" I'm willing to cut spending on domestic programs to the lowest level in half a century."

[WinkyDink]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-07-21-obama-debt-ceiling-debate_n.htm

But over the last few months, I've also said that I'm willing to cut historic amounts of spending in order to reduce our long-term deficits. I'm willing to cut spending on domestic programs to the lowest level in half a century. I'm willing to cut defense spending by hundreds of billions of dollars. I'm willing to take on the rising costs of health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid, so we can meet our obligations to an aging population.

Some of these cuts would eliminate wasteful spending, weapons we don't need, or fraud and abuse in our health care system. Still, some of the cuts would target worthwhile programs that do a lot of good for our country. They're cuts that some people in my own party aren't too happy about, and frankly, I wouldn't make them if we didn't have so much debt.

[jtown1123]

1. Why cut "worthwhile programs?" Why not cut military? Oh, his hands are tied. We have "so much debt"

This is maddening. Our debt is caused by Bush Tax cuts, high healthcare inflation and the recession.

[KittyWampus]

22. So you haven't read the entire piece. Yet you asked me in another thread if I've read this.

He talks about cutting hundreds of billions of military spending.

[sudopod]

43. Over what time span?

A year? A decade?

[sad sally]

55. From Factcheck.org

Obama Inflates Defense ‘Cut’
July 22, 2011

President Obama's claim "that we've already cut" $400 billion in defense spending is misleading. The president was referring to a Defense Department report that identified $178 billion in "efficiencies" over five years — which the administration says will save $400 billion over 10 years. But only $78 billion of the $178 billion represents actual cuts; the rest of the identified efficiencies will be reinvested in other Pentagon programs.

The president more than once has claimed he cut defense spending by $400 billion, including at White House press conferences on June 29 and most recently on July 15.

Obama, July 15: It also requires cuts in defense spending, and I’ve said that in addition to the $400 billion that we’ve already cut from defense spending, we’re willing to look for hundreds of billions more.

Where did Obama get the figure of $400 billion in "cuts"? Kenneth Baer, a spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget, told us the $400 billion cited by the president comes from a 2011 Department of Defense Efficiency Initiatives report that details $178 billion in savings over the next five years. Baer said those savings amount to $400 billion over 10 years — although the Pentagon report does not project that far out.

http://www.factcheck.org/2011/07/obama-inflates-defense-cut/?du

Pulling ALL troops out of Iraq on December 31, 2011, which the President said he would do, would cut defense costs. In February 2009, he told Marines:

"We cannot rid Iraq of all who oppose America or sympathise with our adversaries. We cannot police Iraq's streets until they are completely safe, nor stay until Iraq's union is perfected. We cannot sustain indefinitely a commitment that has put a strain on our military, and will cost the American people nearly a trillion dollars," he said.

"America's men and women in uniform have fought block by block, province by province, year after year, to give the Iraqis this chance to choose a better future. Now, we must ask the Iraqi people to seize it."

To try to counter Iraqi suspicions that the US is intent on keeping bases in the country to safeguard oil supplies and influence the Iraqi government, Obama said: "So to the Iraqi people, let me be clear about America's intentions. The United States pursues no claim on your territory or your resources."

If the US intervention in Libya ended, another pile of money from defense could be cut. In June 2011:

In a report revealing that the total cost of US intervention in Libya as of June 3 has been $716 million and will reach $1.1 billion by the end of September, the Obama administration today told congressional leaders in a report that the role of the US military is so limited, congressional authorization is not needed.

The cost of the Afghanistan War is $436,326,000,000 and the total keeps on running. http://costofwar.com/en/?du

[vi5]

2. Raising revenues is bipartisan?

Really? Members of both parties support this? Who? What numbers of Republicans have stepped up to the plate to say this? We don't even need all of them. Just some. Who are they?

I'm so fucking sick and tired of his coddling the "both sides need to" bullshit.

[Brickbat]

3. Not even sure why people would want to try to defend this crap.

[Broderick]

50. +1000

[Lifelong Protester]

4. I wish he'd quit talking about cutting 'worthwhile programs'.

Who get's the benefit of the Bush Tax cuts? The FEW. Who benefits from a social safety net? The MANY.

