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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged entitlements

1. April 11, 2011 12:35 PM

   A Good Social Security Story—At Last

   Reuters shows it can be done

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Last week Reuters sent out a fine piece by Emily Kaiser that helped readers understand what the Social Security fight is all about by giving them enough context and history to get the gist of the debate—if it can be called that—and moving beyond the one-sided framing that has characterized almost all of the reportage over the past fifteen months....

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2. February 27, 2012 04:29 PM

   A Medicare Memo to Campaign Reporters

   Tailing Mitt on Medicare and Social Security, too

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Dear Colleagues: I have just returned from a reporting trip to Southeast Arkansas, where the folks I visited have very little. They certainly don’t have good health. Some are crippled by bad knees messed up from on-their-feet jobs. Most have diabetes. Some have had strokes. They are lucky, though, that they have Medicare. Without it, they probably would have died...

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3. January 25, 2011 01:00 PM

   A Shout Out to David Gregory

   For pinning down Eric Cantor on Meet the Press

   By Trudy Lieberman

   David Gregory’s Meet the Press interview Sunday with new House Majority Leader Eric Cantor should be required reading in every entry-level reporting class. Gregory showed what it means to follow up on questions and keep pushing until the interviewee answers the question that was asked. That kind of follow-up has been lacking in much of the reportage I have examined...

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4. March 16, 2011 04:48 PM

   Another Take on NPR’s “Liberal Bias”

   Its reporting on Social Security is anything but

   By Trudy Lieberman

   It was easy to understand why a story yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered appeared to favor the Republican position on Social Security. Let’s be clear. The piece pretty much stacked the deck against those who believe that Social Security is fine for the moment, and that benefits should not be cut or privatized, a position that polls show much...

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5. December 31, 2010 11:37 AM

   Best of 2010: Trudy Lieberman

   Lieberman picks her top stories from 2010

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Social Security in the Heartland series: All year the media ignored how “fixes” to Social Security pushed by political elites would affect ordinary folks. The nine profiles of people living in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, tell the tale. Our New Year’s wish is for the media to pay attention to people like them. More Words of Wisdom from Alan Simpson: As co-chair...

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6. November 9, 2010 03:13 PM

   Brad DeLong’s Fiscal Manifesto

   By Felix Salmon

   Brad DeLong is fed up with vague hand-waving from technocrats, Bob Rubin very much included, who call for the government to make difficult decisions without being remotely explicit about what such decisions might entail. So he comes up with his own seven-point “platform for the bipartisan technocrats of the center”, which “everybody centrist and deficit-hawkish in the reality-based community should...

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7. November 29, 2010 01:15 PM

   CBS Fumbles Again

   A lopsided report on Social Security

   By Trudy Lieberman

   If there were prizes given for the most one-sided, misleading story about Social Security this year, a segment aired on the CBS Evening News before Thanksgiving would make a great candidate. In a breathless recitation of the horrors befalling the system, CBS painted a grim picture of Social Security, using scare words and phrases like “the system is headed for...

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8. April 25, 2011 01:48 PM

   CJR Holds a Town Hall in Philly

   Shoppers on Market Street sound off

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Finding myself in Philadelphia recently, I decided to stroll along Market Street and see which of the day’s big political issues ordinary people had on their minds. Medicare topped the list, followed by Social Security and job security. The day of my interviews, the Democratic polling firm of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner released results showing that two thirds of respondents had...

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9. November 23, 2010 10:47 AM

   Enterprise Reporting at the AP

   The retirement age debate finally reaches the public

   By Trudy Lieberman

   Kudos to the AP for obtaining a report from the government’s watchdog agency, the General Accountability Office (GAO), showing that raising the retirement age for full Social Security benefits would disproportionately hurt workers with low incomes. That would mean, said the GAO, higher claims for Social Security disability benefits because some older workers could not work any more. We were...

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10. August 15, 2012 03:25 PM

    Medicare, Paul Ryan, and beyond: a primer

    Here’s context to clarify the big entitlements debates

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Mitt Romney’s choice of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential nominee elevates Medicare and Medicaid (along with Social Security) to Level A campaign issues. Ryan has emerged as a leading Congressional thinker and idea shaper for the GOP on fiscal matters, and his path cuts right through Medicare and Medicaid. Consider the scale: Last year the Congressional Budget...

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11. December 13, 2010 10:34 AM

    Other Views of Social Security

    The MSM gives some equal time

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Campaign Desk has been hard of late on some MSM outlets that have presented lopsided views of the Social Security picture. So we were pleased to see that some other voices are now being heard. On Friday, NPR’s All Things Considered aired a piece that raised questions about the payroll tax holiday the president negotiated with Republicans last week. That...

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12. December 21, 2010 09:11 AM

    Social Security in Perspective, Part III

    A conversation with William Greider

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Proposals to change the Social Security system have taken shape, and could foreshadow long-lasting effects on the program. Many of these call for substantial changes to Social Security, but the public largely has only a vague sense of how their benefits might change, both in the short term and the long term. Campaign Desk has for months urged a broader...

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13. November 18, 2010 10:57 AM

    Social Security in the Heartland: Jim Bean

    What Social Security means to real people

    By Trudy Lieberman

    This is the sixth in a series of posts that discuss how possible changes in Social Security will affect the residents of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The entire series is archived here. Jim Bean is just the sort of person Social Security is intended to help. He is also the sort of person at whom the controversial recommendations from the co-chairs of...

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14. December 22, 2010 01:25 PM

    Social Security in the Heartland: Nick Quealy-Gainer

    What Social Security means to real people

    By Trudy Lieberman

    This is the ninth and final installment in a series of posts that discusses how possible changes in Social Security will affect the residents of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The entire series is archived here. Twenty-eight year old Nick Quealy-Gainer is the sort of person who will be affected by the Social Security cuts suggested by the president’s deficit commission and likely...

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15. December 20, 2010 12:34 PM

    Social Security Under Attack

    What the press had to say

    By Trudy Lieberman

    When the president signed the tax bill Friday, a year’s worth of efforts aimed at modifying Social Security came to an end—at least for now. Obama’s signature was an early Christmas present to those who propose fixing the system in ways many Social Security experts say could hurt recipients in the future. The Obama-Republican compromise grants a payroll tax holiday...

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16. January 28, 2011 12:30 PM

    The Return of Alan Simpson

    Parsing his latest thoughts on Social Security

    By Trudy Lieberman

    Alan Simpson, the co-chair of President Obama’s now-defunct deficit commission, showed up on Fox News the other day to talk about—what else—the deficit and Social Security. Host Neil Cavuto quizzed the former Wyoming senator about the recommendations of his commission, the president’s speech, and other matters. Cavuto asked him about the State of the Union address, where the president mentioned...

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