chance to wave the victory sign. This, as I call it, is Tea Party Syndrome: doing whatever is necessary to satisfy the tea party’s desire to see spending reductions, and ignoring the long-term entitlement problems if possible.
It’s time for a grassroots movement to promote entitlement reform. The tea party, as I argued yesterday (first link above) could be a – the – key driver in this.
How might such a movement be structured?
For starters, it should involve a pledge for anyone under 45 who wants to take steps to be the new greatest generation – a generation committed to changing expectations and habits to save America from bankruptcy. With grassroots resolve and courage behind them, lawmakers might then be persuaded to make the needed reforms to Social Security and Medicare.
I wrote about the main components of such a pledge in this Washington Times op-ed. It could go something like this:
I pledge to work until I’m 70 years old.
I pledge to save a portion of my payroll taxes in a private savings account to use in retirement, if lawmakers will make that possible.
I pledge to live with less in benefits if I earn more than others between now and when I retire, so lawmakers can scale benefits to those who need them most.
I pledge to receive an up-front amount for healthcare when I retire, such as Paul Ryan’s recommendation of the equivalent of $11,000 per year, rather than expecting the government to pay whatever bills I rack up.
ConservativeHome invites readers to agree to the pledge. We will make room on our site for you to sign up in due course. For now, email us if you have thoughts on the pledge and how it might be improved.
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