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."



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