Post by Logan on May 12, 2016 1:44:36 GMT -6
Social Security showdown could be coming, with a challenge from Sen. Sherrod Brown
WASHINGTON -- When President George W. Bush proposed partially privatizing Social Security, Charles Blahaus III was there, serving as a top adviser and proponent of private-market solutions to government problems.
Bush never got his way. But President Barack Obama thought highly enough of Blahaus, an influential thinker at conservative think tanks, to nominate him as a Social Security trustee who provides analysis for Congress and the White House. Now Obama -- a Democrat -- wants to give Blahaus another four-year term.
Obama may have had limited choices; he was obligated to name a Republican, as we'll explain, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican, recommended Blahaus. But Democrats including Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown now are citing Blahaus's publicized opinions on Social Security cost-of-living raises and disability benefits, and saying enough's enough.
Blahaus, Brown said in an email to supporters Wednesday, "stands for every right-wing attempt to attack Social Security."
Read more: www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/05/new_showdown_over_social_secur.html
WASHINGTON -- When President George W. Bush proposed partially privatizing Social Security, Charles Blahaus III was there, serving as a top adviser and proponent of private-market solutions to government problems.
Bush never got his way. But President Barack Obama thought highly enough of Blahaus, an influential thinker at conservative think tanks, to nominate him as a Social Security trustee who provides analysis for Congress and the White House. Now Obama -- a Democrat -- wants to give Blahaus another four-year term.
Obama may have had limited choices; he was obligated to name a Republican, as we'll explain, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican, recommended Blahaus. But Democrats including Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown now are citing Blahaus's publicized opinions on Social Security cost-of-living raises and disability benefits, and saying enough's enough.
Blahaus, Brown said in an email to supporters Wednesday, "stands for every right-wing attempt to attack Social Security."
Read more: www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/05/new_showdown_over_social_secur.html