Senate's No. 2 Democrat calls for cuts to social safety net

[unhappycamper]

Source: McClatchy

Senate's No. 2 Democrat calls for cuts to social safety net
By LISA MASCARO AND CHRISTI PARSONS | Tribune Washington Bureau
Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2012

WASHINGTON — A top Democrat pressured fellow progressives Tuesday to consider long-term changes to the social safety net, even as the party digs in for a fight to save Medicare and other government programs from deep budget cuts.

As closed-door talks continue with the hope of a year-end deal, President Barack Obama will travel to a Pennsylvania toy store this week to pressure Congress to extend the expiring tax cuts for the middle class, while letting those for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans expire. Republicans are similarly taking their proposal of tax breaks for all on the road.

At the same time, Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, tapped his ties to the liberal wing of the party to urge a broader deficit deal in 2013 that would include trims to Medicare and other entitlement cuts.

"We can't be so naive to believe that just taxing the rich will solve our problems," said Durbin, speaking at the influential liberal group called Center for American Progress. "Put everything on the table. Repeat. Everything on the table."


Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/29/175856/senates-no-2-democrat-calls-for.html

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. .

[Ash_F]

2. Military weapons? /nt

[think]

46. +1. Cutting out of control military & security spending should be a priority for Dems

Not holding my breath though.....

[Victor_c3]

72. ditto

If you adjust the defense budget that Eisenhower had for inflation during the last year he was president, it would be about $400 billion a year. That was to maintain a military strong enough to, by their estimates, defeat the Soviets. In 2011 we spent over $700 billion on defense and we no longer face an enemy that is nearly as strong as the Soviets were at that time. So why are we spending so much money on defense? I really don't get it. Let's lop off an easy $100 billion and still have the most expensive military the world has ever seen. Hell, trim us down to $400 billion and we'll still be on top by a long shot.

After us, the next largest spender is China - and they spent $143 billion on their military.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

[RickFromMN]

94. We spent $700 billion? Next larged was China with $143 billion? Why can't we lop off $400 billion?

Why do we need a military strong enough to fight the world single handed?

Don't we trust our allies? Won't they fight alongside us?

If our allies won't join us maybe we should be in the fight either.

[wordpix]

122. Congressional pensions, gym, parking, health care? Social Sec. & Medicare for the rich?

[Joe Bacon]

3. DON'T YOU DARE, DURBIN!

He's said this before. Send him a message saying HELL NO, DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MEDICARE OR MEDICAID!

http://durbin.senate.gov/public/

[Phlem]

87. Done.

-p

[shawn703]

4. Someone should point out

That we were running surpluses with the current level of entitlement spending for the poor. It was tax cuts for the rich and wars that benefit the rich and the interest from these things that put us in the deficit hole we're in now.

[bluethruandthru]

63. I hope lots of people point that out to this idiot!! n/t

[dkf]

84. The problem is the demographics on the entitlements get worse as the population ages.

What worked before the retirement of the baby boomers is insufficient now.

Durbin is right that the rich can't do it all. Keeping entitlements means raising taxes on the middle class higher and higher to keep up with the aging of the population.

Look at France with their 40% average tax rate for the middle class. That's the kind of taxes required for the types of government services we want.

Socialist like programs require socialist like taxes and that goes for everyone.

[ParkieDem]

88. I hate to admit it, but you're absolutely right.

Many liberals (including myself) often state that the "European model" of social democracy is preferable to the crony capitalism that we have here in the USA.

I think that's right, but to achieve that, you have to look at the whole picture. While the poor and middle class do pay a large share of local, state and payroll taxes across the board, their share of federaltaxes is still quite low. In places like France and Germany, the tax system is more centralized, and the lower and middle classes pay significantly more -- but they get more in return.

Another area where we need to be more like Europe, like many other posters have stated, is in the defense budget. I've always thought that the Democrats should be able to reach some type of bargain with the "new" tea-party style Republicans like Tom Coburn and Rand Paul on this issue, because (unlike most conservatives) they realize that defense spending is the biggest form of corporate welfare out there. In fact, of all the spending cuts that Coburn has proposed, defense is at or near the top - he has repeatedly proposed more than $1 trillion in defense cuts.

