Senate Democrats Hold Seniors Hostage ; Lawmakers Jeopardize Retirement Checks to Force Up Debt Ceiling

Summary

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Senate Democrats put pork ahead of Social Security last week when they lined up unanimously to kill legislation that would have guaranteed that seniors would receive Social Security payments in full and on time in the event the debt ceiling is not raised and the government is precluded from borrowing more money. In a 52-47 party- line vote, Democrats tabled an amendment (S.A. 113) to the Patent Reform Act(S. 23) that would have required the government to "prioritize all obligations on the debt held by the public in the event that the debt limit is reached, providing also that the government give equal priority to payment of Social Security benefits."

In other words, under the amendment, Social Security and interest on the national debt would have been given first call on current revenues, which are more than three times the amount required to pay interest and Social Security combined, to ensure that there would be plenty of money available to pay debt service and Social Security benefits if the government were unable to borrow more money. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, on behalf of Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, was a revised version of the Full Faith and Credit Act (S. 163) introduced earlier by Sen. Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania Republican.

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Senate Democrats Hold Seniors Hostage ; Lawmakers Jeopardize Retirement Checks to Force Up Debt Ceiling

The Toomey bill requires only that debt service be prioritized to have first call on current federal revenues to pay interest on the debt hel...

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