Wonkette

So, this weekend, Barack and Hillary managed to come to a mutual agreement on something to disagree about. Naturally, they picked something completely esoteric so that the average voter still won’t know the difference but, hey, at least it’s progress! The topic? The income ceiling on Social Security (yawn). Don’t worry, I make it sound totally sexier after the jump.

So, because the median household income in this country is just barely $48,000, this affects, well, not that many people. But, if you didn’t know, people that make more than $97,500/year don’t pay Social Security on any income over that amount (I know, right?) and, um, well, everyone knows the whole system is totes unsustainable anyway.

So, Barack Obama has said that he plans to raise that cap as a start to try to help keep the system viable (like there’s any way to actually “save” Social Security, but, whatevs, people, make sure you’re invested in a 401K). This weekend, Hillary said she wouldn’t be quite as rash as all that because we won’t actually spend more in Social Security benefits than people pay in taxes until 2017 so there’s nothing to see here, people, that’s totally 10 years away! Also, even though she’s a Democrat, she totes swears that we can fix the system through spending less and a bipartisan commission to study the problem! We’ll be fine!

Barack’s response: “”That’s why not answering questions because we’re afraid our answer won’t be popular just won’t do.” Um, well, yes, it won’t “do” anything other than convince the voters to elect you, duh!

Two-Year-Average Median Household Income by State: 2004-2006 [U.S. Census Bureau]
Barack Obama: Helping America’s Seniors [Obama '08]
Clinton: Go slow on Social Security [Yahoo News]
2007 OASDI Trustees Report Highlights [Social Security Administration]