As long as their corporate lobbyists control Washington, though, defense contractors and reps from their states will be hard-pressed to agree.

[hypergrove]

99. The problem is two-fold

Expenditures. The military takes 60% SIXTY PERCENT of the discretionary budget. But hey folks, THE COLD WAR IS OVER & our fight against terror is hardly the same scale ... we need to thoroughly DEMOBILIZE OUR ARMED FORCES and STOP trying to attain "full spectrum dominance", a fool's journey.

Revenue Distributions. The percentage of federal revenue from corporate "people" is at an all-time low. This systemic fact MUST BE CHANGED.

[dkf]

116. It's a global economy where countries compete for corporations.

The US no longer has all the leverage we once had of a world class infrastructure and the world's most highly educated populace. In general our kids don't have the work ethic like the Asian's do.

The new consumers are also not here, and our 300 million people seems so small in comparison with the billions of people in China and India.

We have to outcompete and out innovate or we will lose our advantages in standard of living.

[daa]

108. The US spends as much on defense as the NEXT TWENTY countries

Let fucking China and England and Canada defend the world. I fail to see our return on investment on defending the world, especially when we start all the wars

[lark]

96. No, No, No

You are accepting the right wing world view, we do not need to cut Medicare & SSI. Make all income subject to SSI and the problem is solved forever. Why do the rich get a pass? End taxing capitol gains income at severely lower rates, make it subject to same rates as regular income. Pull back from Germany and Japan, they don't need our millions of servicepeople over there and we don't need to be paying trillions of dollars to them for this either. End weapons programs for things we don't need. MaKe companies pay taxes on foreign income, make them pay for every job they move over-seas and give them tax breaks for moving jobs back here. These moves alone would generate both jobs and reduce the deficit without hurting working class people one bit.

Do not buy into their lies.

[tama]

119. Funds and taxes

Pension, medical etc. social security funds can be and in many cases are mutual funds. Which is different from taxes, which are mostly collected to fund the boss classes and their army and police and other means of oppression. Thoreau's classical writing on civil disobedience was about refusal to pay taxes to fund imperialistic wars.

I don't know US system well enough, but isn't there a basic social security fund collected from all citizens which is a mutual fund, not part of annual budget - but of course "lend" by the Federal state to pay it's military extravaganza?

[dkf]

120. Our trust funds can only be invested in US treasuries.

It's taken for the Government's use from the beginning, not put into mutual funds or investments which are then used.

[tama]

121. Yep

The point was more like, US treasuries can then be used to buy more weapons and wage more wars.

[hughee99]

103. When did we actually have a surplus?

If I remember right, the US hasn't actually had a budget surplus since the 1950's. No doubt the things you listed made the deficit worse, but we haven't had an actual surplus since Eisenhower.

[rtracey]

5. no way

No way cut Social Security... This is a pay as you go social net. The workers pay for this not the government. Lets try this, lets cut the expenses of the congress, cut their healthcare, their perks, their social security.....not just the working class.

[RickFromMN]

95. While I love your idea to cut the expenses of Congress, they probably wouldn't notice.

Most of them aren't short a bob or two and could pay most of their medical expenses out of pocket.

Maybe give a few less fortunate members of Congress, those with wealth only in the single digit or double digit millions, coverage for a catastrophic medical expense that would normally cost millions.

Wait a minute.

Why can the Europeans with their socialized medicine handle these medical expenses and we can't unless we go into bankruptcy and wind up on Medicaid?

Maybe the members of Congress should face the threat of having to go into bankruptcy and wind up on medicaid. Maybe they shouldn't get catastrophic medical expense coverage. Maybe they should suffer like the rest of us suffer when something like this happens to us.

[Faryn Balyncd]

6. Durbin is a disgrace.

[SHRED]

7. "other entitlement cuts"??? Medicare cuts???

FUCK YOU DURBIN!!

[AAO]

39. Yeah wait until I'm 58 to start changing the rules on me.

I've been paying in to Medicare & SS for 40 years, and now they want to start cutting our rightful ENTITLEMENTS????? I entitled to it BEOTCHES!

[Faryn Balyncd]

8. Durbin should be primaried.

[madrchsod]

12. i think he`s retiring....

