Did anyone else wait for the facts before getting all worked up?

[Kingofalldems]

I did. But I do appreciate the fervor for protecting SS and Medicare on DU.

[seabeyond]

1. yup. i did. thank you thank you. still waiting.... nt

[Kingofalldems]

5. There will be lots of drama and spin from the republicans

in the coming days. They are sneaky and not to be trusted.

[uppityperson]

14. still waiting here too. but then, I AM uppity.

[seabeyond]

16. ah haha. me? i am

humble. lol

still need to see a video of obama speech

[murielm99]

20. You and me both. n/t

[tammywammy]

2. I did. n/t

[DJ13]

3. You mean the Hundreds of Billions Obama admitted he was willing to cut

from SS & Medicare in his just finished press conference?

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tx4obama]

11. But NOT to benefits....

Finding cuts due to over-payments, fraud, overhead, waste, etc is a different story.
Also, the issue of negotiating of prescription drug prices was also discussed as a way to cut 'costs'.

[freshwest]

12. Those sound like winners, indeed, and have been misconstrued. But what about the debt ceiling?

[DJ13]

13. The Chained CPI is most definately a CUT to benefits

[kelly1mm]

15. Why can't he do that now? nt

[Sheepshank]

4. Jumping up and down waving hand in air.... n/t

[Tx4obama]

6. I did. But of course I was called a cheerleader as usual :)

[Kingofalldems]

9. I like it.

:fistbump:

[Cognitive_Resonance]

7. Just amazing how many here don't get it. Proudly keeping my Obama bumper sticker on display. nt

[Palmer Eldritch]

8. Some prefer fits and starts to patience.

[Forkboy]

17. Tough to have patience when you're not sure if you'll be able to eat and pay rent next month.

In a democracy the citizens should be perpetual gadflies to every politician. Some people don't like that because they put personality over issues, but they're fools. I'd much prefer people speak up loudly and be wrong than stay silent and be correct.

[DainBramaged]

19. Got that right, I go through that EVERY month

:hi:

[Forkboy]

I have $23 dollars for the rest of this month.

It's sad that people can't understand why this issue has people nervous. Washington doesn't exactly have a stellar record of caring about poor people. I'm thrilled that so many have been loud and vocal about this.

I'll be even more thrilled if we're all wrong about it. :)

[DainBramaged]

23. $78 for gas food and medicine for the week.

another rice and oatmeal week my friend.

[Forkboy]

28. ...

:pals:

[KittyWampus]

24. Yeah, but Forkboy- you're an actual 'gadfly'. You're not a raving loon spewing hatred

on Obama and all elected Democrats.

There's a huge difference.

[Forkboy]

29. I know there are people who just flat out hate Obama, and I do understand the frustration they cause

But on this issue a lot of the ammo they've used could have been averted simply by Obama stating forcefully that there would be zero cuts to SS right from the start, and then letting the Republicans deal with that. There's been a lot of needless showmanship, and when people are truly scared (and people on SS are very scared right now) that doesn't play well. It's a subject that never should have been on the table to start with.

It sounds like today's speech by Obama (haven't seen it yet, but hope to) is an example of what I mean. Make your case, make it forcefully, and draw your line in the sand. This should have been the starting point.

And I do appreciate you noting the difference with me. I do not hate Obama at all, though I do admit that he wasn't even close to my first choice. But I'm not holding him to any standard I wouldn't have held Dean or DK or anyone else to (I might even have been harder on them due to higher expectations).

[piratefish08]

18. he offered $650 BILLION in social safety net cuts and NO NEW TAXES on the wealthy and

"people like him",


yay team? i guess.

[Kingofalldems]

25. If all that happens, I'll be just as pissed.

But I really don't think it will now.

[pinboy3niner]

21. Why start now? :)

[dawg]

22. I've been worked up by the rhetoric coming out of the White House.

When the President said the Government needed to tighten it's belt just like families, I became alarmed. That is a conservative concept - at odds with the Keynesian approach to managing the economy that I thought my party stood for.

I had already been somewhat alarmed by the agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts for two more years. I appreciate the need to extend unemployment benefits, and that compromises sometimes have to be made. But it was clearly a hostage situation. I think it was short-sighted that a debt-limit increase was not demanded as part of that deal. And even now, I'm not sure we couldn't have used the weight of public opinion to force through the unemployment extension without having to give those tax cuts. Without those tax cuts, the current deficit "crisis" would be greatly reduced.

So when I heard rumors that the President was offering a switch to a chained CPI and an increase in the Medicare age to 67, I found those rumors to be very believable. Even if they were bluffs, I feel that they were bluffs that I think were damaging to the Democratic message.

Perhaps those things were never really on the table at all. But the rhetoric has been center-right, and quite frankly, I resent that.

I still plan to vote for President Obama next year, but my enthusiasm is all gone. And while I may have overreacted to some things, and jumped to some conclusions too early, I don't think my concerns have been totally unwarranted.

I can be a dick at times. But I have seen other people, really strong liberals and good people I respect on this board, expressing similar concerns. If people like that are so worried, surely it isn't all our fault.

[DevonRex]

26. I did. I saw exactly how this would play out

at the last news conference.

[October]

27. Yes. And I'm still watching and waiting - and weeding through the DU commentary.

[L0oniX]

30. Well Obama was sure as hell letting us know he was standing up for our SS and Medicare...

for some people I guess. I didn't happen to see or hear that. :evilfrown: