And so it begins...Collins (R-NY) Blasts ‘Chained CPI’ Proposal

[Oilwellian]

Democrats are going to be clobbered for proposing Chained CPI. We tried to warn you.

On the eve of President Obama’s budget presentation, a Western New York Republican joined the AARP in criticizing an expected decrease in the amount paid out in Social Security benefits by restructuring cost of living adjustments. Chris Collins says the move would hurt seniors and veterans.

“If you change the calculation of the consumer price index and how you calculate inflation, that’s going to continue to pinch our seniors who, come the end of the month, the stories I hear, are having trouble putting food on the table,” Collins said.

According to the AARP, changing the way the consumer price index is calculated would cost seniors and veteran pension recipients in Erie County $476 Million in future benefits. An AARP representative told YNN’s Ryan Whalen Tuesday, the “Chained CPI” expected in the President’s budget would hit Erie County harder than originally expected.

“It does not take into account the fixed costs that the seniors or all of us have, such as utilities, your healthcare costs, prescription drugs, gasoline. You can’t make a substitution for those. So that will make it even more difficult, particularly for those who are struggling to begin with,” AARP advocate Dave Hollen said.

http://capitaltonightny.ynn.com/2013/04/collins-blasts-chained-cpi-proposal/#.UWXAnJrtggM.reddit

[bowens43]

1. Good.

[avaistheone1]

2. K&R

[vi5]

3. Oh, stop worrying about it.

I mean sure Republicans will run ads claiming Obama and Democrats proposed and supported cutting social security via chained CPI. But boy will we all have the last last when we run our counter ads telling voters that....well, Obama didn't really mean it....he knew the Republicans wouldn't accept it and.....well it was centrist and.....something, something 10 dimensional chess...and....


Oh who am I kidding. We're fucked thanks to Obama's obsession with a "grand bargain" and attempting to win the approval of serious Republican "daddies" and the beltway media..

[AnotherMcIntosh]

19. That's a relief. He IS a chess master.

[duffyduff]

42. He sure is

[CountAllVotes]

51. yeah he is brilliant alright

As people that are sick and elderly hear about this they become sicker. Now they need to go to the ER more. Now they cost more and more and more and more ....

Thanks to you BO you damn fraud!!!

[msongs]

4. the delusion is that he will be loved if he just gives it all the way? nt

[Recursion]

71. No, the delusion is this makes the Pete Petersons fall into a pit of despair

This actually is about elite "Washington Consensus" opinion, which does matter some (though less than the elite Washingtonians think it does), and it's about making Pete Peterson give up on any hope of ever achieving his goals so that he shuts up and goes home.

[datasuspect]

5. foot . . .

meet ass

[blkmusclmachine]

6. EVERYBODY saw this coming. We're in a world of trouble for 2014. Thanks, Obama (not that he cares)

Political malpractice of the highest order. And deep betrayal of basic Democratic principles. But Obama was never much of a Democrat, anyway, foisted upon us by the DLC/Third Way which obviously controls the Party. Welcome, Speaker Cruz.

[duffyduff]

43. Never was one for all intents and purposes

It was obvious in 2008 what was up. No vetting of the candidate by the media, nothing but talk about a historic run, all kinds of hype.

If one did the research, it was pretty obvious he was pretty far to the right.

[CountAllVotes]

52. Betrayl indeed

I say IMPEACH this man that has lied to the American people with his promise to protect SS and Medicare!

aright! Damn sight as are you my friend.

[SammyWinstonJack]

66. Damn! Speaker Cruz.

[JCMach1]

72. exactly... the chained CPI is a disaster as is the push for gun control

If gun control measures go through, the gun nuts are pissed... if nothing happens, everyone else is pissed because nothing happened. that is a recipe for disaster in 2014...

[bullwinkle428]

7. It gets worse - Michele Bachmann just stepped to oppose chained CPI.

Seriously.

[Oilwellian]

9. Good grief

I hoped this wouldn't happen, but here we are. Brilliant game of chess there, Third Way corporate toadies.

[Larrylarry]

18. And you think she can do damage to the Democratic Party

Every time she opens her mouth the damage happens to the GOP not the Dems

Michele Bachmann has been calling for entitlement cuts for 600 years
when she comes out against entitlement cuts how is that gonna look ? .... A bit political ?

Trust me , Michele Bachmann is not capable of doing damage to the Democratic Party

[AgingAmerican]

36. Death by 1000 cuts

That's how the GOP operates. Idiots like Bachmann say stupid indefensible things and the whole GOP runs with it.