[snappyturtle]

51. Maybe he's retiring from politics (?) but I bet if we were to check his lunch dates

we'd find his next endeavor and probably the answer to why his anti-Democrat position.

[CrispyQ]

65. This.

Disgusting, isn't it? The corruption & greed are boggling.

[leftyohiolib]

75. that's what i was thinking, he's auditioning for a new job

[Faryn Balyncd]

98. Maybe we should impeach him & let him would OPENLY for the corporate interests 2 years earlier than

...he had planned.

[snappyturtle]

110. We'd probably be better off if he did what you're proposing but then we would miss

following his footprints. I am SO-oooo disappoointed in Sen Durbin....I, at one time, thought he was one of us. Guess not.

[demokatgurrl]

81. so he can live off his pension

That WE FUCKING PAY FOR

[snappyturtle]

109. Unfortunarely, you are correct. nt

[madrchsod]

9. medicare is already going up next year.

if the democrats want to regain the house and keep the senate they had better not touch medicare. there will be millions more going into the system in the next two years and it will be the kiss of death to anyone backing this shit in 2014.

[julian09]

86. Is that why they vote REPUG?

against their interests.

[John2]

10. Question,

is this the same Lisa Mascaro, whom reported in headlines, that a moderate Republican has a lot of say about Susan Rice? I also watched Senator Durbin's speech and questioning in that meeting. Durbin claimed that Social Security was not part of the Deficit and that medicare and medicaid could be reformed. He emphasized cutting costs, in the way Obamacare has. He said nothing about cutting benefits or raising age limits. I think the reporter is embellishing what he actually said, with her own bias to give the wrong impression.

[LisaLynne]

30. I didn't get a chance to watch it, so thank you for your perspective.

I would not be shocked to learn that words were being twisted, that's for sure.

[pangaia]

56. I didn't see it either but..

Last edited Thu Nov 29, 2012, 09:33 PM - Edit history (1)

'cutting costs'.... as soon as it was known that the Affordable Care Act was a done deal my medicare Supplement premiums went up-well, starting in 2013. So did co-pays, out of pocket max, etc...and I have a pretty good insurance company, if there is such a thing as a good' insurance company... so 'saving costs, while a very good thing, will still cost the insured.

Also, some of the doctors in the practice where I have my PCP have stopped taking new medicare patients because of coming cuts to their reimbursement... AND I think this is a good practice.. They have over 100 requests/week from new patients and have to really pick and choose which patients they take..the old folks on medicare usually get the short end of the stick.

I am not complaining about nor supporting the ACA,, just offering my experience with 'cost cutting'...
SINGLE PAYER FOR ALL !!!! like almost all the other industrialized countries in the world..

[John2]

100. Well,

I'm not going to disagree with that. I'd rather see a single payer system, but the political climate in Congress has been tough. You are looking at an environment where people are sent to Congress, that want to get rid of entitlements altogether. People put these persons in Congress without thinking. The Republicans over the decades, have moved the discussion to the right and attached it to the debt. I disagree with it. They have done a lot of race baiting with entitlements too. There needs to be education on the real problems of the deficit. That debate needs to move back towards the Military Industrial Complex, and tax Reform. So I agree with you, but this is the political environment we are in. I think Durbin is on our side but it takes the right climate to move the Debate.

Now that we have the Affordable Care Act, we need to create the Political climate to move it towards Universal Care. Opponents will fight back and call it Communisn, but views have to change.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

66. That's essentially what I heard him say in an interview over the weekend.

One of the Sunday morning shows. I forget which one though I think he was on opposite Lindsey Graham.

[blackspade]

11. NO.

'entitlements' are not the problem.

[lonestarnot]

13. Oh fuck you Durbin!

[SHRED]

14. NONE of the highest tax rates,...

...INCLUDING capital gains, are going up very much at all.

So start compromising from an already weak position?

This is healthcare debate deja vu all over again.


---

[AAO]

40. It truly should be unconscionable for any Democrat to start out a negotiation by caving!

[closeupready]

71. That's exactly what he's doing. Dick, this isn't 1994.

If you are so old that you are using that year's events as any kind of guide, you need to retire and let younger people act more responsibly than you are.

