Saving Social Security: Stopping Obama's Next Bad Deal

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-baker/saving-social-security-st_b_799135.html

President Obama insists that he is a really bad negotiator, therefore the deal he got on the 2-year extension of the Bush tax cuts and the 1-year extension of UI benefits was the best that he could do. This package also came with a 1-year cut in the Social Security tax.

This cut will seriously threaten the program's finances if next year, the Republican Congress is no more willing to end a temporary tax cut than this year's Democratic Congress.

The logic here is straightforward. Under the law, the Bush tax cuts were supposed to end in 2010. Tax rates returned to their pre-tax cut levels in 2011. However, the Republicans maintained a steady drumbeat about the evils of raising taxes in the middle of a downturn, even if the tax increase would just apply to the richest 2 percent of the population.

As we saw, President Obama and the Democratic Congress could not muster the votes needed to overcome the Republicans and ended up extending the tax cuts for the richest 2 percent of the population. The Democrats will be faced with a similar situation at the end of 2011 when the Social Security tax cut is scheduled to expire, except that this time the tax cut in question will apply to overwhelming majority of working people.

More at the link --

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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

[BzaDem]

2. While I did not unrec the post

I think it is absolutely hilarious that you are getting so angry over what people do on a message board. I think the people who unrecced your post would be completely fine with seeing you "eye to eye," and the reason they didn't (rather than being because they were "afraid") was because they simply didn't think wasting the time on this post was worth it.

[whathehell]

4. You must be young...

or completely out of the loop.

Go to the Greatest Page and find the thread about the Morning Joe crew, at least one Dem included, yucking it up

this morning over "the need to cut Medicare and Social Security".

[whathehell]

3. This morning I joined the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare

along with a bunch of other ticked off DUers.

I no longer have the link, but you can just google the name and go there.

[jtown1123]

17. www.ncpssm.org

[whathehell]

19. Thanks for providing the link. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

5. The repukes have been waiting for this since the day FDR got it passed....

"President Obama insists that he is a really bad negotiator "

so, which is worse...Is he plain dumb and incompetent, or a big fat liar???

[shanti]

21. well, he IS an attorney

do the math.

[Mimosa]

6. Proud to K&R this 'Must read' article, excellent analysis. n/t

[fascisthunter]

7. kick and recommend! (nt)

[Poboy]

8. recommended

[madfloridian]

9. Recommended heartily.

:hi:

[ProSense]

10. "This package also came with a 1-year cut in the Social Security tax."

I guess stating it this way is for max fear mongering.

<...>

For this reason, the threat of a default is a gun pointed most directly at Wall Street. Given the power of Wall Street over Congress, is inconceivable that they would ever let the Republicans pull the trigger.

This means that if President Obama is prepared to take the right and popular position of supporting Social Security and Medicare, he will win. This is both good policy and great politics. The public just has to force President Obama to stand up and show some leadership.

It's simply unbelievable that Baker can argue that Social Security is really popular and the President needs to be forced not to cut it.

In terms of cutting Social Security benefits, what's in it for the President, re-election?

Is that plausible?

[Still a Democrat]

11. The holiday will have already been expired for a year

when the bulk of the tax package expires and any extension may be negotiated.

[TheKentuckian]

13. Can you explain the mechanism for the constraint you lay out?

Far as I know nothing in the world prevents Congress from passing another extension or making it permanent.

[Still a Democrat]

14. They can't argue the holiday is a tax increase because it will have been gone for a year

Of course, they can pass anything. But it's erroneous to say the Republicans can argue for the extension of the holiday as avaoiding a tax increase, because it will be gone for a year by then.

[librechik]

16. yes--like they argued that extending Bush Tax cuts would be an increase

It didn't stop them that they were "gone" for 10 years. They don't operate by logic, but through emotion.

[Still a Democrat]

18. Huh?

The Bush tax cuts hadn't been gone for ten years - they set to expire at the beginning of 2011. Thus, their argument taxes would go up January 1, 2011.

Agreed, they aren't always logical!

[TheKentuckian]

22. What stops them from making the same case anytime?

I'm just wondering what locks any of it from being extended or made permanent or even stopped?

They'll be banging the drum to make this permanent as it is running out.

[Jim Lane]

23. You're right that that argument would be illogical in late 2012, but what about late 2011?

The point is that, whenever the supposedly temporary "holiday" is about to expire, the Republicans will paint this event as a tax increase. Their logic and their talking points were honed in the late-2010 fight over the expiring Bush tax cuts. In late 2011 (re Social Security) and late 2012 (re the same Bush tax cuts, again expiring), they'll just cut and paste the same stuff.

The Democrats could not resist this BS with majorities in both houses. When these latest "temporary" measures are about to expire, the Democrats won't have the House and will have greatly reduced leverage in the Senate. So, if they couldn't fight off the Republicans' fiscal irresponsibility this year, it's even less likely that they'll do so in the future.

That's why many people see this supposed "holiday" as a permanent cut, and hence a permanent weakening of Social Security.

[Still a Democrat]

24. I see your point, Jim

They could do that, but I think the major momentum and negotiation of any further extensions will be at the end of 2012 when the lion's share of the cuts are set to expire. We shall see.

[me b zola]

12. Recommended n/t

[foxfeet]

15. K&R

[Better Believe It]

20. Oooppppsss! Didn't see this had already been posted until now.

[Poboy]

25. .