Americans don't want a 'grand bargain'

[eridani]

http://www.thestand.org/2012/10/americans-dont-want-a-grand-bargain/

What is the grand bargain? It boils down to lower tax rates for rich people — paid for by benefit cuts for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These are precisely the issues that are being debated so vigorously in the campaign, and voters do not want anything to do with such a deal.

The pundits will tell you that Democrats have no choice but to accept Social Security and Medicare benefit cuts — because this is the only way Republicans will agree to more tax revenue. This is the grand bargain.

We could not disagree more.

When I hear people say we need to cut Social Security benefits, I wonder whether they know that millions of people lost their retirement savings in the Great Recession and that traditional pensions are increasingly hard to come by. Do the benefit cutters think seniors are sitting around wondering how to spend their lavish retirement benefits — now averaging the princely sum of $14,500 per year? Do they think near-seniors are suddenly realizing that their savings and pensions are much more secure than they had ever imagined possible? Are the people who want to raise the retirement age aware that life expectancy for Americans who lack a high school diploma is actually declining? Do they understand that raising the retirement age is a benefit cut, no matter what age you retire?

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/263721-liberals-fear-lame-duck-betrayal-by-incumbent

While Obama is relying on labor unions and other organizations on the left to turn out Democratic voters in battleground states, some of his allies have lingering concerns about whether he will stand by them if elected.

The liberal groups are planning to launch an aggressive campaign immediately after Election Day to pressure Obama and Senate Democrats not to endorse any deal that cuts Medicare and/or Social Security benefits.

They say Republicans are also being targeted, but acknowledge that Democrats are more likely to respond to the lobbying campaign.

The coalition has yet to be formally announced, so organizers are reluctant to speak publicly about the effort or disclose the full membership of the coalition.

It is expected to include the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, Campaign for America’s Future, members of the Strengthen Social Security coalition and dozens of other groups, according to sources familiar with the effort.

[limpyhobbler]

1. I hope there is a big lobbying campaign like it says, but right after the election

everybody is going to be wiped out. And it's going to be cold outside for rallies.

[eridani]

2. We have no choice but to wait. If Repukes get any more power than they already have--

--we are totally and permanently fucked. A lot of people are going to die.

[xchrom]

3. Du rec. Nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. Not one cent! This bipartisan con job must not be allowed to go forward in any form.

If keeping the meager benefits means no more revenue increases, so be it. Let the republicans shut it down and take the blowback themselves. We've lived through government shutdowns before and survived, and as time passes and the consequences of no government manifest and begin to effect people directly, they will physically drag their reps back to work if they have to in short order.