[mac56]

15. If by "put everything on the table" he means fixing the capital gains thing

I think he's got something there.

I'm not panicked about this yet. I think he's running stuff up the flagpole to see who salutes it.

[John2]

22. No

he isn't. You are taking her edited view of what he actually said. She took it out of context. The part she edited was that Durbin actually said , Social Security should not be part of the talks and Medicare and Medicaid should take more extensive talks. He also said, there are ways that they can strengthen those programs by cutting out waste. That is where her deception is about cutting the program. There is a difference between cutting waste and cutting benefits. He even gave an example of it. He said that you can cut the cost of prescription drugs for recipients and the unnecessary costs that go to service providers who overcharge medicare recipients, much in the same way Obamacare erased the donut hole. The reporter just manipulated what he said, to get her own view out. If I was another reporter, I heard it different. Don't trust every reporter you hear because many do have an agenda these days.

[deurbano]

45. Reform Medicare Part D (BushCare?)

Give our government the ability to negotiate prices with the drug companies. (Like every other country.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-07/for-medicare-savings-send-a-negotiator-to-the-pharmacy-view.html

[mac56]

74. Good point, thanks.

[Kablooie]

16. I expect a tiny increase in taxes and large cuts to entitlements to be in the works.

And tax increases will be across the board so the effect on the rich is minimized.

Obama has sounded firm many times before but he has always caved in the end.
Until I see results that show he has changed, I can't feel optimistic.
We've been let down too many times before.

It's all déjà Vu.

[plethoro]

31. I concur. I can see it coming. But this time it won't be left to

emails from the passive to Senators saying "you meany". People will be in the street ready to fight.

[BVictor1]

17. Wrong move senator.

If he's going to do anything, they should put congressional pay on the table.

Contact Senator Durbin and let him know how you feel.


http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

WASHINGTON, D.C.
711 Hart Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
9 am to 6 pm ET
[phone] - phone
[phone] - fax

CHICAGO
230 S Dearborn St.
Suite 3892
Chicago, IL 60604
8:30 am to 5 pm
[phone] - phone
[phone] - fax

SPRINGFIELD
525 South 8th St.
Springfield, IL 62703
8:30 am to 5 pm
[phone] - phone
[phone] - fax

CARBONDALE
250 W. Cherry Street
Suite 115-D
Carbondale, IL 62901
8:30 am to 5 pm
[phone] - phone
[phone] - fax

ROCK ISLAND
1504 Third Avenue
Suite 227
Rock Island, IL 61201
8:30 am to 4:30 pm
[phone] - phone
[phone] - fax

[Fuddnik]

18. Stop being a dick, Dickie.

Go back and play wwith John McCain some more.

[The Wizard]

19. Any call for cutting

or means testing on Social Security recipients who have incomes above $250,000? It falls in line with raising the tax rate on the top 2%. As part of the 98%, I could live with that.
We're still going bankrupt from military spending. But defense contractors make large "campaign contributions" (aka bribes) to influential legislators, so any relief from that angle is a pipe dream.

[ProSense]

20. Ah

bullshit!

Progressives Increasingly Confident That Obama Won’t Cave On Fiscal Cliff Deal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021900034

Stay away from the MSM

[Fuddnik]

21. Better idea.

Stay away from Durbin.

[ProSense]

23. No, the MSM sucks.

Democrats should know that by now.

[AAO]

36. Obama is already negotiating a lower top rate than 39.6%

And now they'll end up cutting Medicare and SS too.

Why are our democrats caving again? And they bought into the rights talking points. I heard Bill Press this morning talking about "falling off the fiscal cliff". The only fiscal cliff is the one tied to the sequestration, which they should just agree to cancel, and then start working on a reasonable plan for the new budget. Fucking ASSHOLES!!

[juajen]

54. This is BS. Stop fooling with us.

[AAO]

60. I just read it...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=320333

[dembotoz]

24. wait--we won--aren't the other guys supposed to be thrown under the bus?

[rhett o rick]

67. Some want to think that the D's are good and the R's are bad. Makes life simpler.

But IMO the division isnt D vs. R, it's 99% vs. 1%. How many in Congress represent the 99%?

