Selling the Store: Why Democrats Shouldn’t Put Social Security and Medicare on the Table

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/03/21-2


House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week she's willing to consider cuts to Social Security as part of a sweeping deficit-reduction package, the so-called 'Grand Bargain.'. (Photo: File)

Prominent Democrats — including the President and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — are openly suggesting that Medicare be means-tested and Social Security payments be reduced by applying a lower adjustment for inflation.

his is even before they’ve started budget negotiations with Republicans — who still refuse to raise taxes on the rich, close tax loopholes the rich depend on (such as hedge-fund and private-equity managers’ “carried interest”), increase capital gains taxes on the wealthy, cap their tax deductions, or tax financial transactions.

It’s not the first time Democrats have led with a compromise, but these particular pre-concessions are especially unwise.

For over thirty years Republicans have pitted the middle class against the poor, preying on the frustrations and racial biases of average working people who can’t get ahead no matter how hard they try. In the Republican narrative, government takes from the hard-working middle and gives to the undeserving and dependent needy.

[Dragonfli]

1. Would she be willing to consider living on reduced SS and medicare herself?

Leave it to the wealthy to decide that the rest of us need less than we get, she also implies the serfdom is stupid and does not realize that SS adds nothing at all to the deficit, although her pampered millionaire ass takes a salary that does affect the deficit.

her idea of shared sacrifice is the absurd notion that to balance the need for more extreme wealth for the already wealthy we need to make the already poor elderly, veterans, and disabled poorer still!

Some balance! continued record profits for the wealthy on one side of the scale is somehow balanced by taking yet more from those that already barely have enough to survive on the other side of the scale, what exactly is balanced about this reverse Robin Hood approach to reform anyway?

[FogerRox]

5. Nancy live on 30k, not likely...

[pampango]

2. The article is from Robert Reich and he is right as usual. n/t

[senseandsensibility]

3. K snd R

This should have hundreds of recs and responses.

[FogerRox]

4. Dear Nancy

Kindly take that press release, fold it five times and put it where the Moon doesnt shine.