The Nation absolutely NAILS IT re: Obama and Social Security

[WilliamPitt]

(snip)

The president set this trap himself; now Boehner will spring it on him. Does Obama not remember how Democrats lost control of the House back in 2010? The party got very little credit for enacting health care reform because the Republicans had already demonized the accomplishment as a threat to the much-beloved program of Medicare. The rightwingers promised to save Medicare from bloodthirsty Democrats by repealing Obama’s new reform program. This was all a ridiculous lie, of course, but the White House declined to call out the liars. Instead, Obama responded with flowers. This time, he is taking Republicans out to diinner.

So here is what I expect to happen. The elaborate and confusing charade of deficit politics will continue through this year and next—both parties solemnly seeking to shrink the swollen federal deficits—and distracting Washington from the real economic threat of stagnation or worse. At the end of the day, Social Security will not be cut. Nor will much else be accomplished, for good or for ill. Yes, the two parties may eventually approve some grandiose budget resolutions—official promises to cut spending drastically. But that process is usually a charade in itself with a long-established history of fiction and fantasy.

(snip)

In fact, there is an even bigger lie concealed by the fiscal scolds and ignored by witless media, too. Again and again, self-righteous critics have portrayed Social Security as the profligate monster borrowing from the Treasury and sucking the life out of federal government. Guess what? It's the other way around. The federal government borrows from Social Security. The Treasury has been borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund for 30 years, and the debt to Social Security beneficiaries now totals nearly $3 trillion. The day is approaching when that money will be needed for its original purpose: paying Social Security benefits to the working people who contributed to the fund.

That is the real crisis that makes the financial barons and their media collaborators so anxious to cut Social Security benefits. They would like to get out of repaying the debt—that is, giving the money back to the people who earned it. The only way to do this is cut the benefits—over and over again. Count on it. If the president and Congress succeed in this malicious scheme, they will come back again and again to cut more and more. If the politicians join this sordid conspiracy, voters should come after them with pitchforks and torches.

The whole thing: http://www.thenation.com/blog/173771/will-voters-forgive-obama-cutting-social-security

[haikugal]

1. Bingo!!!!

There it is...

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

2. Feh. The Nation's nothing but a bunch of emoprogs.

[radiclib]

76. EMOPROGS?

[The Magistrate]

3. Exactly, Mr. Pitt: They Want To Welsh On The Markers

That is all this is about....

[xtraxritical]

55. I don't see why, politicians don't have skin in SS and to mess with it is

the "third rail" death. It does not compute.

[demwing]

85. the OP clearly shows they do!

They'very borrowed from the fund, don't want to pay it back, and want to balance the books on cuts-Multiple cuts to the program.

[myrna minx]

4. K&R.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. I like this section:

That is the real crisis that makes the financial barons and their media collaborators so anxious to cut Social Security benefits. They would like to get out of repaying the debt— that is, giving the money back to the people who earned it. The only way to do this is cut the benefits—over and over again. Count on it. If the president and Congress succeed in this malicious scheme, they will come back again and again to cut more and more. If the politicians join this sordid conspiracy, voters should come after them with pitchforks and torches.

[Jerry442]

27. This is the key to the whole thing.

The rich have decided that it's a better deal to spend a little bit of their money on bullshit propaganda about how SS is broke, than to repay the middle-class people who paid into the fund during their working years. (Remember it was mostly money from the middle class that was paid into the fund because of the cap.)

[DonB]

75. It has worked very well for them stealing pensions,

why should they stop there - hell, ronnie raygun, as dementia addled as he was, got ir raised it to 14% for every working sack in America. Now it's time for the big boys to cash in.

[loudsue]

86. Many people have not watched as elderly relatives have had their pensions yanked

out from under them at the age of 79+, when the companies they worked for are bought/sold/dismembered by the 1%, so that they don't have to keep paying pensions.

It is WAY more than devastating to watch someone on a modest but fixed income land on their ass when they are too old and infirm to find a job, much less work. A great deal of it has been in the banking industry. When BB&T bought United Bank, hundreds of elderly people in north carolina lost their pensions, or they were cut in half, and the medical benefits went away. I know many of those people personally. Just the stress and shock of it almost killed some of them.

