I fully expect Boehner to save us. Republicans will never agree to the President's proposal.

Not only that, it will never pass the Senate. I expect Democrats, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, to vote against such a proposal.

In fact, in the last Congress Senator Sanders had a coalition of 29 Senators who stood against cuts. That coalition has likely grown with the newly elected Democrats.

We'll know in a few weeks. Likely there will be push back, but simply restating this gotcha about the President wanting to cut Social Security is pretty useless. It may feel good, but it doesn't mean a damn thing.

Still, Boehner and House Republicans are likely to make a Senate rebuff unnecessary.

Social Security: Carter implemented COLA, Reagan taxed benefits, Clinton increased the tax
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022420898

I fully expect Social Security to survive the current administration.

President Obama's policies: big savings and smart spending
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022421084

while others play checkers . . . might he be setting the GOP up to take the fall for the whole thing by being able to say "see I proposed the cuts you wanted and you STILL weren't satisfied so now you're going to do it OUR way or suffer the real anger of the people" Or maybe it's wishful thinking on my part

business friendly old style Republican. That philosophy, which we once called being a Rockefeller Republican, allowed for some government run social programs, but only if they followed a business model. Until he recognizes that business alone cannot sustain democracy, he will always be to the right of Eisenhower and a Republican who runs as a Democrat.

It's not that he isn't a decent person. He is and he will try to keep this country afloat in spite of his enemies. It's just too bad, IMHO that he doesn't look to his real friends, us on the left, and help us out now and then for our support and our help in getting this country out of the morass the neo-con Republicans put us in.

"No, it has become crystal clear to me that he is business friendly old style Republican. That philosophy, which we once called being a Rockefeller Republican, allowed for some government run social programs, but only if they followed a business model. Until he recognizes that business alone cannot sustain democracy, he will always be to the right of Eisenhower and a Republican who runs as a Democrat."

...the OP is a bit absurd, stringing together falsehoods and issues long in the making as if these are the result of Obama's policies.

For example:

Obama Orders Pay Raise For Congress
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022095402

Inequality Rages as Dwindling Wages Lock Millions in Poverty
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022198286

Poverty, hunger among retirees increasing
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002748342

with that stupid Simson-Bowles shit. I can only imagine why.

Do you know what ALWAYS happens when Daddy gambles with the rent money?
Push it into the pot enough times,
and one day, it doesn't come back.

Even Bobby Fischer lost at Chess occasionally.

There was a time, not so long ago, when our Social Security was the inviolate 3rd Rail.
Touch It and You DIE!!!
Not even Republicans would entertain the idea of touching SS.

the superlative chained CPI is a re brand of Simpson Bowels. It seems like cuts to me. Have you read it?

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3690

He did a show about how it seems to be a child of Simpson Bowels.

Now there's a maggot sandwich.

Yeah, that's one steaming emission.

Thank you. No, I hadn't seen that one yet.

That one makes my blood curdle. If anything, it's worse than expected. I think you're right. Now is the time. It's right after an election, and they are going to go big.

And the numbers they are letting creep out are slick as hell, too. Note how they say they will obtain $1.2 trillion "from cuts in defense and non-defense spending." Clever to keep it all together, because we can all guess how much of that will be actual military cuts. And how much of the "military" cuts will actually be cuts in pensions and benefits...

If I had to make a guess at this point, I think the final deal will leave out the Medicare eligibility age...this time. That way the Democrats get to crow about keeping a promise to the electorate and "saving" us from something even worse than the horror they will be implementing (Their line about "Superlative CPI"'s "protecting the vulnerable" isn't going over so well...). And Republicans can crow about getting the vast majority of what they wanted.

But who knows? The timing is right to push it all through. What possible recourse do they think we have? Americans should be in the streets right now, on the steps of the White House and the Capitol.

warrants its own OP.

Too bad they are not preparing for a raid.

are facing the wrong direction. They should be kicking down the doors and slapping on the cuffs.

Thanks for this post. I wish I could say I'm surprised. At least we got a nice SOTU speech.

from being sacrificed to the rich.

Good old bad cop/good cop routine from the corporatist party.

totally stolen! Thanks!

..."everything is on the table."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/02/clinton_obama_and_the_social_s.html

God it's like people don't remember this shit.

You always maintain that you are some kind of extreme Progressive, but you ALWAYS are on the side defending or explaining why the Progressives who complain about Centrist-Right policies are wrong for doing so.

Every.Damn.Time.

Did people REALLY get the wrong idea about you?

I'm simply stating facts. I love the Obama bashing because of so many people who were his supreme supporters finally became disillusioned. The best course of action is to distrust the entire process and go from there.

Then every now and again you get surprised (with people like Warren, who isn't perfect either).

I don't see the problem. I just wish people saw Obama how I did, then they could be less cynical and less outraged because such policies are expected.

To cite your proposal by Obama specifically for "Social Security cuts."

Obama is, despite all of the good things he has accomplished and good things he has tried to accomplish, a skillful politician.

