Social Security and Medicare CUTS MAY BE COMING. Here's Why.

[Segami]

It's autumn, when a politician's fancy turns to thoughts of a Grand Bargain.




Right now it looks as if the two sides are at an impasse. But the President's "no negotiations" posture only applies to the debt ceiling, and his budget still includes the "chained CPI" cut to Social Security. The Republicans who are attempting to force a showdown over Obamacare are still railing against the programs they call "entitlements."They're all looking for a face-saving deal, and Social Security and Medicare could very well become that deal's Ground Zero.



Winter's Boehner

Autumn. The leaves begin to turn. The birds get ready to fly south. And an unpopular, shapeshifting lobbying group which takes many names and forms - the "American Comeback Initiative," The Can Kicks Back, AmericaSpeaks, and our favorite, Budgetball ("The Fountainhead Meets Deathrace 2000") - renews its PR campaign against "entitlements" for the disabled and aging. Or, as the rest of the nation knows them, Social Security and Medicare.



Like harbingers of a hard winter, anti-entitlement spokesmen Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles have returned to the nation's capital. These constituentless advocates for a widely disliked set of policies were given their usual unwarranted level of press coverage. Somewhat messianically, Simpson told Politico that "we have to be in reserve" in case politicians "put their country at risk" - by failing to impose the destructive austerity policies favored by Bowles and Simpson's backers. "But don't use our names," adds Simpson, "because that might be too volatile. We're both on the witness protection program now."



Only the relentlessly narcissistic Simpson could claim to be "on the witness protection program" while giving an interview to Politico. And his talking points have been receiving equally widespread exposure. The catch phrases crafted by Simpson's sponsors were used by John Boehner when he spoke about entitlements last month in Idaho. "I made up my mind that we weren't going to kick the can down the road anymore," he told the audience at a Boise fundraiser. It's all part of a wider Washington offensive. As another recent Politico news item reported, "Fix the Debt is ramping back up its lobbying efforts as government funding fights become the topic du jour on Capitol Hill."



cont'




http://crooksandliars.com/richard-rj-eskow/social-security-and-medicare-cuts

[leveymg]

1. KNR. Cs&Ls is one of the better blogs out there. Thnx for posting.

[Frankie the Bird]

2. Fuck that. Go with the overbloated MIC complex. It needs to be cut down to 1/8th

of its original size.

And we'd still kick butt.

There is no need to act like the world police, because we're not.

It's time for the defense industry to be converted to something more useful to the world, not harmful to the world.

[daleanime]

33. Amen....

[madrchsod]

3. simpson and bowles two has beens desperately trying to be relevant

any politician who decides to fuck with medicare and ss is signing their election defeat.

[leftstreet]

4. The Catfood Commission is baaaaack!

[cui bono]

5. The time to call your CongressCritters is NOW!!!

No waiting to see what's in final deal because we don't know what Obama will actually do since he hasn't done it yet.

What a travesty. SS should NEVER have been offered up in any way shape or form. The door has been opened and the Republicans are not likely to let it close again, especially since a Dem opened it in the first place. <shakes head sadly>

[Vanje]

58. You got that right!

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

6. Well, as long as it is not a slash then we will be alright.

I'll just don my best pair of comfortable walking shoes, the only ones...the ones with the holes in them, and shamble on down to the soup kitchen. I'm sure they will be open since nobody is planning to cut their funding.

It will all work out for us just as long as we believe and keep on voting.

[99th_Monkey]

13. I agree. Hell, it's just a little cut

If I simply ignore the fact that it's the 856th cut that I've suffered,
it only hurts half as much.

[avaistheone1]

19. The slash is worth almost a Social Security check a year.

That sucks.

I am not planning on sitting around and waiting for my little check to be bargained away.


Funny how we have money to start a war with Syria, but on the other hand the government has to cheat seniors out of our rightful benefits.

[L0oniX]

25. The Dem party is morphing into something else when they offer cuts to SS and Medicare.

[avaistheone1]

28. It is no wonder so many are turned off to our own party.

It cracks me up when it is election time how all our Dem politicians crawl up on the convention stage and boast their humble working class backgrounds, yet they are trying to pull off this b.s.!!!

[99th_Monkey]

30. did I forget my sarcasm smilie?

well, here you go then ---> It was

[avaistheone1]

41. I understood you.

I was just commiserating.

[99th_Monkey]

47. got it. this certainly is a subject worthy of commiseratin' about.

thanks for letting me know

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

44. "Funny how we have money to start a war with Syria..."

Proponents for a war with Syria (see warbaggers) say that those missals are already purchased ordinance so it won't cost that much.


They fail to acknowledge that those missals would have to be replaced, and the missals most likely will cost more than the original ones.

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. Grandma must eat cat food? I guess that's okay since it's so important to save Republican face. n/t

[Segami]

8. Grandma must eat cat food....

as long as its YOUR grandma doing the eating and NOT THEIRS!