[KoKo]

87. Thanks for making that point. It's never written about..how

how mergers and bankruptcies of companies have cost workers promised pension benefits and disrupted their whole lives. Wall Street has been so good in the last few decades at having Hedge Funds buy out companies and then lay off workers and find ways to cut pensions. The whole 401-K was a way to transfer obligations to workers who may or may not be able to manage a 401-K and many companies had restrictions on managers you could use and what you could invest in which in every Stock Market crash took a toll on the 401-K investor.

[fasttense]

88. They are Harvesting America(n's pensions).

They did it to most pensions for workers in corporate America. That's how Mitt got so rich. Now they are moving on to the federal pension we have paid for twice. Yes, Baby Boomer's you paid for your parent's Social Security and paid for your own too. Now the predators on Wall Street want your one remaining pre-paid benefit - Social Security. They are drolling just thinking about getting that $3 Trillion in their hands.

[KoKo]

68. Indeed...!

[octoberlib]

6. K&R!

[RVN VET]

21. I agree with your signature quote

Give 'em hell Harry had his down side, but he was almost always out front with his beliefs. And in that quote, he will forever hit the nail on the Democratic Party's head.

Once again, those of us on the Left are bereft of leadership in the WH. That Obama is in the least surprised at the reaction to his betrayal, to his reneging on an absolute promise, suggests that he (a very smart man) has a certain smirking contempt for the people who voted for him. I hope I'm wrong about that. I had grown cynical during the GW and Cheney years, but I thought Obama was fresh air to the stink of those years. Now I'm smelling whispers of that same fetid odor.

[octoberlib]

73. I don't like everything about Harry Truman either but he had some good quotes. nt

[WillyT]

7. K & R !!!

[tabasco]

8. Thanks for posting.

Spot on.

[on point]

9. Ding ding ding! Predator class theft of SS exposed

Perhaps they should consider cutting repayment of tbills instead...

[JDPriestly]

10. Great article!

[reformist2]

11. That $3 trillion is going to have to come from higher taxes on the rich.

That's a lot of money. And fortunately, the American people (well, the Top 10%, anyway),have about $64 trillion in wealth.

One problem: We only tax income at present, and not wealth. That may need to change if we don't want to raise the income tax to crazy high levels. Also, it would be a fairer solution, as there are an awful lot of ultra-wealthy people whose interest income is a small, small percentage of the piles of wealth they sit on.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. That debt is a pretty open "secret"...

as in all things..."follow the money"

[kentuck]

13. Yep.

They don't want to pay back what they borrowed because they might have to raise taxes on their wealthy friends to pay back for their big party for the last 30 years.

[In_The_Wind]

14. Kick!

[avaistheone1]

15. Obama's position is like playing a game of Russian Roulette and holding a gun to your own baby's

head. Horrific, risky and senseless.

[arcane1]

16. Kicking!!!

[99Forever]

17. Superb article.

A must read, someone should send a copy to the President.

[Marr]

18. The beautiful thing about Chained CPI (from their point of view)

is that it's a scam that happens anew every year. They can game those Chained CPI numbers in lots of ways, and get new Social Security cuts every few years without even asking.

[Jakes Progress]

19. What is it you call someone who does the same thing over and over

while expecting a different outcome?

Everyone says how smart he is. Anybody got any proof of that?

[antigop]

20. more to it than that...Social Security payroll taxes funded the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy

Treasury borrowed from Social Security Trust Fund...so income taxes could be lower. If Treasury hadn't borrowed from Social Security, income taxes would have had to be higher.

Paying the money back would require a raise in income taxes.

It's all been a shell game to keep lower taxes for the wealthy.

[Babel_17]

22. The trillions of dollars squirreled away by way of off shore havens

and trust funds, etc. got there in large part by way of the incredibly generous, to the wealthy, tax code of the USA.

If the kleptomaniac class has a problem with the national debt then I say an equitable solution comes right to mind.

Ditto that for those who put the warmongers in control. Which is to say, no surprise, a similar looking group.

