From DWT- click the headline below to read the complete original
French Workers Are Fighting Back-- Will Americans?
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| -wrong people holding the reins- |
And we know we need that fixed -
American conservatives are eager to raise the retirement age. The alternative is making wealthy people pay their fair share, anathema to conservatives. The Republicans are most eager to do it but know that the blowback from the public would wipe them out. So they’re demanding that Democrats do it in a “bipartisan” way. So far, the only “Democrat” to come forward is Angus King, conservative Maine independent. He’s joined with Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to raise the retirement age to 70 (from 67). Several Republican candidates for president have been campaigning on doing it, particularly Pence and Haley.
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As you can probably guess, conservatives argue that eliminating the cap would unfairly burden high earners— their base— and discourage economic growth, while progressives say that eliminating the cap is a fair and effective way to make the program more progressive and generate more revenue. There’s a political divide over the role of government in providing retirement security. Progressives believe that Social Security, the most popular social program in history, should be preserved and strengthened to provide a basic level of retirement income, while conservatives generally believe that individuals should be responsible for their own retirement savings and that government programs like Social Security should be scaled back or eliminated.
Polls show that the general public supports the progressive perspective. The National Academy of Social Insurance found that an overwhelming majority of Americans support eliminating the earnings cap for Social Security payroll taxes. In 2020 the Pew Research Center found similar support for raising the cap.
Today strikes across France brought trains and some airplane travel to a halt while protesters flooded the streets, some clashing with police (who are attacking demonstrators), after Macron again pledged to raise the retirement age (from 62 to 64). A strike by garbage collectors have left Paris with piles of garbage on the streets.
(images are from the original DWT post)
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Three outlets covering France -
Guardian - Mar. 24
Economist - Mar 27
NPR - Mar 16
FOX - Mar. 27
Reuters - Mar. 27
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The DWT item ends-
What will Americans do when Fox's prediction comes true?
