Budgets shouldn't be balanced on the backs of America's least fortunate.
Republicans aren't exactly known for boosting social welfare programs. But panel members of both parties have voiced at least general support for the idea that fixing government finances shouldn't harm the poor. The commission plan, in which former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson played a key role, underscores this point in its proposals for Social Security.
Even while urging measures to close a projected shortfall in Social Security, the plan calls for an expanded benefit for low-income workers. It would also "bump up" benefits for people who have received Social Security benefits for more than 20 years, who may have outlived their retirement savings.
Panel member Tom Coburn (R), a senator from Oklahoma, said the government should help the truly needy, even as he called for a revival of self reliance as an American virtue. Meanwhile, Democratic panel member Alice Rivlin spoke up for fiscal prudence as an anti-poverty plan – saying the best thing that can be done for low-income Americans is to have a high-growth economy rather than a "catastrophe."