[limpyhobbler]

23. William Greider nailed it in this blog post. nt

[Oilwellian]

24. Oh man, did they ever nail it

Most excellent Papa Pitt...thanks for posting.

[lumberjack_jeff]

25. F'ing eh. n/t

[840high]

26. Rec a million for truth

[AzDar]

28. K & R

[Demoiselle]

29. I have an old pitchfork in the garage...

and one of those butane grill lighters.
Let me know when it's time. What a shame that so few people are sounding this alarm. Thanks, as usual, Will..

[cheapdate]

30. "If the president and Congress succeed in this malicious scheme...

they will come back again and again to cut more and more."

And why is that?

I'm pretty confident that a congress under Democratic control could, and would, restore any hypothetical cuts that may or may not be passed under this congress.

The Republicans presently have a thirty-three seat majority in the House. Nothing will happen without concessions from both sides. If that's what you want, at least two more years of stalemate and business as usual, fine.

My wife and I recently went through a very difficult mediated negotiation over a contested estate. We could have done as many here suggest and refused to concede anything, the negotiations would have collapsed, and we could have spent the next several more years in court chasing after a dwindling share. But we made concessions and the other side made concessions. It was painful, but it's finished.

[WilliamPitt]

31. Social Security does not affect the budget.

Why include it in budget negotiations?

[cheapdate]

44. As a concession.

Without concession the result is stalemate, and a guarantee that for at least the next two years we'll continue to lurch from one debilitating crisis to the next, while granting the House Republicans two more years to play their dangerous game of chicken and to create mischief, (see the "Monsanto Provision).

Maybe the proposed COLA adjustment has nothing to do with the budget (although, it must surely affect the government's yearly cash flow) but to House Republicans, many of whom are unquestionably not guided by logic or reason (see "UN Agenda 21" legislative proposals,) it defuses their argument that the president and the Democrats are intransigent over "entitlement spending".

I'm not diminishing the importance of reduced SS benefits to many people, but something has to be conceded or there will be no agreement with the consequences being as described above.

[Bohunk68]

48. You don't make the concessions

before the bargaining begins. Maybe since you have just inherited an estate, you won't need the money taken away by CCPI, but a hell of a lot of us seniors do.

[cheapdate]

49. The bargaining has been going on for at least two years, already. n/t

[Bohunk68]

63. So, now you are saying that

The negotiations for a budget just submitted has been going on for "at least two years?" Wow, and you want us to believe that. Just Wow.

[cheapdate]

65. Both sides have staked out positions endlessly

for at least two years. You could argue that the entire business of Washington for the past two years has been nothing but one, long budget negotiation. The competing positions have been well known in both general and specific terms since 2010.

Democrats want higher revenue. Republicans want lower spending.

I'm incredulous that you're incredulous.

[cheapdate]

50. By the way...

My wife and I inherited not one penny. The bargaining was over an educational trust for our kids.

[WilliamPitt]

54. Fuck that.

It affects the government's cash flow because the fucking government has been plundering SS for 30 years (a fact that lines up neatly with the beginning of the Reagan era), and now they don't want to have to pay it back, because doing so would discomfort a number of assholes who don't need the money.

"How often do you need to be hit in the head before you turn around and see who's hitting you?" - Harry Truman

I prefer stalemate to surrender. If you needed this money, so would you.

[cheapdate]

62. Well, then...

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2013, 09:11 PM - Edit history (1)

At least a few more years of stalemate is probably what you'll get. Expect to see a lot more of Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan as they use every forced crisis to come (and they will come with regularity) to monopolize the public space with their false and irrational "arguments". Expect to see more emergency consolidated appropriations bills stuffed with Lord knows what. Don't expect any positive action on upper income and corporate taxes.

Basically, look forward to the next two years as a repeat of the last two.

If that's what you want, fine. But don't expect anything different.

No Compromise!

(on edit: the tone of this post was unnecessarily shitty, and for that I apologize.)

[jtuck004]

92. Alternatively, the President could help jail the people who cause us to lurch from crisis to crisis

instead of playing games with the lives of the most vulnerable of the people who couldn't contribute as much to the Democratic party.