[dembotoz]

91. went to a more progressive organization convention earlier this year

Fighting Bob Fest in Madison wi

felt more at home than i have at any dem function for some time now
and i have been an active party belonging party office holding dem for a really long time

happy i found a new home

sad it is no longer so much as a dem

yes i will continue with my membership
yes i will work on some campaigns
yes i will attend a lot of dem meetings
but a spark has gone out

[24601]

89. By any reasonable measure this was a status quo election with no power change in the WH,

Senate or House of Representatives. For better or for worse, voters chose divided government and that's what we face for at least the nxt two years. Further, when it comes to revenue measures, the Constitution requires tax laws originate in the House of Representatives.

[Occulus]

115. Republicans have won by less and claimed a mandate

and then acted like it up one side and down the other.

Peddle your third way bullshit somewhere else. I don't buy it any more and neither does anyone else.

[plethoro]

25. Time for a large gathering in front of his office. This

man is a disgrace.

[Overseas]

27. Too bad Durbin didn't call for a tiny transaction tax on Wall Street. It is their turn to help.

We on Main Street already helped the super rich with our trillions of tax dollars to bail them out.

Those were our taxes that bailed them out already.

You would think they would have rushed to help our president's re-election after we taxpayers bailed them out even as we didn't get Medicare for all and continued to be foreclosed upon.
But no, they gave billions to Mitt Romney instead.

They didn't even appreciate the trillions of our tax dollars that could have been used for Medicare for All or infrastructure improvements or even lowering the eligibility age for Social Security back to 65.

[ladjf]

28. Durbin is always the first to bring out the white flag BEFORE the battle has even begun.

He needs to shut the hell up and stop trying to lead.

[secondwind]

29. WHAT?????!!!????? this is what folks stood in line for hours to vote asked for????

[julian09]

93. Was Durbin up for reelection?

[AAO]

32. Fucking spineless bastards! This is going to turn out so well for us!

Maybe they can put us up in the Superdome after we get kicked to the curb.

[loyalkydem]

33. Durbin are you a flip flopper

I think we better start putting pressure on this fool

[horsedoc]

34. Cut the military!

Why do we continue to spend trillions on the military when we cant spend billions on our poor and elderly!

[AAO]

38. We know the reason. Investments and kickbacks from lobbyists.

Greedy bastards will sell their own mothers down the river.

[demwing]

35. Let's put Durbin on the table

he's got to be worth something to the Republicans.

Maybe.

[still_one]

37. If Democrats listen to this asshat they will lose my vote, and money.

[Puzzledtraveller]

83. No they won't.

[still_one]

97. I will not donate to them if they put social security and medicare in the bargining. It is that

simple.

[a2liberal]

41. I am completely and utterly surprised

not.

[still_one]

42. First thing we should put up on the chopping block is durbin's "entitlements", including his

congressional healthcare and pension

[Demeter]

43. Durbin has always been a neoliberal jerk

He's just locked in his own self-defeating pattern.

[CBHagman]

44. Here's the C-SPAN video.

I haven't been able to find a transcript yet. In the main, though, I suggest people read transcripts and/or watch the videos, and find the context and actual content, as opposed to relying on quotations within a news story or simply a headline.

In the years I've been on DU, attention spans have gotten ever shorter, with people reacting only to headlines.

On edit: Listen in particular to the segment about 12 minutes in, in which Durbin cites examples of people reliant on the SNAP program and Social Security.

About 19 minutes in, he discusses how defense spending has skyrocketed in the years since the Clinton surpluses, and before that he contrasts the Clinton years (with relatively balanced revenues and spending) with what came during the Bush years.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SenatorDi

[regnaD kciN]

90. At last, a voice of reason!

From what I've seen of his speech, what he said is nothing like what the McClatchey story states; in fact, he was warning Republicans that Social Security and Medicare cuts were off the table. Of course, that hasn't stopped DUers here from doing their usual knee-jerk outrage dance.

[mucifer]

47. Senator Durbin is very close with The President.

They might be of the same mind on this.

[Omaha Steve]

48. Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois

Just emailed me last night asking to donate to his campaign. I'll put that on hold for now.

I did meet him 4 years ago when he was in Omaha stumping for Obama.

