New twists on past stories.
By Michael Fitzgerald
(Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
For years, the Obama administration seemed poised to accept funding cuts to Social Security in budget negotiations with congressional Republicans. Hence many political observers’ surprise in June, when the president announced a major policy reversal, declaring, “It’s time we finally made Social Security more generous.” Many left-wing writers have long agreed, and are probably sending Champagne bottles to one of their own: Thanks in part to the lonely online crusade of the political blogger Duncan Black, liberal organizations and senators including Elizabeth Warren began speaking out against cuts to the retirement benefit program that Barack Obama had included in budget proposals as recently as 2013. David Dayen profiled Black’s efforts for Pacific Standard later that year (“Get Serious,” November/December 2013).