If something has to be conceded, I will concede that these fucking criminals need to be in jail, else we will have more starving and cold old folks and children, and more crisis from thieving bankers in their ongoing criminal conspiracy.

How's that for concession?

[deutsey]

93. Now there's an idea I can support enthusiastically

We didn't cause this situation...if there's to be austerity, it needs to be on the backs of the assholes who made this mess.

[Oilwellian]

37. What makes you think we could elect a Democratic congress...

if they vote to cut one of the pillars of the party?

[Babel_17]

43. Yes, that is our ace in the hole, imo

We can return to the issue of SS benefits; the hope being that with an improved economy and rosier forecasts we can bump benefits back up.

But against that argument is that a deal is deal and we don't idly mess with the SS system. And once we've sold Chained CPI as being fair, or at least acceptable, we have to wage a war that is that much harder to reclaim the benefits.

I can't imagine Republicans not wanting something in return.

With respect, your analogy only applies if the Republicans are as unwilling to play chicken as your contestant in the estate. And in our case the court of public opinion is a huge factor. In your case it was up to a judge or referee.

[Lasher]

32. Exactly right.

The general fund must pay what it owes to the Social Security Trust Fund, as planned for the last 30 years. Without Congressional intervention, that is exactly what will occur. This is the real reason neoliberals are in such a panic. The notes are due now, and they're desperate to renege on their debt. We shouldn't raise the cap or cut benefits until all the Trust Fund bonds have been redeemed.

[nineteen50]

33. It will be a

a militant organized working class that will force, as in the 30’s, a closing of the inequality gap by redistribution of wealth and challenge capitalisms polarization of wealth into the hands of the few. It was the fear of that organized working class that forced the 1% in the 30s into a “New Deal” that lead to American prosperity. That New Deal has been gutted over the last 30 years with deregulation, down sizing, privatizing, trickle-down, outsourcing and tax breaks for the corporate 1%. Now we have an attack on Social Security and the sucking of wealth and value out of everything in the public sector.
After decades of constant rejection of regulatory standards, Wall Street and big corporations have positioned themselves above the rule of law this can not stand.

[BrotherIvan]

47. Say that again!

I refuse to listen to the DLC enablers in this party any more. Enough. It's time to get up, stand up.

[shanti]

34. nothing was accomplished?

au contraire, mon frere. an immense loss of trust WAS accomplished.

[Oilwellian]

36. Indeed

It had to happen though for Democrats to see the true colors of our leadership. That has to change, starting in 2014. I refuse to vote for another Third Way conservative.

[sabrina 1]

81. Exactly, and now it's time to start, as someone once said, to stop looking backward, we are now

looking forward. We need to start right now cleaning up this party. They have let us know they do not want us, that would be the 'Professional Left' as they so lovingly refer to those who put them where they are. The feeling is mutual and we're not going anywhere, so that leaves only solution.

We are now free to begin all over, leaving the past behind and focusing on our future. We can't do with a party that has been hi-jacked so the first order of business must be to remove the hi-jackers and replace them with real Democrats.

[tomp]

83. but that is a good thing.

the more people who realize the complicity of the democratic party the better.

[G_j]

35. $3 trillion

"The Treasury has been borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund for 30 years, and the debt to Social Security beneficiaries now totals nearly $3 trillion"

-nobody is screaming about that debt..

[Cleita]

45. Exactly, they owe the SS fund a debt, just like we owe the bank a debt

when we borrow money. That doesn't mean the bank is unfunded. Our debt is a bank asset, like the Treasury debt is the Social Security fund's asset. We still have the 2.6 trillion in the fund unless the US Treasury Dept. defaults and that is never going to happen unless we want China, the Middle East Oil nations and many billionaires to descend on us big time who also hold indebtedness from our nation. They will have to raise taxes to pay and those taxes are going to have to come from the rich who haven't been paying their fair share of taxes up until now.

[G_j]

53. yep

and of course, never even mentioned, the trillion-plus $$ the Pentagon 'misplaced', which is just water over the dam.

