Clinton vs Obama

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told an AARP convention that, as president, she would move quickly to fix Social Security's long-term finances, but that cutting benefits or raising the eligibility age would be "off the table." That would leave only higher payroll taxes as a solution, most experts say.

The New York Democrat's comments, made in Boston on Friday, were a further effort to draw distinctions with her chief rival for her party's presidential nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. In May, Mr. Obama said that "everything should be on the table," including benefits and taxes.

Recall that 77.2 percent of economists agree that "the best way to deal with Social Security's long-term funding gap is to increase the normal retirement age."