[hobbit709]

9. Any Democrat that goes along with this idea is NO democrat.

And will get no support of any kind from me.

[Scuba]

10. +1,000

[99th_Monkey]

16. DITTO^THIS * DITTO^THIS * DITTO^THIS * DITTO^THIS nt

[Liberalynn]

27. Amen

[daleanime]

35. Hell ya......

[jtuck004]

38. Any PARTY that goes along with this - ditto. n/t

[Vanje]

53. Thats right.

No Deal!

[WinkyDink]

54. Absolutely. THIS is the line.

[Enthusiast]

69. A big PLUS ONE! nt

[Hydra]

11. Here we go again...

I'd like to ask the BOG how chained CPI is not on the table again, since they claim that was never a goal of the WH.

[L0oniX]

22. Do yourself a big favor and put every BOGie on ignore.

[Hydra]

32. Seriously considering it

I have their most epic troll on ignore, and I quite forgot he existed until someone brought him up the other day.

I did like having a direct pipeline to WH talking points, but luckily I haven't met anyone outside of DU who actually thinks or believes what they do, so it's probably irrelevant.

[Frankie the Bird]

36. Who is their epic troll...

Inquiring minds wants to know.. PM me if you want...

[Hydra]

45. I'm kinda in a dither right now

I'll see if I can't answer you more properly later.

[Skittles]

51. that one is more entertaining than the rest

I was thinking of another name that made more Sense.

[Hydra]

52. That one is certainly a Pro

I have mental ignore for them, but they post the batch talking points. I found them to be the best source for what I'd hear from the WH within 3 days :p

[kenny blankenship]

39. Perhaps more importantly put them on your jury blacklist

People wonder how a handful of portrait waving zealots have managed to take over this place. Unmaintained or blank jury blacklists is behind a lot of it.

[Hydra]

40. Ya, I thought to do that when I got really into it with one of them one day

But as Coffee proved, they come back under different names if they get pizza delivery.

[L0oniX]

43. The jury blacklist needs to have a larger capacity.

[RC]

77. The Jury Black list needs to be improved by not allowing Alerts by those on a person's Black list.

Frivolous alerts would plummet.

[L0oniX]

79. Excellent idea.

[Skittles]

64. I've never once used the jury system for personal sh**

but my GAWD there are some BIG F***ING BABIES HERE

[Vanje]

57. Most of those people spout no actual policy points.

Though one or two of them sometimes links or promotes an article or backs up a point of view .
It is rare

Most of those denizens hurl bald insults, and THAT is all.

We're not dealing with intellectual giants here.

They didnt know why Summers was a problem .(But they sure were on top of the very small fact that Summers was not yet nominated!) One strong backer of the President posted that objection to Summers nomination was based on "abject hatred", but when pressed, admitted that she , herself didnt know anything about Summers.
They dont know or care enough to opine about TPP .
Not much opinion or apparent knowledge about NSA , but HUGE LOADS of opinion and observations about Snowden, and Greenwald.

One stalwart Bog regular posted that her concern about Obama's economic policies was at 2.5%. She didnt consider Summers appointment an important issue, yet it didnt stop her from posting voluminously in threads about Summers nomination to FED.

Its important to consider in reading and posting at DU, that some of these people have heads that are filled with nothing but styrofoam peanuts, and recycled insults. Some seem to be online random nonsense generators.
- Again, Its not all the Boggers, I'm talking about here, but more than a few very active posters.

I usually dont post negative observations about whole groups of my fellow DUers, and try to keep away from grouping people as "BoG" people or cheer-leaders, or whatever,
but
Conservatives.
They are.
And I dont coddle conservatives on my DU.

[Skittles]

65. but they are NOT conservatives

they would NOT accept this kind of stuff from any other Democrat

[Marr]

56. Rope-a-derp!

I hope we can put that lame ass excuse to bed.

[HereSince1628]

12. Obama seems to lean toward the concepts of compromise and grand bargain

I don't think grand means great for everyone, I think it means historically large impact.

I suspect every president wants to do something that makes an important difference.

I don't know the president, so I am left to suspect Obama is human.

The motivations of my leader may be grand, but that thing of starting bilateral consideration by compromising in a big way scares the hell out of me.

[AzDar]

14. K & R & ...

[Cryptoad]

15. Should the Super Rich draw Medicare and SS checks when they get old???????

I say NO!!!!!!!!!

[duffyduff]

17. If they paid into it, YES.

"Means testing" is welfare, and it would destroy SS and Medicare.

[Vanje]

59. Duffy is correct!

If Medicare and SS become "means tested", people who deserve and need these programs would be denigrated for using them, as foodstamps users are denigrated now.

We all pay a % of our paycheck into SS, but its capped. SO a person with a huge income pays less % of his check than I , a person with meager income, do.
Remove the caps.
Let Mr. Rich pay the same % into SS as I do.
We all get to collect when we retire, same as we do now.

