President Barack Obama may signal in his State of the Union address tonight that he’s ready for compromises on Social Security -- a political flash point for every president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the federal retirement program in 1935. He just won’t say it.
Obama plans to emphasize a balanced approach and shared sacrifice to address the debt, leaving specifics to his February budget proposal. For experts following the debate, uttering those words without making a firm pledge not to tinker with Social Security will be taken as an implicit endorsement of tax increases and benefit cuts.
