There is a diary at the top of the Rec list that thinks that Hillary's answer on Social Security was a "hidden home run" for Hillary. Wow that is amazing to me.
There was some language about providing assistance of some sort to women who were at home with children and/or who worked in low wage jobs. There are many, many problems though with her answer. Go below the squiggle and find out why.
First, lets go to her website and see what she says about SS. From her issues page
Throughout her career, Hillary has spoken out for seniors and stood up for Medicare and Social Security, and she is committed to preserving, protecting and strengthening these lifelines for today's seniors and for future generations. Seniors have paid into these programs for a lifetime, and they've earned those benefits when they retire.
On Social Security, Hillary Clinton has stood firmly against Republican efforts to privatize the program and weaken it for our seniors. She believes that we should enhance—rather than roll back—Social Security, especially for women.
As senator, Hillary co-sponsored and sponsored bills to reduce the impact of the Medicare prescription drug gap by reducing the price of pharmaceuticals for seniors. She will build on these efforts by demanding lower prices for prescription drugs for seniors in Medicare—and reforming our health care delivery system to reward quality and value, and strengthen Medicare over the long run.
As president, Hillary will defend against the efforts to privatize Medicare and Social Security, and will work to enhance both programs for our most vulnerable seniors.
This is the whole page on Soc. Sec. As you can see, there are no specifics. There is nothing on how she would "enhance" benefits for anyone, women or men. How exactly will she "enhance" the program? She doesn't talk about any formula changes like adding quarters to a person's pay history if they stayed home to raise a child. She doesn't talk about changing the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). BTW she didn't "me too" against the Chained CPI when Bernie railed against it at the debate.
COLA is a very important issue. Bernie has talked about changing the COLA to better reflect the costs that are paid by people on Soc. Sec. COLA is determine by a particular measure of inflation called the CPI. He is also against the Chained CPI which Republicans and President Obama almost came to an agreement on a few years ago. Here is a few facts about COLA. In 2010, 2011, and most likely 2016, the COLA was not raised at all. For the years sense 2011, the rate of increase has been around 1.5%. As I said many times in other diaries, my rent over the last 3 years has gone up 32%, and will rise again next year. I'd bet my Soc. Sec. on it.
So how is Hillary going to make this magic? What are the formula changes that will "enhance" benefits?
Where will the money come from? There certainly is nothing on raising the cap on taxable income for FIC. And she didn't "me to" when Bernie talked about that in the debate, so one can be pretty sure she hasn't evolved on that issue yet.
On philosophical grounds, Hillary doesn't understand that Soc. Sec. is an insurance/pension program and not a welfare program. Bernie does. He understands that the only way to protect the program is to make sure everyone gets it. Formulas on how benefits are determined must not look like the are programs for the poor. This can be hair splitting but it is very important.
The pandering to women thing is also irritating. There are clear historical data that indicate women earn less than men, have been concentrated in industries that pay less than other industries, and that women have accrued lower benefits because of these facts or because they worked less quarters or not at all. However, providing credits for women who stayed at home would also require the same for men. There is this thing call the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment that says you cannot base a benefit based on a class. Focusing on a benefit to all would also broaden the political support that any changes would receive.
Also, the easiest way to increase benefits for low income earners would be to raise the minimum wage. The higher the minimum wage, the more people pay in because FICA is a flat % paid by the worker and matched by the employer. Bernie supports a $15/hr minimum, Hillary not. So again, how is she going to "enhance" benefits for lower wage earners without adding an element of "welfare" into the program?
So no, Hillary didn't hit a "hidden home run". However, she may have actually laid the seeds for pissing off old people by not clearly saying she was against Chained CPI, and not saying how she was going to expand benefits for the vast majority of people who are on Soc. Sec. Because I can damn sure tell you that it is more than the woman who worked as a waitress all her life who are struggling over small COLA increases or none at all.
PS: I have to get back to work so sorry for not proof reading better.