GOP Senators Want To Take Debt Ceiling Hostage In Order To Raise Retirement Age

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/28/1379301/gop-senators-debt-ceiling-retirement/

By Pat Garofalo posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Dec 28, 2012

Two Republican senators want to use the threat of an economic meltdown to raise the retirement age and cut Medicare. Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced a plan today that would raise the federal debt limit by $1 trillion in exchange for $1 trillion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, as The Hill reported:

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Though lawmakers point to America’s increasing life expectancy in order to justify raising the retirement age, life expectancy is only increasing for wealthier workers in non-physical jobs. As the Center for Economic and Policy Research put it, “there has been a sharp rise in inequality in life expectancy by income over the last three decades that mirrors the growth in inequality in income.”