I'm 99% sure there won't be any cuts to entitlements

[fried eggs]

Cuts poll poorly for Democrats, independents, and Republicans. This is all political gamesmanship. Republicans will be in the wilderness for at least 10 years.

[eridani]

1. And you think they give a shit about what us little people think? n/t

[sarcasmo]

2. Unrec for using the word entitlements.

[Telly Savalas]

7. It's what they're fucking called.

It's only rightwingers and folks anxious to placate rightwingers that treat it as a dirty word.

[PeaceNikki]

9. This ^

[chill_wind]

3. Republicans aren't the only ones who want to "fix" social security. n/t

[Drale]

4. The problem is the tea party has already killed the republican party

so no matter what they do they are figuratively and literally fucked, so they are going to do anything they want from now on.

[Rex]

5. Yes but if they ALL do it, how can anyone express their anger at the voting booth?

The system seems to be working. And kudos for throwing in a third party for added texture!

[sellitman]

6. ss isn't an entitlement.

Only in GOP speak.

[PeaceNikki]

10. Yes, it is. It's the biggest entitlement program in US history.

But, you see, entitlements aren't bad unless you buy into GOP bullshit.

[Ed Suspicious]

13. Couldn't agree more strongly.

You're damn right we are all entitled social security. It's our money paying for our society's security.

[PeaceNikki]

15. In government parlance, an entitlement is a "guaranteed benefit."

Like they've tried to bastardize "liberal", it's not a bad word and I am so sick of people getting so weird about it. It is, by definition, an entitlement.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

17. Those two terms have been going around in my head frequently as of late.

The local L'sTTE have been whining about "The Liberals" and their dastardly plans to steal America from the teagaggers.

I am very fond of the term "Liberal" and am quite proud whenever I am called that by a knuckle dragging teagagger.

As far as "Entitlements" is concerned, it is actually a positive term if you think about it. The term describes why we should receive it and not have it taken from us under the lie of increasing the debt. It's not like we're screaming that we want our presents that we never earned. We have paid into SS during the years that we worked and we are in fact "entitled" to receive the benefits due us.

Of course, I still want to know how chemical and biological weapons came to be called weapons of mass destruction. They are the exact opposite of that which is why the US became so heavily involved in manufacturing and using them in the first place. 2,000 pound "bunker busters" and cruise missles are WMD's because of the massive damage that they cause. Chemical and biological weapons are the instruments used if you want to take over the intact infrastructure (oil production IE) of your enemy.

Semantics aside, these are very tense times in which we find ourselves. Do any of the power brokers from either party REALLY give a rat's butt about the little people who elected them? I don't think that we are going to like the answer..............

[pipi_k]

19. Does that mean

people who paid into it for 20 or 30 or 50 years aren't entitled to get back what they contributed?

[Walk away]

8. I'm 99% sure that none of the concessions from either side will ever be enacted.

At this point the pukes just want it to seem like they won and make Democrats look bad. The Dems are doing damage control. I'm betting it's all going to be scheduled for 2018 and not written in stone.

The pukes have Congress and they are going to force the President to go through this two more times. They had better watch out. Out on the street people are pretty pissed at then this week.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. Seriously? You believe the politicos give a rats ass what we peons want?

They really don't. Corporations line their pockets. That's who they answer to. They will do whatever bodes well for their corporate masters. OBAMA is the one who put "entitlements" on the table. Remember that.

[creeksneakers2]

12. Obama has already praised the gang of six plan

Obama even says he'd accept a stop gap to allow time for something like the gang of six to be agreed on. Pelosi says she won't tell members to vote against it. It might already have the votes it needs in the Senate. Boehner and Cantor are warming up to it. The left wing media isn't fighting it. The only member of Congress I know of who has come out against it is Bernie Sanders.

Unless there is an uproar very soon its a done deal.

[Oasis_]

14. That's precisely the reason it will

appear to be a "bipartisan" heroic effort to avert default.

I posted in more detail on another thread, but in short this is all staged. The fix is in and we lose.

No one gets REALLY blamed, because, well it's a bipartisan effort. Both parties take the heat for a month or so then it's right back to business as usual--except the wealthy now come away with even larger tax cuts and we come away with the beginning of the end of our vital programs.

It's pure and simple. They win and we lose.

Also, as I explained in another thread, these loopholes will most assuredly get legislated right back in a couple years down the line. Maybe not the exact same that we're debating now, but loopholes nonetheless. Look how many the wealthy have been able to create to this point?

The lowered tax rates will become positively absolutely PERMANENT (until we further lower them the next time, that is).

But they're not done with us yet!! Because in a few years we will experience this all over again.

Any guess which tactics they will employ? Which programs will have to be come under even further budget knife scrutiny?

It's a shameless, shameless ploy.

Oasis

[OHdem10]

16. Honey they are ignoring polls. If they listened to polls, they

would taken SS Medicare off the table.

Cutting SS and Medicare has been baked it. Before Obama
was even elected. GWB was still Pres. Alice Rivalin
and others were on CNN saying this would be a great time
to tackle SS. Alice Rivalin is supposed to be a Democrat
but when it comes to financial matters you begin to wonder.

[madfloridian]

18. You are right. The polls are overwhelming, but both parties are on board.

And there is nothing we can do to stop both parties.

[provis99]

20. false hope is as American as apple pie.