[Larrylarry]

47. And it hurts them every time

Implying that the tea party politics has helped the GOP is completely absurd

[AgingAmerican]

48. Yes, but...

they just don't care. Over time their idiocy begins to seep into the mainstream lexicon. The information bubble becomes 'common knowledge'. It's like boiling a frog. Put the frog in a pan of cold water and put it on the stove. The frog doesn't notice the slowly rising temperature and eventually happily boils to death.

Over years, decades, their stupid becomes the new normal. They seep into every crack and crevasse. What was once the glaring stupidity of Reaganism has now seeped into segments of the Democratic party.

Death by 1000 cuts ...

[closeupready]

39. Wow. Did she really?

I have a bad feeling about that.

[Mnpaul]

53. And the guy who ran against her

Jim Graves, has come out in favor of it.

[totodeinhere]

80. Obviously anything that Obama might support she will oppose. If Obama had come out against

chained CPI then she's be for it.

[progressoid]

8. Yeah, well, shows what you know about chess.

This is a Zwischenzug move!

[rhett o rick]

10. OMG. Who could have seen this coming? Democrats in 2014 will have to either say, "I dont support

the leader of my party" or "I support cutting SS". Thanks Pres Obama.

[duffyduff]

44. If a Republican proposed this, it would be shot down immediately

Having a "Democrat" propose this crap neutralizes the opposition in his own supposed party.

And the billionaires and banksters who own Obama get what they want anyway.

[graham4anything]

11. This is the point- President Obama ropes the dopes again and again

And then the republicans will be on record of never doing this so it shall never happen.
Besides though, these counties aren't democratic anyhow.

OR if it does happen, ALL THOSE republican counties will turn BLUE.

It's a triple dare delight that only helps the democratic party nationwide.

One of the biggest ropeadopes in history.

You see-to make matters clear-
raw demographics show-
the people that are the same people protesting are not the core demographic voters, who actuary figures show do not live very long after hitting retirement age.
However, the one and only group that does NOT vote for Barack Obama(the angry white older male, are the ones who fit the demographic.

Piss them off, and NO democratic votes are lost. HOWEVER, if they live in the areas where they didn't vote democratic in the first place, their leaders ARE REPUBLICANS.
And that means-
they will take their anger out on their local house member-THE REPUBLICAN and knock them out of office.

Irony is dripping here. Don't all democratic party voters get irony/sarcasm/wit?
Because this picture is so evidently clear.

Democratic party may pick up 50 extra seats (on top of the ones they might also get for other reasons).

So the naysayers are as usual, like the pollsters who told Mitt he would win.
Looking at all the wrong numbers.

[NOVA_Dem]

13. Honest question.

Do you really believe that or are you trolling? If you really believe that you might have an unhealthy "admiration" for the President.

[trumad]

24. trolling.

[Bake]

54. I was gonna say "both."

I.e., trolling AND unhealthy (i.e., blind) support for the President. Par for the course.

Bake

[AverageJoe90]

14. Very true, and Potus HAS had some successes before.

I do sincerely hope this doesn't backfire on him, though. Not that it's all that likely, but nothing is ever for sure so let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that the Repubs still fall for the trap instead of the President in theirs.

[Union Scribe]

32. It must hurt like hell

to contort oneself so severely to avoid reality. If Obama clubbed you in the head with a bat you'd thank him for giving you a vacation in the hospital.

[neverforget]

46. It's gotten to the point of cartoonish obsurdity

[SammyWinstonJack]

67. LOL!

[Bonobo]

57. Some dopes certainly have been roped.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022452465

[Nite Owl]

12. And Obama and the pundits

Keep saying it's his liberal base doing all the complaining.

[loyalsister]

15. Suppose a republican were to be baited into saying....

"SS has nothing to do with the deficit"

[AverageJoe90]

17. And that's what keeps me from being quite so concerned right now, TBH.

Because, later on, Democrats can use Republican hypocrisy against them, not just in next year's election, but in '16, too. It happened last year, and we can do it again.

[loyalsister]

21. Yep

I'm keeping an open mind and hoping. The outrage over CCPI coming from the right is encouraging to me.

[AverageJoe90]

28. Me too. It may not work quite right away, though. It may take some time. n/t

[Indyfan53]

86. Thank you!

This will give us leverage in 2014.

[AverageJoe90]

87. Indeed. And maybe by 2016 we might just very well have a House majority.

The key is, let's try not to lose sight of the 2012 state of mind.....the key to our success then, was we banded together and kicked ass; we even managed to override Karl Rove's attempts to steal Ohio! And conversely, infighting helped cement our defeat in 2010......