Wake UP, Mr. President. The recipients of the tax cuts did not and WILL not vote for you, and will NOT create jobs or put this country on the right track.

[jtown1123]

5. If he keeps pursuing this he puts all Democrats in peril as we will be the party that cut them.

[robinlynne]

46. but they are sending him millions of dollars in campaign contributions. and that is how this system

works.

[rusty fender]

6. It is a big, fat, honking lie

Rep. Defazio, D-OR, said that the White House is only polling independents and the polling shows that they want something done about the debt. It's not about what is good for our nation, our people. It's about a political calculus involing the Pres.'s re-election.:mad:

[chill_wind]

7. And even that is interesting in the case of Independents

according to a Pew poll released in June. Preoccupation with it might be growing, thanks to the relentless Wall Street driven media over the last couple months, but even then it's not Independents' top concern. Far from it- it continues to be JOBS.

The partisan gap in deficit concern is wide: Republicans are about twice as likely as Democrats to cite the budget deficit as their biggest economic concern (37% vs. 19%). And the deficit has been rising as a concern among independents. Today, 32% say it is their top economic worry, up from 25% in March and 19% in February.




a lot more at the link- http://people-press.org/2011/06/07/more-blame-wars-than-domestic-spending-or-tax-cuts-for-nations-debt/1/

[jtown1123]

8. Also, if those polls are vague, pple will vote how they are led. If you say, cuts will affect SS

Medicare and Medicaid,they change their tune BIG TIME.

[chill_wind]

11. Exactly!

Third chart!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1541882&mesg_id=1541882

[mmonk]

9. Reagan disciple. Those programs don't do harm to the economy.

They did not create the debt we are discussing.

[SugarShack]

10. We must be the party that rises with a REAL DEM CANDIDATE!

[Starry Messenger]

12. Well, how about those crow sammies?

Looks like a lot of smug people have some walking back to do here and NOW will they help us with this? Or are we going to spend another week debating what the word "cut" reaaalllllyyyy means.

[chill_wind]

13. Prediction

If there are any SS Cola cuts as an example, we'll probably see a lot of excruciating parsing on the definitions and differences between the meanings of "cut" and "technical adjustments".

[muffin1]

30. I predict your prediction is dead on.

[Starry Messenger]

34. Yep.

I'm getting my hip waders on now. I'm sure it will be piled high and deep around here by people who will never have to decide whether they can afford beef.

[Generic Other]

38. You can't parse cash subtracted from a monthly check

Senior America will notice at the polls.

[Generic Other]

39. Mine is fat free...

[jtown1123]

14. Did y'all read the DU thread "Obama and Hamiltonian Democrats?" It explains it all quite well

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1540315

[Hell Hath No Fury]

15. That thread was like a revelation --

It put a name on what what I knew to be true from O's actions.

[jtown1123]

20. I actually remember seeing his Brookings speech back during the fiscal commission

debacle last year...I was very disturbed by it but had some hope since the fiscal commission was never voted on. But it is again.

[Hydra]

51. Holy Hell...

I see Hamilton and the Federalists in my nightmares. They did perhaps the most damage in the early days of the Republic...if we hadn't been sown from the seeds of greed in the first place.

And they want to bring this crap BACK? *facepalm*

Thanks for the heads up.

[Warren Stupidity]

56. that thread is why I love this place.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

16. I heard him say that during his speech --

as if it were something to be proud of. :puke:

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. Obama represents the Progressive Wing of the

Republican Party...... a friend gave me that line this week and he's european.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

18. I see cut cut cut cut cut -- and little mention of RAISING REVENUES

THAT is a problem.

[KittyWampus]

25. 5 paragraphs about raising revenue. You didn't read the whole thing.

At the same time, it's also true that if we tackle our deficit with spending cuts alone, it will likely end up costing seniors and middle-class families a great deal. Retired Americans will have to pay a lot more for their health care. Students will have to pay a lot more for college. A worker who gets laid off might not have any temporary help or job training to fall back on. At a time of high gas prices, we'll have to stop much of the clean energy research that will help free us from our dependence on oil.