[AAO]

49. Just let the freeking tax cuts expire for all!

Then send a bill from the senate to the house to restore the middle class cuts, and dare the fuckers to vote against it.

[SoapBox]

61. Ditto!!!!!!!!!!!

[plethoro]

50. The thing about it is: with the Demographics now in place

and about to get more and more beneficial to Democrats, why in the name of God would we be willing next year to psychologically reverse our win. We should be squashing Durbin and his kind like bugs. If we don't, why do we keep straining ourselves to win. I had people on my diabetic website giving money they didn't have to... Never mind... Durbin is a corporatist puppet. Nothing more.

[kooljerk666]

52. Durban is up for election 2014....................

everthing u need to know about Dick.

http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/26847/dick-durbin#.ULd2B-8jx_U

[geckosfeet]

53. Social security should definitely be changed - the min age should be 55 with 100% benefits

Medicare should be changed too - extend it to all people in the country. If you are within the national borders, you're in.

I am sure I could put more on the table Mr.Durbin, but lets start there.

[fascisthunter]

55. fear not, the DU sockpuppet Trolls will tell you not to worry

notice how they get to chide the nonbelievers here without ever any recourse? Durrrrrr... its why I don't come here much anymore.

[Kelvin Mace]

57. I warned about this

and got shouted down by folk who claimed that ANY criticism of the Dems/Obama meant I was helping the GOP win. I pointed out that the Dems/Obama were going to cut the safety net as well, it was just a matter of degrees.

I have pointed out repeatedly that the Dems/Obama are NOT the second coming of LBJ/FDR, but endured blistering abuse for telling the truth.

The current Democratic regime is to the RIGHT of Richard Nixon on many issues, and WAY to the right of Eisenhower.

[fascisthunter]

58. bunch of suck up lobbysists to a wealthy egomaniacs

[SoapBox]

62. Kelvin...you are correct.

Pukes AND Dems both need to be watched...always.

[Kelvin Mace]

102. That I can deal with

What is aggravating is that people around here are so goddamned gullible!

[forestpath]

59. FUCKER. If they do this I am DONE with the Democratic Party.

[leftyohiolib]

76. and do what? go where? just give up and let the rest of us fight for you?

[forestpath]

92. LOL, there seems to be absolutely ZERO point in fighting...they only

pay attention to RICH people and REPUBLICANS, in case you hadn't noticed.

[Quantess]

104. I have noticed.

The election is over so it's okay to start saying it again.

Members of both parties are bought and paid for, but it's a little better in the Democratic party.

We have a fatally flawed 2-party system and unhealthy winner-take-all elections. Nothing will change until that changes.

[Liberalynn]

112. Agreed

The problem is those invested in this system are going to do everything they possibliy can to see that it never changes. I think more and more people are waking up to the fact that the system is broken but I don't know if there are enough of them who are willing to make an effort to fix it.

[Quantess]

118. I was quiet about it the year before the election or so

because we wanted Obama to win and not get thwarted by a 3rd party candidate.

But what does it take to change the system? Doesn't there have to be a super-high percentage of senators and house reps who vote in favor? (which is pragmatically unrealistic, other people have said). It sounds like it would take a lot to change the system. Sorry for not having details of the "how", but it can be googled.

[Hulk]

64. Old town establishment: bought and paid for.

THIS is what's wrong with some politicians existing in Congress loooooong past their loyalty to the public. I'm really upset to hear this, and I honestly don't know that much about Durbin; but what I do know, I don't like.

I see NO REASON to cave to the repuKKKes for the single purpose of "appearance of compromise". When one side is irrational and unrealistic, the other side doesn't have to meet them half-way to a deal.

This had better not happen. I know it would be the "death-nail" of Durbin's political career, and it may certainly slow the momentum of the Democratic Party and our future hopes of ever taking back the House.

Pull your head out of you ass Durbin, and if that's your idea of negotiations, YOU need to step down and certainly STFU!

[vlyons]

68. Dick Durbin is a rat fink

Actually a phukken rat fink! Everyone know that medical costs are the #1 driver of out of control costs, followed by bloated military DOD and Homeland Security. If he were a real mensch, he would advocate SINGLE PAYER health care and take insurance profits completely out of the system.