But if we can stay together, then we might be able to turn states like Missouri, Indiana, or even Texas blue.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

20. Do you mean like this guy?

[loyalsister]

23. As opposed to the Reagan

Paul Ryan & co. think they know.

[Marr]

37. Yeah? They contradict themselves and do 180's all the time. /nt

[ananda]

16. This is amazing!

Obama is forcing Reeps to turn left.

Whoa!!!

[Oilwellian]

25. Actually, if they turn left...

they will be asked by our dear leader to vote for the cuts.

[AverageJoe90]

27. Hope it works! n/t

[Union Scribe]

33. No. He's making them seem like they're turning left

by outflanking them to the right.

[OldDem2012]

22. I think you meant to say "Democrat", not "Democrats". The President is the only one...

....making this proposal as far as I know.

Based on Collins' remarks, it looks like he's forcing the GOP Tea-Nazis to back away from their plan to destroy SS.

[Oilwellian]

26. He isn't the only one

I have video clips of every single Democratic leader speaking out in support of the cuts. Wait til you see my video. I've been inspired to finish it.

[aandegoons]

29. The commercials will be devastating.

The Democrats are absolutely afraid of winning. They understand that if they take the legislative and executive we will finally see them for what they are. The corporate shills they have been paid to be.

[duffyduff]

45. It's turning out to be one political party, with two wings

I want the old Democratic Party back.

[brooklynite]

50. Actually the commercials will be nonexistent

The average Republican will still be talking about voucherizing the programs when they're not talking about repealing Obamacare. CPI chaining won't be showing up.

[aandegoons]

63. I am not seeing this as an option for them.

If anything it may be both, but why would they ignore a huge political gift like Obama pushing grandma off the cliff?

[robinlynne]

30. Well, at least the entire country agrees about that!

[gateley]

31. The GOP appears to be listening to its constituents. nt

[whathehell]

35. Yes, it would be nice if the Democrats would do that, wouldn't it?

We are SOOO screwed.

[gateley]

38. It'll never make it to a vote, I don't think. And now that the Republicans have

gotten on board, maybe the next budget won't contain it. Maybe we DID make a difference!

[Liberalynn]

41. Hope you are right

[gateley]

61. Me, too. WE have to keep the pressure on.

[whathehell]

49. I hope not...Still, I don't get why he did this...It's "opening the door" and that's not good, IMO.

[gateley]

60. I don't get it, either. The WH said it was surprised at the reaction of the people --

maybe he thought he could get away with it and needed it to reach a compromise?

But I heard a clip from Krugman on the way home from work saying that SS is a Democratic program and we've fought to keep it going for years, a Democrat shouldn't be leading the charge to weaken it.

[whathehell]

62. He was "surprised"?

Does this mean KNOW the history of the Democratic Party?

[Liberalynn]

68. Not to mention the fact that

every time he has brought it up in the last few years, we have all been screaming at him "no that's a really bad idea, don't keep bringing it up."

By saying he is "shocked by the opposition" to it now is admitting he hasn't been listening at all.

Not good, and sure as hell not what he promised.

[whathehell]

69. Damn right.

I hate to say it, but he's starting to look like a big Fraud....Cutting Social Security

not only hurts the elderly, but ALSO disabled veterans, which I find despicable.

[gateley]

81. I don't know what it means -- that's just what I heard.

I actually thought it was that they thought it would be pretty low-key -- some backlash, but not the amount that it has actually generated.

[whathehell]

83. I understand..

I'm not challenging you...I just can't imagine any democrat being "surprised"

that people are upset at attempts to cut Social Security -- especially when

he explicitly said he would NOT do that during his campaign.

Beyond knowing squat about democratic party history, he apparently thinks

there's no "downside" to lying through your teeth.

I find this man is VERY confusing.

[gateley]

84. And I understood that -- sorry if I sounded defensive -- not my intent.

I'm puzzled myself.

My guess is that he's convinced himself this ISN'T a cut to SS (don't bother trying to convince me that it is --I'm already convinced).

I think a lot of politicians lie to themselves, selectively focusing on what they need in order to be able to sleep at night.

So maybe it's like "I'm not cutting social security, I'm making these tweaks to it in order to achieve something for the greater good of all" or something like that. Not ALLOWING himself to think about what the actual ramifications will be.

That's just my speculation. And I always tend to give people the benefit of the doubt (except for Cheney, et al) or at least try to understand WHY if the action goes against my sense of the person.