That's why people in both parties have suggested that the best way to take on our deficit is with a more balanced approach. Yes, we should make serious spending cuts. But we should also ask the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations to pay their fair share through fundamental tax reform. Before we stop funding clean energy research, we should ask oil companies and corporate jet owners to give up the tax breaks that other companies don't get. Before we ask college students to pay more, we should ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries. Before we ask seniors to pay more for Medicare, we should ask people like me to give up tax breaks they don't need and never asked for.

The middle class hasn't just borne the brunt of this recession; they've been dealing with higher costs and stagnant wages for more than a decade now. It's just not right to ask them to pay the whole tab — especially when they're not the ones who caused this mess in the first place.

Raising revenues: a bipartisan position

A balanced deficit deal that includes some new revenues isn't just a Democratic position. It's a position that has been taken by everyone from Warren Buffett to Bill O'Reilly. It's a position that was taken this week by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, who worked together on a promising plan of their own. And it's been the position of every Democratic and Republican leader who has worked to reduce the deficit in their time, from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton.
T
here will be plenty of haggling over the details of all these plans in the days ahead. But right now, we have the opportunity to do something big and meaningful. This debate shouldn't just be about avoiding the catastrophe of not paying our bills and defaulting on our debt. That's the least we should do. This debate offers the chance to put our economy on stronger footing, restore a sense of fairness in our country, and secure a better future for our children. I want to seize that opportunity, and ask Americans of both parties and no party to join me in that effort.

[jtown1123]

31. There is zero reason to cut entitlements. Some paltry tax increases will not make up for this

[Doctor_J]

33. Revenue won't be rasied

The Gang bang Of 6 proposal says that all revenue enhancements gleaned from loophole closure must be offset by rate cuts. In the widely-circulated charts from yesterday, it was clear that taxes on the rich, super-rich, and hyper-rich will decrease, while others will increase. So the president will be cutting benefits from needy seniors while raising taxes on working people.

[Warren Stupidity]

57. middle class 'loopholes': gutted. High income rates: lowered.

fuck us.

[jtown1123]

19. I just found this old Politico Piece about Obama wanting to Cut SS from '09

President Barack Obama plans a busy February. The new administration hopes to have a stimulus package passed by Congress, a new plan in place to shore up ailing banks and, by month’s end, to hold a “fiscal responsibility” summit.

If the stimulus and banking bailout weren’t controversial enough, the summit fills some entitlement reform critics with dread, as they fear it could speed calls for cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Strikingly, however, Obama appears to be getting unusual room to maneuver on entitlements by most of his liberal allies.
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=5D876B1F-18FE-70B2-A8D7E6CD29DF7FFF
On the subject of entitlement reform, in fact, Obama’s honeymoon continues — at least in the unlikely precincts of the Democratic left, a counterintuitive development that has buoyed the spirits of reformers who would like to see drastic changes in the way Social Security works.

Opponents of significant changes to Social Security benefits were jarred in January, when the then-president-elect echoed George W. Bush’s claim of an entitlement “crisis,” warning of “red ink as far as the eye can see” in Social Security and Medicare. Obama promised that those programs would be a “central part” of his plan to reduce the federal deficit.

Social Security defenders were surprised again last week, when Obama named a leading voice for reining in entitlement spending, New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, to his Cabinet.

But despite some grumbling in the ranks, the powerful, organized movement that effectively defended the Social Security status quo from Bush’s ambitious reform effort in 2005 has been one of the key dogs that haven’t yet barked at Obama.

The relative silence of liberal activists who smashed Bush’s hopes of slowing entitlement spending is a mark of the deep trust Obama enjoys from the left of his party — and it’s also giving hope to those who would like to see major shifts in the way Social Security and other programs are funded and managed.

Obama is “in a honeymoon phase, and many liberals are afraid to express concerns,” said Rep. Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat and deficit hawk who sees the current economic crisis as an opportunity to reform entitlement spending.

[Hydra]

52. Truth

Horrible truth.