He knew his base was not energized in early to mid-2012 but he knew which buttons to push to get his voters to the polls. He used populist rhetoric that succeeded in winning him a second term.

But now that he has his second term and will never face re-election again he can pretty much do whatever he wants regardless of what his base thinks. He is thinking about his legacy.

You and I might say that any changes to Social Security or Medicare that result in reduced benefits, higher eligibility age, higher premiums for Medicare, etc. would be a bad thing for his legacy.

But I'm sure he is calculating that he can agree to some changes that will hurt people in order to avoid a total collapse of the economy again due to sequestration. That compromise may initially tarnish his populist legacy but in the long run historians and pundits will claim he had no choice.

Obama's just really into cutting Social Security. He spoke of the necessity to "fix" Social Security a week before his first inauguration, which blew my mind - since I knew there was zero reason to "fix" it, he could only mean that he wanted to grab the Trust Fund for the Predator Class.

And here we are.

I am concerned that even if 1%, this would impact thousands of families. It could affect confidence in the economy and willingness to both hire and invest.

And you are right. This is about handing the social safety net over to the wealthy. There is nothing to fix. This is a question of what kind of nation we are.

I follow the Swedish press closely and am amazed that with the current center-right coalition proposing raising the retirement age to 65 they are facing stiff opposition. The spokesperson for one union, the metal workers union said the average age of retirement for his workers is less than 61 and that he cannot imagine his members being able to work to 65.

I am not suggesting we may not need to make changes. We may need to slowly raise the retirement age as people live longer but that is predicated on an agreement from the "haves" they won't arbitrarily layoff older workers which happens today. But to reduce benefits or do some kind of chain CPI that hurts seniors is off the table.

Obama needs to stay true to his core and resist these attempts to screw workers that put in 30 or 40 years and are now trying to have some kind of retirement. He will have his golden parachute as a former President along with speaking engagements, etc. He needs to think about the millions who voted for him and not screw them.

being able to continue egregious welfare for the most affluent and large corporations. The politics of anyone voting to do so is a goodly bit of right of center imo.

Watch what they do and ignore what they say.

Politicians lie, every fucking one of them, including Barack Obama and every other Democrat in Washington DC. ALL of them.

as cuts to SS and Medicare will for sure be defeated in the Senate. As every decent attorney knows, don't ask a question that you don't already know the answer to.

... will fly out of his butt, too.

Y'know whats funny? Just last nite a member of DU was trying to tell me this newly re branded version of chained CPI was A OK. Y'know cause there were exemptions for the very poor. I'm sure qualifying for and applying for those exemptions will be easy and not the usual demeaning process associated with such things. As long as one makes less than 25,000 a year it will all be fine.

Its not designed to screw over millions who have paid into the system at all.

We need to compromise! One more cut to a body already riddled with many won't even be noticed.

Do I have to add the sarcasm thingy?

What a prophet he was...they are coming for your social security, and they will get it...for their friends on Wall Street...

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Last edited Mon Feb 25, 2013, 05:54 PM - Edit history (1)

Yeah, he definitely understood...well before many.

Obama To Bank CEOs:

"My Administration Is The Only Thing Between You And The Pitchforks" here.

This is what happens when we protect criminals at the expense of everyone else. It doesn't matter what the excuses are, because, as has been said, "Excuses have a maximum effective range of zero meters".

and:

"Too many of us have been interested in defending programs as written in 1938."


Here's the chilling video, in his own words:

Really spells it out.

He has not.

Don't forget to check your facts! Read the article that's linked in a post, if you think the post is important. Check the internet for valid news sources reporting on the topic.

Freedom is Slavery!
Ignorance is Strength!

Health care is AFFORDABLE!
Chained CPI is SUPERLATIVE!
Drone assassinations of Americans are "ETHICAL, LEGAL, and WISE"!

And Obama's proposal means the Social Security Ration will be INCREASED!

Fantastic OP. Thanks! K&R

Those are cuts to SS among others. That's a fact. The White House web site is on the internet.

after first getting upset over it, when they realized it may not apply across the board.

Unless it says "Social Security," it's not necessarily a cut to the program.

I saw this on tv...one or two Dem. congressmen, who had been critical, clarified by saying that they jumped the gun on that, that they now understand that it would not necessarily affect SS.

Maybe they were wrong, but I know they said that. Wish I could remember who they were.

Really?

What valid source should I read?

Yet he has not done so once.

what could go wrong?

I will wait and see. So far. I'll stick with Obama. You can keep those GOP parasites. I wish they'd all fall off he ends of the earth, personally.

Thanks for this OP. The picture says it all.

that picture is chilling. And so metaphorically apt!

K&R

That seems to be the argument.

And the Social Safety Net begins unraveling...

I hope he knows more than I.

Even mentioning them isn't good IMHO.

It makes me feel more than uncomfortable. It's depressing. And I keep wondering how were going to turn out enough of our votes for 2014.

I read in other places that the Repubs want to "break" the government and such thoughts have a ring of truth to me. If they succeed in doing this, how can we protect our Dems from the fallout... the ones that deserve protecting anyway.