Elizabeth Warren on President Obama's chained CPI proposal

[Playinghardball]

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. 2016 ... Geez she gets it

kick

[NYC_SKP]

21. 2016, agreed!

[burnodo]

2. K&R

[hay rick]

3. The arguments against chained cpi aren't hard to understand.

And the weak case for it just got weaker with the exposure of the "math errors" in Reinhart-Rogoff, the intellectual underpinning for austerity. Maybe the POTUS will finally see the light...

[lark]

6. He knew that austerity made no sense from the beginning.

He's not dumb. Why he insists on cutting social security is very open to debate and no one really knows except him. I think it's because he's really a moderate Repug in Democratic clothing, but that's just my guess. We voted for better than the alternative and got a trojan horse.

[whathehell]

7. Yup..

and I agree completely with everything you said.

They've been my thoughts as well.

[Bully Taw]

11. Agree

i feel like the victim of the bait and switch.he really didn't keep many of the campaign promises in his first run (gitmo still open, two wars still going on, government transparency), and he is catering to the Pugs on this.

[merrily]

16. I don't think he is catering to anyone on this.

It is something he promised to do before he took office.

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-01-16/politics/36899872_1_barack-obama-key-economic-priority-items-entitlement-reform

He appointed the Cat Food Commission to do it. When that did not work, the WH suggested the Grand Bargain Super Committee.

If you believe Congressman Conyers, Obama put cuts on the table before any Republican asked for them.

http://www.crewof42.com/news/conyers-on-jobs-weve-had-it-lays-out-obama-calls-for-protest-at-white-house/

Then, as it got close to Presidential campaign time, the White House suggested the sequester.

I don't see any of that as Obama's caving to Republicans or catering to Republicans. I see that as his consistent pursuit of something that he promised to do before he was inaugurated for the first time.

[dreamnightwind]

27. I see no such promise made

Read the WaPo article you linked, nothing about chained CPI in there. The closest I could find was this:

Five days before taking office, Obama was careful not to outline specific fixes for Social Security and Medicare, refusing to endorse either a new blue-ribbon commission or the concept of submitting an overhaul plan to Congress that would be subject only to an up-or-down vote, similar to the one used to reach agreement on the closure of military bases.

But the president-elect exuded confidence that his economic team will succeed where others have not.

"Social Security, we can solve," he said, waving his left hand. "The big problem is Medicare, which is unsustainable. . . . We can't solve Medicare in isolation from the broader problems of the health-care system."

Perhaps there is another source that would verify your claim. More likely (in my mind) is that he never made such a claim, at least not publicy.

I'm tired of everyone saying he is just doing what he campaigned to do. It's not true. The candidate we voted for is not the man who showed up for work. There are a couple of different ways to look at that, and I am not invested in any one interpretation, but I do not think he was up-front about this, or many other things he apparently supports.

edited to add:

I see a post from you down-thread that makes me want to soften the tone of my post. It looks like you and I have a similar view. I've just seen a lot of posts here that claim that we have no right to complain because he's just doing what he said he would do, and I want to shoot that argument down wherever I see it, because I think it's false and is an attempt to blame us for his policies.

[Phlem]

12. Thank You!

been saying this for a while now. Hopefully more people will catch on instead of being surprised when he pulls his shit.

-p

[merrily]

14. Obama said his policies would have been considered moderate Republican in the 1980's.

I don't know how he distinguishes between a moderate Republican in the 1980s and a moderate Republican of today, but that is what he said.

So, it's not only your guess.

[L0oniX]

45. Yea ...I am waitng to find out what the "trojan horse" is in ACA ...and I will bet there is one.

[forestpath]

4. k&r

[Terra Alta]

5. I really, really, really hope she runs in 2016.

We need someone like her standing up for ALL Americans.

[whathehell]

8. Exactly...No more DINOS!

and that, in my opinion, includes Hillary.

[GiveMeFreedom]

17. +1

I agree. Peace.

[whathehell]

18. Thanks.

and back at ya.

[RC]

41. How can we know when they lie their way into office.

Obama sounded good during the the first campaign, then a flurry of excuses started, excusing his actions shortly after he stepped into the Oval Office. By the time he took the public option off the table, I was feeling really betrayed. How could he with what his own mother went through? Now, at the start of his second term, I feel my votes for Obama were really votes for a Republican.

[L0oniX]

46. +99%

[Cleita]

10. I wonder what "Dean Scream" move our Dems will do to her to

discredit her and move someone more DLC friendly into first place? I hope she is prepared to block their every move and discredit them instead.

[whathehell]

19. Maybe we can figure out how to head them off? n/t

[Cleita]

24. It's going to have to be her campaign that does,

with our help of course.

[whathehell]

25. Sounds about right.

[Cleita]

9. I'm not even hanging on to my place in the middle class.

I'm trying not to become homeless and I believe many seniors are doing the same.

[starzdust22]

30. That's my situation too

I am disabled now and I had to retire 3 years ago. I live on my Social Security primarily and a small pension. I live in my small RV with no possibility of ever owning a home again in the future.

StarzDust

[Cleita]

32. Welcome to DU.

Thank god you still have your RV. I wish I had mine. Right now I rent a trailer from the family on their property so I'm okay, however, if they should ever sell their property, I'm in trouble.

[L0oniX]

47. Exactly.

[merrily]

13. Good for Warren, but the average OASDI check is around $1200 a month. If that's middle class,

I'm a billionaire.

[demwing]

39. It could be, if you already own your own home

no rent or mortgage

[OhioChick]

15. I really like this woman

[truebluegreen]

20. I'll say it again, Warren/Grayson 2016!

[bigdarryl]

22. I"ll vote for Warren over Hillary

Hillary is nothing but a DLC shill

[truebluegreen]

28. Me too--+1000!

[Marie Marie]

37. Triple that!

[Sherman A1]

23. K&R

[CountAllVotes]

26. K&R!!!

Thank you for spreading the truth Senator Warren!

& recommend.

[Paper Roses]

29. The more she speaks out, the better I like her. Lets hope it continues.

I'd vote for her in a heartbeat.

[Wilms]

31. ^

[TinkerTot55]

33. I LOVE LIZ.

A Senator with both a heart AND a brain!!!

[lordsummerisle]

34. k&r n/t

[cantbeserious]

36. Elizabeth Warren Putting Obama In His Place

eom

[harmonicon]

38. "Middle class"? Jesus Fucking Christ.

We are so fucking screwed if even Elizabeth Warren is still propping up this lie.

[bread_and_roses]

42. My thought exactly ...

... and I admire EW. But obviously, NO ONE is allowed to state the obvious - that we have lots of poor in this Country, including Seniors who rely only on SS. Including some appalling % of our children, which is so high my brain refuses to remember it, I get so enraged. NO ONE is allowed to talk about it.

[harmonicon]

44. I admire her as well, and she's one of the few people who I think might really work for change...

but with comments like this, I don't know what kind of change I really can expect.

You're right that it's a silent issue. The vast majority of the US is straight-up poor; most working people, most seniors, and most children.

I'll really start thinking change might come when a politician can openly admit to the reality of the social and economic situation of most Americans.

[Doctor_J]

40. she doesn't understand 12d chess

And is a racist

[Fantastic Anarchist]

43. I love how she puts things in perspective.

Very powerful.