[truedelphi]

60. Along with the 15 to 16 trillions of US dollars that

Fed Reserve Chief Bernanke "loaned" to his Buddies in Big Banking across the globe.

Experts state that some 4.7 trillions of those dollars will never be re-paid.

But clearly - as long as the rich need the yachts they own to get bigger,t he fingers will continue to be pointed at Social Security funds.

[sabrina 1]

38. This can't be. The stories I have been told as to why the President offered up cuts to SS

involve things like, 'he's just doing this to show the public how hateful the Republicans are'. That's from the Third Way. Professional Leftists otoh predicted that this offer would be used by Republicans to paint themselves as the 'saviors of SS from a Democratic president'.

But as everyone knows, the very serious people from the Third Way are always right, and the whiners on the Professional Left are never right, just hysterical handwringers!

The president set this trap himself; now Boehner will spring it on him. Does Obama not remember how Democrats lost control of the House back in 2010?

The answer to the last part of the question, no, Obama and the Democratic leadership in general, never acknowledged what caused them to lose what we worked so hard to get in 2010. They insisted on falsely blaming, you guessed it, the 'Professional Left'. So now here we are again with the Republicans claiming to be the good guys while pointing to Democrats and accusing them of attacking the elderly.

Great strategy there.

[Douglas Carpenter]

39. knr

[Rex]

40. And of course the usual suspects are absent from this thread

because like so many other threads...it is impossible to argue with reality.

[ReRe]

41. K&R

Thanks for jumping on this article for us... All I can say is

[LeftInTX]

42. Anyone know where that $3 trillion that was robbed from the trust fund went?

[Cleita]

46. It hasn't been robbed. It's owed to the trust fund when the US Treasury bonds are redeemed. n/t

[WilliamPitt]

56. "When"

LOL

[Cleita]

57. Yeah, LOL, but it's still an asset of the SS fund. It's simple accounting unless

we are using Bernie Madoff style accounting these days in Washington.

[G_j]

66. Bernie Madoff style accounting

you sure nailed that!

[slipslidingaway]

59. ^^^^^^ Exactly!!!! ^^^^^ n/t

[RainDog]

51. k&r n/t

[forestpath]

52. K&R

[Zoeisright]

58. Bullshit.

Not gonna happen.

[WilliamPitt]

67. My friend, it did happen.

Whether or not Obama's budget ever sees the light of day, the fact of the offer is out there for all to see. It *will* impact the '14 elections, especially when the GOP casts itself as the defenders of SS and Obama's people have to spend time arguing, "Yeah, it was in our budget, but we didn't mean it, trust us."

Bone up on those coping skills. You live in a world where a Democratic President put Social Security on the table during a deficit debate, even though Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit...except for the fact that the SS fund was plundered for 30 years, and now the bastards don't want to pay back what they took, a fact Obama seems comfortable with given HIS OWN BUDGET.

"Not gonna happen"?

It fucking happened.

[truebrit71]

77. ^^^ This^^^

[L0oniX]

95. Just wait till they couple it with this video in 2014 and again in 2016.

Obama Vowed Never To Cut Social Security Cost-Of-Living Before Chained CPI Move (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/obama-chained-cpi_n_3063841.html

During the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama made two specific promises when it came to Social Security.

"John McCain's campaign has gone even further, suggesting that the best answer for the growing pressures on Social Security might be to cut cost-of-living adjustments or raise the retirement age. Let me be clear: I will not do either," Obama said in a rarely viewed video that was posted online.

[jsr]

61. Recommend

[we can do it]

64. Hopefully they are correct, I think.

[Honeycombe8]

69. They still owe the debt, regardless of whether the creditor "needs" it or not. nt

[hay rick]

70. It's a cash flow problem.

When Social Security starts spending the trust fund, the borrowed money will have to be repaid. Additional revenue will have to be found and the rich are the obvious source. Why? To quote Willie Sutton: "because that's where the money is."

[fascisthunter]

71. Thanks Will... I owe you a beer

I'm in Boston. Cask n' Flagon sound good? I prefer a place that serves weissen.

