Larry Pressler might be trying to get some mileage and Democratic credibility by saying he voted for President Obama and is his “friend,” be he sure as hell sounds a lot like a Republican. Exhibit A: He’s a member of “Fix the Debt,” the latest incarnation of Catfood Commissioners Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles (and operating as a front group for corporate tax breaks. He fits in quite well there.
He wants to raise the retirement age gradually for Social Security (though not Medicare), though he denied wanting to “balance the budget” by paring back the program. He also wants to amend Obamacare to include tort reform and said he’d consider trying to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
He doesn’t want to raise the retirement age for Medicare, but does want to means-test it even more than it already is. You want contrast? Here’s contrast: Democrat Rick Weiland talking to Greg Sargent.
[I]n a telephone interview, Weiland […] laid out a strikingly progressive platform as the vehicle to get there: An option of Medicare for all, otherwise known as a new public option; expanding Social Security; aggressive opposition to the Keystone pipeline; and a Constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United. […]
“We have a different approach when it comes to entitlements,” Weiland said. On Social Security, “Larry is very interested in adopting more of a Simpson Bowles approach. I think we need to get the cap off of Social Security. He says Medicare as it is is unsustainable. I don’t know if he’ll go along with the Ryan budget to voucherize Medicare, but my solution is pretty simple: I want to open up Medicare to everyone, let them have the choice. Bringing in a lot of people will make the program stronger.”
Weiland is referring to Simpson-Bowles’ call for for raising the retirement age on Social Security and cutting benefits, and contrasting it with his support for expanding Social Security benefits, which would be funded by raising the payroll tax cap—effectively raising taxes on higher incomes. Pressler has said he might vote to repeal Roe v. Wade, and Weiland told me that he was the “only candidate” in the race who would not repeal it: “That’s very significant.”
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