Zero Hour for Social Security

[True_Blue]

'As I have previously warned--and I hope I'm wrong--President Obama seems on the verge of needlessly cutting America's most valued social program and the one that best differentiates Republicans from Democrats. This is part of a vain effort to appease deficit hawks in his own party and on Wall Street, as well as Republicans who are utter hypocrites when it comes to deficits--increasing them as long as the purpose is tax cuts but then turning around and demanding program cuts in order to reduce the deficits they created.

All the choreography is in place for the president to embrace Social Security cuts in his upcoming State of the Union address.

Cutting Social Security is financially needless--the program is in sound shape for the next 27 years. It has nothing to do with the current deficit. It will be solvent indefinitely if we can get some wage growth going again. Failing that, we should raise the lid on income taxed, so that millionaires pay the same rare as regular people. For more detail, see ourfiscalsecurity.org.

It's politically idiotic for democrats to join this parade. To have Republicans demand cuts in Social Security at a time when they are also demanding tax cuts for the rich is a cue for Democrats to make clear which side they're on. Obama got in big trouble with seniors in the health care bill because they were worried that it would mean Medicare cuts. In 2010, Democrats lost the senior vote, big time. Now, Obama has a splendid opportunity to point out that it's Republicans who want to cut Social Security.'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/zero-hour-for-social-security_b_806486.html

[ProfessionalLeftist]

1. Obama has a splendid opportunity to point out that it's Republicans who want to cut Social Security

And he'll blow it. Just like he's blown every other opportunity he has had to differentiate himself and the Democratic Party from Republicans (which is THE thing IMO that caused him to lose votes in the mid-terms).

He doesn't seem intelligent enough to have figured that out. . . .

[Skittles]

2. ever think he's not REALLY blowing it?

he doesn't seem to try that hard

[ProfessionalLeftist]

3. You have a point

it seems to come very naturally to him, doesn't it?

[Skittles]

4. yes

[Enthusiast]

5. I fear it was no "mistake", or blown opportunity.

I believe President Obama is actually a Reagan Democrat in his ideology.

If his actual purposes was to damage the image of the Democratic Party he couldn't have chosen a better path. Yes, he could differentiate himself and the Democratic Party from the Republicans and ride a wave of populist sentiment, but he choses to do the opposite. This does not compute. Why does he do this? This simply cannot be the result of faulty advice from his inner circle. Obama can't be this inept and misinformed-no way.