Plus, a new attempt, on an old issue: “Key lawmakers from both parties have held tentative talks about overhauling the Social Security system, and Congress could turn its attention to the federal retirement program as soon as this fall if a bipartisan consensus emerges, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said yesterday,” Lori Montgomery reports in The Washington Post. “So far, Democrats have found a willing partner in the Senate, where Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R- S.C.) has stated his desire to work with President Obama to make changes to keep Social Security solvent.”
Hoyer, D-Md., plans to expand on his ideas at Wednesday’s Bipartisan Policy Center symposium on the debt “and its threat to future American economic prosperity,” also featuring former Senate Budget Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.
Hoyer speaks at 12:30 pm ET: “Of our entitlement programs, I believe we would have the easiest challenge in reforming Social Security,” he plans to say, according to advance excerpts provided to The Note. “Here, the options are well and widely understood. We can bring in more revenues. We can restrain the growth of benefits, particularly for higher-income workers, while we strengthen the safety net for lower-income workers. And/or we can raise the retirement age, recognizing that our life expectancy is significantly higher today. What is missing here is not ideas -- it is political will.”