[Enthusiast]

71. I'm with you on the cap.

And slash the military and the size of its mission.

[Enthusiast]

70. I agree.

That's the objective. Push SS and Medicare into privatization.

[99th_Monkey]

18. I agree. Also, there's The Cap to consider

super rich fucks don't have to pay into SS on income above a
certain amount. That could EASILY be raised, thus generating
abundant revenue for SS Fund into the future.

[Cryptoad]

21. There should be no FICA cap,,,,period

I would even support a progressive FICA tax rate!

[Vanje]

60. Now yer talkin!

[avaistheone1]

24. Raise the damn cap.

[SMC22307]

26. As stated above, if they paid into it, yes.

Raise the cap and get more Americans back to work so they are contributing. The solution is a no-brainer.

[L0oniX]

20. If Dems cut Social Security and Medicare in any way they can kiss 2014 goodby.

...and to the ignored person who responded ...you are on ignore for a good reason. Enjoy your BOG.

[Cryptoad]

23. If they cut SS and medicare to the Super Rich

I would support it!

[Vanje]

62. Disagree

SS and Medicare are for all the people.

No one has to shuffle into a welfare office, hat in hand, hoping their neighbors don't see em, with a sheaf of papers to prove they're a pauper, so they can get the benefits of a program they paid into.

[winter is coming]

75. +1,000,000,000. n/t

[LongTomH]

29. This may be the breaking point for politics as usual!

It will certainly be the breaking point for the GOP. Young people are not impressed with Reaganism or Clintonism. I'm seeing polls here that show that even the elderly are finally realizing that the Republicans are not their friends.

If the Democratic contingent in Congress doesn't block this, it may be their downfall as well. I would expect some Blue Dog Democrats to lose their seats in 2014 anyway.

[L0oniX]

34. Clintonism has and still is doing great harm to the Dem party.

[1ProudAtheist]

31. Our Spineless President

Is only capable of screwing over those who elected him, never those who oppose him. Obama will find a way to piss off loyal democrats and progressives while kissing the butts of Pukes. Same old story, just a different verse.

[L0oniX]

37. Please don't mix "loyal democrats and progressives". No progresive would be loyal over principle.

If the Dem party moves back to its core principles then progressives will be part of it. Go against labor and SS and Medicare and you can kiss progressives and what's left of the real Dems goodby.

[Segami]

42. +1

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

46. Aren't we progressives just dirty longhair socialsits or so sand so... (?)

not worthy of the ground that the real personality cult Dems walk on?

[TBF]

48. Grand Bargain for the 1% - as usual. nt

[socialist_n_TN]

49. I wrote about this "Grand Bargain" 4 months ago........

I included Simpson-Bowles.

http://www.workerspower.net/budget-friction-in-washington-a-tocsin-for-things-to-come

[Uncle Joe]

50. Kicked and recommended although chained CPI is just "death by a thousand cuts."

Thanks for the thread, Segami.

[Recursion]

55. After 5 years of screaming about this, it's still no closer to actually happening

[Skittles]

66. doesn't matter

Chained CPI should NEVER even be MENTIONED by a Democrat - it is ABSOLUTE GARBAGE

http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2013/04/29/how-the-chained-cpi-affects-social-security-payments

[Egalitarian Thug]

67. And you don't imagine that all that kicking and screaming had anything to do with that? n/t

[winter is coming]

61. I'll be pleasantly surprised if we make it through the latest installment of Deficit Theater

without seeing chained CPI floated again.

[Samantha]

63. I think it would be tough to get Democratic legislators to support this right before an election

And even those who are not up next year know we Dems have a long memory.

Sam

[Enthusiast]

72. Just proposing Chained CPI might do enough damage.

Even if it won't pass.

[Enthusiast]

68. We must eat our peas?

Does the Grand Bargain include massive cuts to the unnecessary military/intelligence industrial complex?

[eridani]

73. Chained CPI = mass murder of old people

It is based on the notion that you can substitute hamburger for steak. Old peopl's budgets are dominated by health care expenses, and THERE ARE NO SUBSTITUTES for needed health care!!

[Wilms]

74. ^

[abelenkpe]

76. Didn't we save money not bombing Syria?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-06/obama-likely-to-avoid-congress-on-cost-of-strike-on-syria.html

There's an extra 93 billion the pentagon has sitting around for this fiscal year alone that has gone unused. How about we use that money to end the sequester that is taking food out of the mouths of this nations most needy. Why are we discussing more cuts? Cuts to more programs for our most vulnerable? Our nation is wealthy. We have the money. We could raise taxes on the very rich, on corporations and make modest cuts to our insanely bloated defense and use that money to restore the spending needed for social programs. It sickens me that the discussion is about more cuts. Democrats should be pushing back. The sequester needs to end. We need stimulus spending to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, properly fund our schools and needed social programs. Where is the sacrifice from the wealthy, corporations or the MIC?

[grahamhgreen]

78. There's 93b we can save every year!