[closeupready]

69. Absolutely not. Do NOT put everything, repeat, everything on the table.

Fuck that.

What kind of negotiation is that bullshit? "Don't hurt us in the majority too bad, Republicans?"

What planet does he live on? Sheez.

[1StrongBlackMan]

70. Yes, tell the public everything is on the table ...

then go into negotiations and say, "Nope ... cutting this and that and this and that and this and that and this and that is unacceptable without replacing all of it with {something much more attractive}."

Example, "Okay let's talk about Medicare. You want to raise the eligibility age. Nope ... But I will entertain allowing everyone to buy into Medicare at 21! No? Next topic!"

At the press conference immediately following:

"Well ... They wanted medicare on the table; I put it there ... We couldn't agree."

[Cherchez la Femme]

73. And here we go...

Well, if #2 is for it, Prez has a great argument -- it's in the bag!
It appears Democrats are not immune to group-think.

But tell me, isn't that the major fear which turned off the elderly (and many middle-aged) from voting for Rmoney? Once the first cut has been made, it'll be easy-peasey lemon-squeezy to hack up what's left of those OLD-TIMEY F.D.R. STYLE DEMOCRATIC social nets
--whatever hasn't been already looted, of course.

And even though the 'pukes have been drooling for this since forever, it's guaranteed they'll capitalize on the Democrats drawing first blood upon our social safety nets.

Which means huge trouble, and well-deserved too, come midterm and in 2016.

I just don't recognize my party anymore. It's like reading --especially-- the last page of Animal Farm.

Of course the voters will forget everything but the last instance. Of course they'll, as always, be easily manipulated. As a whole, we're really not very smart. Most don't want vision and good policies for the benefit of The People
--us--
they want CHARISMA, then can't understand the fraud and stupidity negatively affecting them, including constant wars, er , military/CIA actions, that comes out of D.C.
As if charisma were automatically positively correlated with good governance.
To win (and seems now just mere winning is all), it --Charisma-- is the primary requisite of both major parties.

It's so bizarre it's absolutely surreal. Ifeel like I'm living in a Kafka story.

And the worst? IT ACTUALLY COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE.

[mike_c]

77. cut military spending!

Sheesh.

[Jake2413]

78. Thank you

Just sent him a email explaining options and if he should expect my vote when he is up for reelection.

[Jackpine Radical]

79. Calling the Center for American Progress "liberal" is like

Last edited Thu Nov 29, 2012, 04:23 PM - Edit history (1)

calling Col. Sanders a chicken rescue mission.

[demokatgurrl]

80. Yes what a dick indeed

We should bombard his office with phone calls. I've already emailed him and had to lie about where I lived because his contact form would only allow Illinois addresses. Scumbag

[MotherPetrie]

82. More betrayal

[Smilo]

85. I used to respect Durbin

but with this ludicrous idea I have lost all respect for him, in fact he disgusts me.

Just because you are sitting pretty Durbin doesn't mean you can play with peoples' lives.

[NickP]

101. NO

That's not going on the table. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaide, and any other social safety nets should not go on the table to be cut. Military spending and tax cuts for the wealthy should be getting cut, not our social safety net.

He won't be in office much longer.

[Dont call me Shirley]

105. How about a massive cut in military/intelligence funding, DICK?! That ought to solve the problem!

[Liberalynn]

106. More evidence as if we needed it that the cave is coming

I bet SS will be back on the table by tomorrow a.m.

[Fearless]

107. When he gives every cent this country has every given him back to the debt crisis

And lives like the rest of us, THEN we'll talk about allowing people to DIE because they DON'T have the ability to see a doctor.

[AnOhioan]

111. Dont know why everyone is so shocked....this was gonna happen regardless of who won in November.

[maparus]

113. I wonder what CEO

he's in bed with. Another good reason for term limits in the senate and house.

[FogerRox]

114. Fuck you Durbin, DICK

[elleng]

117. Would be useful if article said something more about Durbin's 'speech,'

like nature of 'trims to Medicare and other entitlement cuts.'

Reasonable Dems KNOW savings must come from so-called entitlements, but an article like this does nothing but to inflame, and seems to have done so here. There are many ways to save without cutting benefits to recipients, and Dems know this.