I remember President Obama talking against cuts to Social Security and now it appears he will bargain with Social Security. Even if it is just SSI we have to realize that those getting SSI have been determined to be well below the poverty level and SSI is a way to help level the field. We also have to realize that SSI is not even a good try at really helping those people. So, those who are the least able to survive will be thrown under the bus to give the GOP a little something in the deal. I had hoped that the first four years were an anomaly and that after he won the second term President Obama would show backbone and protect the poor. It appears I was wrong. I supported Obama with time and money and quite frankly I feel like I supported a Republican candidate and that really bothers me. Maybe there really aren't political parties in this country but the oligarchy who determines what will happen regardless of an election. Just because we voted doesn't mean we have a democracy.

And now there apparently are....I am looking for proof otherwise.

or not chained or Medicare or any of these things that look like they were offered as concessions to the R's and remember one thing;
any law has to be approved by both the House and Senate and be signed off by the President (I know some exceptions to this process exist, but for the most part...) and make sure we let our elected officials in Congress know how we feel about this.
A letter, phone call, email and office visit by constituents letting them know how you want them to vote is the key of keeping that stuff off the table.
Myself, I think it's all part of the bargaining process and Mr. Obama skunked Boehner. He won't offer it now, it's off the table.

and he should never have put it on the table.

I don't trust him not to do it again.

Never by a Democratic president. Never. Seniors and the needy have been put through way too many mind games.

It's the fact that as a Democrat Obama put Social Security on the bargaining table in the first place. It doesn't matter if it is a bluff. It's not smart at all, especially if the GOP had called his bluff.

to the ACA bill at the last minute too, no doubt.

It does not happen that way. If the president settles on a bill and has the House and Senate leadership on board, his own party is never allowed to do anything to undercut the President's bill. That will not happen. If Obama gives away chained CPI, then it will be in the law that passed, period.

Considering that Obama has already unilaterally capitulated on that point, it will be exceeding difficult to get that back. The only thing that will change that dynamic is if the president himself feels intense heat and decides to withdraw his support. Frankly I don't see that level of pressure developing.

won't develop.

And remember, this negotiation is over deficits, not the really deep cuts "strengthening" that's needed. Depending on how bruising the fight is for chained CPI, we might have additional proposed cuts in the near future to "save" it.

So they keep trying.

In the short time I have been back 9 people have me on block or ignore.

I can respect Obama's intelligence, respect that he is a power speaker and negotiator....and still strongly disagree with his education and safety net policies.

That is what we are supposed to do, question our leaders.

Don't judge based on the vitriol. There is a small number who seem really fixated on pumping up the fiction that Obama isn't doing what Obama always does -- negotiate with himself. Yes, these folks are very vocal, just as a small number of gun psychos are very vocal. That doesn't mean they are a majority. Most people on this site are pretty realistic about what is happening here.

I wouldn't say that to just anybody.

But just not sure.

with the legal paperwork to make it so. Until then, I don't believe either party will cut SSI. I don't care how much they talk and bluster. Both parties want to win again.

'disability'.

it's a welfare-type program, administered by the social security administration, but not funded from social security taxes.

fyi. a lot of people make the same mistake here.

So it is medicaid for example and not medicare?

Supplemental Security Income (or SSI) is a United States government program that provides stipends to low-income people who are either aged (65 or older), blind, or disabled.[1] Although administered by the Social Security Administration,[2] SSI is funded from the U.S. Treasury general funds,[1] not the Social Security trust fund.

SSI was created in 1974 to replace federal-state adult assistance programs that served the same purpose. The restructuring of these programs was intended to standardize the eligibility requirements and level of benefits.[3] The new federal program was incorporated into Title XVI (Title 16) of the Social Security Act.[4] Today the program provides benefits to approximately eight million Americans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Security_Income

to cut any of these programs. Has either party ever cut social security or SSI benefits? And if so, how did they fare in the next election cycle?

i think there was another set of cuts between then & now as well.

Ugh. RWR.

I think that counts as a cut.

If they are now off the table, one should celebrate.

The entire idea that anyone should be "eating crow" here is not only ludicrous, but outrageous and insulting...a tactic of Third Way authoritarians.

Speaking out and making our expectations known is our right and our responsibility in what is supposed to be a representative system of government.

The tragic thing is that we can never really let down our guard. The forces pushing to gut Social Security and Medicare are powerful and they have pretty much an infinite amount of money.

Be they in favor of someone or against. Wait for data, bend their ears and watch their every move.

But as the HGTTG told us, "don't panic". Making assumptions and then freaking out takes away our energy and weakens us for the struggle ahead.

When I see what the billionaires have have gotten in gains for decades, I much resent that SS was put on the table at all.

I know politicians play games to win. But they should not do it with the safety nets.

I do not trust them at all. We just kicked ass for these people in November and they're going to turn around and backstab us. It makes you wonder why we even bother. Sure the other side is worse but what does it matter if they're running and we're walking when it's the same path?

The President seems determined to provide a sacrifice to Wall St.

not judging (which is rarely necessary, or even helpful.)

Acting in ways that might affect the outcome.

Most people tell someone what they're thinking about doing before they do it. If they put cutting SS on the table, it's on the table; and they only way it comes off is if we convince them it will cost them more to keep it on.

Yep.

Republicans put that in under Bush II knowing they can reduce the CPI by price supports that have the added Republican-plus of giving tax dollars to some of their rich friends.

We should be arguing for more, not the same or maddeningly less.

I think the president is determined to cut SS. All of this crowing from the DINOs about chess is complete bullshit. He still in 4 years hasn't gotten one fucking thing from the Repukes, and for some reason we are no longer allowed to bring up the fact that he has proposed not only the chained CPI, but also raising the eligibility age. THESE ARE OFFERS FROM A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT. It is disgusting, and so are all of the excuses.

Even if it was a poker bluff on Obama's part, the Social Security cuts WERE put on the table.
Even if they knew the Republican's wouldn't bite, the Social Security cuts WERE put on the table.
Even if President Obama was completely sincere in offering up the cuts and hoped the Republicans would take the offer, the Social Security cuts WERE put on the table.

No amount of magical thinking can erase the FACT that the Social Security cuts WERE put on the table.

They WERE put on the table.

We have the right and duty to make our voices heard when the "leaders" are coming to rob us .

and it is my only source of income.

is like the difference between herpes & True Love.

Herpes is forever.

They will be on the table, again and again, for as long and for as many times as the one percent needs them as hostages to obtain more austerity.

And then the cuts will be passed.

They won't quit.