TPM: DC's Worst-Kept Public Secret:Lots of Dems Support Entitlement Cuts

[antigop]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/03/house-democrats-entitlement-benefit-cuts.php

House Democrats came away from a closed-door meeting with President Obama on Thursday expressing openness to his proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare, after he assured them he would never cut entitlement benefits unless Republicans yield on tax increases.

After the meeting with Obama, several key Democrats expressed an openness to entitlement benefit cuts as part of a broader budget bill that includes higher taxes. Their statements run counter to the hoary conventional wisdom in Washington that Democrats are just as stubbornly opposed to cutting safety net spending as Republicans are to higher taxes.

“I’m willing to keep my powder dry until I see what’s on the table,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) told reporters. “It’s the context that matters to me. I’m not willing to absolutely rule anything in or out. … But I’m not willing to give anything away for free.”

“I’m certainly willing to listen,” said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. “I would be willing to listen if he says there are some exceptions. So whether you could do a Chained CPI and exempt those who live under a certain income — I don’t know. We haven’t taken it very seriously right now in our caucus.”

[upaloopa]

1. They withhold from my pay check FICA and Med

It doesn't belong on the table. It is not an entitlement it is earned. The government isn't giving me anything when they give me back what I earned.

[dkf]

4. For every dollar paid into Medicare you get back over $3

That is the largest part of what is unsustainable. You only pay into Part A from your paycheck. That covers only hospital charges, not including doctors. For outpatient services (aka doctors) you pay premiums that only cover 1/4 of the cost. So really you do not pay for most of your medicare benefits. That is why Medicare is probably more at risk than SS which is more of a return of the money you paid in.

[upaloopa]

5. You pay for everything. Part A through with holding

part B D C through your wallet.
I know why medical cost are going up. The money goes to phama and med equip suppliers. So if the money doesn't go to me it goes to them.

[dkf]

6. Nope. Why do you think they complain Bush created D but left it unfunded?

And D is run the same way as B.

[JDPriestly]

10. And yet, Medicare is not free. By no means.

I just paid a good-sized bill for medical services today, and I'm on a very reasonable Medicare HMO plan, probably one of the cheapest in the country.

Big enough cuts to Medicare to contribute to solving the deficit and other financial problems in this country will lead to two things: deaths and lower inheritances for the middle class.

People who are desperately poor will probably be helped if they survive to qualify for Medicare. The very rich don't need Medicare.

If your dad and mom saved a nice sum of money to pass on to you, you probably won't see much, if any, of it. That's what this means.

It will cause the next generation to support Medicare all the more.

[xtraxritical]

12. The last I was aware inheritence taxes don't kick in until the nut exceeds $500,000.

[JDPriestly]

14. True. What I am saying is that if your parents have to pay more for their

healthcare costs than your grandparents did, you will receive less in your inheritance if you are middle class.

Cuts to Medicare will hurt the middle class. The rich won't care. The poor will be taken care of.

The children of the middle class will pay the cost.

Raising Medicare costs for the elderly is simply a way of imposing an inheritance tax on the middle class -- adding a tax on the middle class that wasn't there before.

[xtraxritical]

18. I got ya, good point, thanks.

[dkf]

2. You can discount what the government reports say about projected GDP and its impact on SS...

But those are still the official numbers that everyone in Washington DC sees. Those numbers point to an unsustainable situation for the entire government driven by social security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Unless those numbers change, all politicians have no choice but to look towards the 75 year plan as presented which some here insist are a right wing plot of some sort.

[JDPriestly]

11. What will not change is the fact that old people get very sick, need lots

of expensive medical services, and their children do not like to watch their parents die without those services.

Cutting Medicare by much is politically stupid.

[dkf]

16. The whole way we structure health care needs to be reviewed.

Medicare as is will drive both the government and the individual into bankruptcy. I've seen projections of Medicare costs that show the out of pocket is almost half a million per couple over their retirement and that's with the government paying the bulk of the expenses.

Health costs are unmanageable for everyone if kept as is.

[JDPriestly]

17. I agree.

That is why I support a single-payer system with an opt-out for those who wish additional or different insurance. I had that in Europe. It was great.