[WilliamPitt]

72. Got me a new baby daughter

so beer outings have to wait for now. Be patient; I'll get there.

[fascisthunter]

74. That's Right!

I saw that post of you both together. She's got a stand-up dad! Beer can always wait, but I still owe you.

[lib2DaBone]

78. I just watched that video of Bernie Sanders......

He says Social Security has a $2.5 Trillion Surplus... and can pay benefits for the next 30 years.

So what's up with Obama? I read on Reuters that he met today with Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blanfein of Goldman Saachs.

They are spening $40 Billion a month on un-winnable wars of conquest, so Obama finds it necessary to punish Seniors who paid into SS their entire life?

Obama.. please wake up. Open the window, get a cup of coffee, pinch yourself and THINK... think about what you are doing to the very people who need your help the most.

[Bozita]

79. !

[OnlinePoker]

94. "...$2.5 Trillion Surplus... and can pay benefits for the next 30 years."

CBO said last year in their annual report 25 years, but they also say the Disability Insurance Fund (19% of all beneficiaries) will be exhausted by 2016. Here's a scary line in the CBO report that most people probably don't know:

"However, the Social Security Administration has no legal authority to pay scheduled benefits when they are due if their amounts exceed the balances in the trust funds."

In other words, unless something changes and 2038 rolls around with the fund depleted, they would only be able to distribute whatever money comes in monthly as payroll tax, expected to be a 20% gap between money coming in and money going out by 2030.

The full report is at the link below.

http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43648-SocialSecurity.pdf

[Quixote1818]

80. Great article because it exposes the agenda. Sent it to everyone I know

nt

[daybranch]

82. maybe your anger, your organizing, your calling

is exactly what the democrats needed? and who is the head of the democratic party? I used to have a basketball coach who said don't do as I do, do as I tell you to do. Is it possible we have a President who is telling us that if we want to fight republican leadership ideas of austerity, fight it.
Can republicans publicly support this at this moment? Of course not? If they do they will never win reelection, because they will be seen as deserting older people and veterans, two groups they used to do well with.
Will democrats support it? I pledge to primary any that even act as if it should be considered and millions more will too. Obama may be seen as the greatest organizer that has ever occupied the White House. It is just possible that with this move he has been what Bush claimed- to be a unifier not a divider. Again the President has offered republicans what they want and again they cannot accept it. He is not only killing them. He is spitting on their graves. Bye Bye republicans! President Obama will be remembered as a great President who accomplished magnificent social ideals while protecting the economy.

[djean111]

84. Er, I think you may be celebrating a wee bit early.

Unify what? There is infighting right here at DU.
And if the unifying gets voters together, do you think they will vote for the party that put Social Security on the table? Looks like, so far, Obama has unified the GOP to use this against Democrats.
I cannot twist that into a brilliant move.
For Democrats, anyway.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

89. Beautifully said!

[blkmusclmachine]

90. DC: by and for The One

Percent.

That's mavericky!

[h2ebits]

91. I've posted the article to my FB page--thanks for posting it on DU

Great read on Social Security. The Republicans originally tried to default on our debt and the story line was that China would take the hit because they held such a large amount of the US debt. The truth was much quieter when it slithered out--it's actually our government and its plutocrat backers working hard to NOT PAY BACK the money that was borrowed from our Social Security Trust Fund. I will not "forgive" Obama and I will work to remove anyone that votes for the chained CPI and any other methods to avoid paying WE THE PEOPLE back for our segregated funds that have been pilfered.

[libdude]

96. Put it to the people to vote

Social Security and Medicare belong to the People, it is NOT the Presidents, NOT the Senates, and House of Representatives programs to cut. The programs should be strengthened and improved making them true and beneficial for the people that pay into them.
Can President Obama show some absolute conviction that these programs are not subject to cutting, the only discussion is how they will be improved for current and future participants.
Thankfully, that there are good people in the Senate and House that are looking out for the American people, Senators Sanders, Warren, Brown, Rep. Ellison, and others
It is very believeable that not paying back the money borrowed by the government is the real motivation. Perhaps the People should demand payment in full plus interest.