[muffin1]

21. He doesn't have a magic wand!

:puke:

K&R

[bahrbearian]

23. SO, why would you want to target programs that do a lot of good for our country?

[Doctor_J]

24. Hopefully the "He hasn't said he's going to cut" brigade will now shut up

[KittyWampus]

26. Where does he say he advocates cutting S.S.? Many DU'ers literally can't read past their own

prejudice.

[jtown1123]

32. We're not prejudiced. He wants Chained CPI. That is a cut.

Oldie, but goodie

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=5D876B1F-18FE-70B2-A8D7E6CD29DF7FFF

[muffin1]

28. You would think...

but I doubt it. Now we'll hear how "cut" doesn't mean "cut". :eyes:

[Warren Stupidity]

58. never. They have retreated to "Link Cuisineart" mode.

[Dr Fate]

27. What do you want Obama to do, swim down to the bottom of the ocean and plug up the hole himself?

Sorry, we did not elect a dictator.

What part of "we did not, we do not, and we will not have the votes" does the professional left not get?

[muffin1]

29. You never loved him!

Why are you still fighting the primaries?

:-)

[tomp]

61. he can drown for all i care.

he lost the votes by being an asshole for the first half of his term.

lame excuse. don't your knees hurt yet?

[bvar22]

35. Cutting "Hundreds of Billions" over ten years from the Military Budget...

...is barely a drop in the bucket.
It IS literally a crumb.

Cutting funding for Medicare or Social Security WILL KILL Americans.

[tomp]

62. wars will kill americans too. nt

[neverforget]

36. Why is he willing to cut when there is a NEED for these programs?

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh:
:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Doctor_J]

40. He's trolling for "independent" votes for next year

:puke:

He'll need one to make up for mine

[EFerrari]

41. Independent voters don't want this sh!t, either. n/t

[Selatius]

59. No. He's pandering to low information voters who think gov't spending is bad in general

They may or may not want to revisit the issue whenever they fall on tough times, but by then the gov't programs that were there to help them are either gone or horribly underfunded or undermanned to the point of being ineffectual. They would only have themselves to blame, but they'd be taking us all down with them.

[Zorra]

37. We can call it the "Raw Deal". nt

[truebrit71]

42. "frankly, I wouldn't make them if we didn't have so much debt"...If the don't add to the debt...

...why cut them...???

Roll back the Bush tax-gifts....jeebus on a bike, it isn't that fucking difficult...!!!!

[BreweryYardRat]

44. Please don't be deliberately disingenuous.

From the same article:

"But we should also ask the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations to pay their fair share through fundamental tax reform. Before we stop funding clean energy research, we should ask oil companies and corporate jet owners to give up the tax breaks that other companies don't get. Before we ask college students to pay more, we should ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries. Before we ask seniors to pay more for Medicare, we should ask people like me to give up tax breaks they don't need and never asked for.

The middle class hasn't just borne the brunt of this recession; they've been dealing with higher costs and stagnant wages for more than a decade now. It's just not right to ask them to pay the whole tab — especially when they're not the ones who caused this mess in the first place."

[Blue_In_AK]

45. This man is no Democrat. n/t

[kenny blankenship]

47. He never said that! How dare you imply he said that!

He never said he offered 650 billion dollars in cuts to Medicare and Social Security! He has never uttered or written the phrase "650 billion dollars", let alone appended them to the word "cuts".

Are you going to believe your lying eyes again? OMG it's the Rick Warren thing all over...

[in_cog_ni_to]

48. Stops the damn wars and this conversation ends TODAY.

It really is that fucking simple, but it's better to make the elderly and poor suffer more than they already are.

[ClarkUSA]

49. Boehner: "The Pres. is adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs."

John Boehner on why he walked out:

The president is emphatic that taxes have to be raised. The president is adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x718648

[EFerrari]

53. Again, you are confusing what Boner said with what Obama said.

How creepy.

lol

[Hydra]

54. Boehner means that Obama won't dismantle the system entirely

Just because he asked.

Boehner's just impatient because he smells blood. $650 Billion ripped out of it for more tax cuts for the wealthy will do the job just fine.

[tomp]

60. what a fucking asshole.

fucking hatchet man for the rich.

no cuts, no deals, fuck the rich, make them pay(back).