The reason I think that is a better system is that, as we see, Europeans in general have a longer life expectancy on the average than we do so it increases life expectancy overall.

I think that a lot of the secret of the life expectancy of Europeans is in the pre-natal, post-natal and childhood care they get. A lot of American families cannot afford to take their children to the doctor when they need to. A lot of medical problems -- like obesity, the habits that lead to diabetes, etc. can be helped if you advise a child's mother on caring for the child.

Also, in Europe, dental care was part of the overall healthcare package. Dental problems can lead to other medical problems. We seem to ignore that fact.

Further, we need to do more to help students who are entering the medical profession. If a student's parents can afford to pay the child's way, that's great. But very few can because medical school is extremely expensive.

Doctors work for years to pay back student loans. Those whose parents helped them out get to keep their money. Those who don't have to make the big bucks and charge high prices in order to pay back the loans. The same is true in other professions like law.

I believe that medical care costs will decline much faster than expected in the coming years. Doctors are only now beginning to benefit from the resources at their fingertips on the internet. I saw a video of a doctor at Scripps Institute who has devised internet apps that permit a doctor to diagnose a lot of a patient's conditions while the doctor sits at home on the internet. It's amazing. It will save a lot of money.

I also think that we are just beginning to find out how certain cancers and other conditions work. And with regard to skeletal and muscular problems like back problems, we are learning more and more. I am optimistic that the projections you refer to are exaggerated. Baby boomers are bound to be in better health than their parents. Obesity is a problem. But we smoke less; many of us drink less (my parents were teetotalers and I don't drink); we exercised less than our parents -- but we are being encouraged to exercise more as we age. So I am more optimistic than you -- but who knows or sure? No one.

[dkf]

21. Well I completely support a massive build of funding for medical research.

That and a transition to renewable energy were always my dream Apollo type missions.

That is also why I think this mantra of "keep your hands off my medicare" is completely unproductive and even detrimental to where I think we need to go. Stuffing us full of drugs that we need to take in perpetuity is not optimum by any stretch.

Who has the vision and leadership to get us there? Howard Dean is probably closest. Other than that, I have no idea.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. The Rockefellar Wing of our party has

always been pro rich,nothing has changed. Teabillies and Blue Dogs.

[dkf]

7. Actually what separates the pols are those with the ability to understand charts and numbers

And those without that ability. Or maybe they are capable but are in denial or are faithbased and believe it will all work out through the grace of God.

[alsame]

8. Lowey is my rep, I just called her office to

ask that she not support any changes to SSI, even if proposed by Obama.

[whathehell]

9. What IS the justification for cuts to Social Security when it doesn't contribute to the debt?

I don't think I'd be averse to means testing for Medicare, as long as they set the bar high enough.

That seems reasonable to me...but digging into OUR social security that funds, for god's sake,

disabled VETERANS, and seniors, should be entirely out of the question.

This is just part of repukes near-century old struggle to tear down the New Deal and if Obama

and other dems go along with this, you'll know you have lost your party, possibly forever.

[xtraxritical]

13. Thankfully there's the Progressive Caucus, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and others

who will never allow this to get thru Congress. Maybe the President knows this and is just using the chained CPI thing as a ploy to exploit when dealing with the GOP? Hopefully...

[whathehell]

15. From what I understand

only 29 members of the Progressive Caucus have signed a pledge not to make

any cuts to the big three. I hope that's enough, if they can't get more to sign on.

[xtraxritical]

19. It's definitely not a good thing I can't understand why the President even brings it.

[whathehell]

20. Exactly...It's a disgrace, really...A democratic trying to cut the party's signature issue.

I'm not really sure this president IS a democrat in anything but name.

[dkf]

22. After the trust fund is depleted benefits will drop 25%.

So prolonging the solvency of the trust fund extends that drop date.

Thus chained CPI is considered to keep the fund intact longer.

[kenny blankenship]

23. Democrats: the OTHER party hell-bent on suicide

Go ahead and cut your throats. The grass needs watering.

[Doctor_J]

24. sounds like the prez talked some other DINOs into cuts

looks to me like the party I've been voting for for 40 years no longer exists. I wonder if this is just political pandering by Obama, or if he's working for The Rich