[whathehell]

85. Okay, no problem at all....As for Obama and these proposed cuts

I guess you're giving him more "benefit of the doubt" than I am...Of course, the thing is,

NOBODY, especially the vast majority of us who don't know him personally, can get inside someone else's

head, but I'm starting to believe he's not quite the "good guy" I thought he was...I'm not saying he's

demon spawn, or anything, but I don't think he is, or ever was, really, a democrat, in anything

but name...I think he's a moderate republican and beyond that, I'm not sure WHAT to think.

I voted for him three times (primary included) and Mr. Whathehell and I gave hundreds in donations to his campaign,

and now he's trying to screw us.

This may seem too "cloak and dagger" for some, but one possibility I consider, is whether or

not he and/or his family are "under threat" by some of the darker actors in the corporate/political world.

[dgibby]

77. Or maybe the WH

thought the people were too stupid to understand what C-CPI would do to them. Whatever, it's a colossally stupid move, IMO.

[gateley]

82. Yeah, I think they (obviously) underestimated the public. Let's face it --

all Presidents are able to get a lot of things done without a lot of notice being taken (except for a small, never-listened-to minority). They miscalculated on this one.

They should have learned from Bush -- don't fuck with SS.

[warrior1]

34. Obama is taking the heat

so in the long run, SS will not be cut. Braver than anyone I know.

[grahamhgreen]

40. :SARCASM:

[whathehell]

70. I'll call him "brave" when he takes the heat from Wall St..

but I'm not holding my breath.

Cutting disabled veterans and the elderly isn't what I call "brave".

[Liberalynn]

76. +1000

[dgibby]

78. Amen to that!

Brave would be going after Wall Street, going after war criminals, etc. Waging class warfare on the people who are the least able to defend themselves isn't brave. It's craven.

[whathehell]

79. You betcha..

and "craven", would, I believe, be the correct word. It's hard to believe

this president would really go there.

Regarding 2016: Let's NOT get fooled again.

[Mnpaul]

55. Head of the NRCC - "Shocking attack on seniors"

[Oilwellian]

56. Well, isn't that special?

The next few days should be quite Orwellian.

[Mnpaul]

58. The next few days won't be half as bad

as the next two years. Be prepared to hear this over and over and over again. Someone is probably repeating it over at Fox as we speak.

[Oilwellian]

59. Paul and Grover have chimed in

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said Wednesday that chained CPI “as a stand-alone measure” would constitute a violation of his group’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

“I want to take a look at it,” Ryan says of the proposal to change how the government calculates cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and other federal benefits. “I think the president should be commended for leaning into an issue that is not popular.”

Ryan, however, is not endorsing the proposal, noting that House Republicans have favored an approach that would fundamentally reform entitlement programs without affecting current seniors, unlike Obama’s plan. “It’s statistical reform,” he told reporters at National Review’s office in Washington, D.C. “You can’t claim it’s great entitlement reform.”

More

[Liberalynn]

64. Collins Represents My Area so I just called his office

I told the lady who answered, that I wanted to thank the Congressman for coming out against Chained CPI and that it was hard for me to thank him because I am a registered Democrat. I said I hope he will continue to stand against no matter who asks him to change his mind his party leaders or mine.

I said "somebody needs to stop this, and I don't care which party it is as long as somebody does," she actually laughed at that and said thank you I will pass along your message to the Congressman and thank your for your support for his stand against Chained CPI.

It left a disgusting taste in my Mouth to actually thank a PUKE and I hope to never ever, ever, have to do it again but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Now I have to go throw up.

[SammyWinstonJack]

65. GOBAMA.

[NCTraveler]

73. With a Democrat in the White House the headline should read....

Collins (R-NY) Blasts 'Removing the Cap' Proposal.

WTF just happened.

[Liberalynn]

75. It's like we are in "bizarro world"

where everything is in reverse of what it should be. In the words of the great "Vinnie Barbarino" "I'm so confused."

[alcibiades_mystery]

74. Does that mean chained CPI won't pass?

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

88. Oh, for the love of God, can someone say "Righteous Indignation"

Of course Republicans are coming out against this plan. They see this issue, where there is significant opposition from progressives, as an opportunity to capitalize politically. That is why they are just absolutely "outraged."

And if any progressive wants to call their GOP congressman and thank them for their "courage," why don't you ask them what their position on Social Security was in 2005 when George Bush wanted to partially privatize it, which would have done a hell of lot more damage to Social Security than Chained CPI.