DemocracyNow: Glenn Greenwald on Petraeus, Surveillance State & The Budget Talks....

[Junkdrawer]

Petraeus:

Budget Talks:

This should go well....

[plethoro]

1. No, this will not go well, for if it does it makes the

liberal wing of the Democratic Party a hollow entity.

[Dustlawyer]

2. They want our money and they are going to take it. I will be dead before I will be old

enough to collect what I paid. The powers that control us will get what they want. I voted for the lesser of two evils, but evil just the same. Bill Clinton was overheard before the election telling Paul Ryan that after the election, they will be ready to deal on social welfare programs. With our bloated military budget, there should be no need to strip us of our safety net, yet the lobbiest for the military will keep the politicians in line.

[dotymed]

3. I agree that I voted for "the lesser of two evils" and in the last few months I withheld my

criticisms of Obama because of the election. That being said, we need to immediately vet a third party candidate who is progressive.
Bernie Sanders, IMO is the best.

[plethoro]

5. I agree. And it must be started immediately and

be widely publicized that it is being done. I love Bernie Sanders; his ideals are close to mine. But, that said, do you think he would be viable as a candidate?

[plethoro]

4. I voted in a likewise manner as you.....I knew from

the moment Obama offered entitlements as a bargaining chip followed closely by the reduction in social security taxes under the guise of giving people a little more money that social security was on its way out. A Republican never could have done this. I also remember well the relatively few people on this board that protested this action. I don't know about you, but I will fight any action that reduces Social Security benefits and study carefully any that reduces Medicare benefits. I hope you will do the same. Can you imagine the effect on people who literally gave all that they had and worked diligently to get Obama re-elected if they are told their Social Security will be cut? People will hit the streets. When Biden said Social Security will NOT be affected if Obama is re-elected, it gave me some calmness as it did to those on the diabetic website I have run since 1996. Were we simply conned again? It is not yet conclusive that we were, but I am not at all sanguine about what will happen next. Based on what is done to entitlements in the near future, how will the elections in two years and in four years be affected? I know people are worried. I do volunteer work 2-3 days a week for a large Alzheimer's facility. Most of the residents do not think clearly and don't question current entitlement questions. But their families--the ones paying the bills--due. They ask me what I think will happen all the time. So far, I answer I don't know. But I have a feeling I will know in the next couple of weeks.

Sorry to lay all this on you. I'm nearing 67 and am on Social Security. I still work over a hundred hours a week, none of it I get paid for. If Obama cuts Social Security, I will have to stop working for free again, as will most of the other volunteers I work with. Once we learn the Obama plan, we will begin our own plans

[efhmc]

6. No one is going to touch social security.

[sabrina 1]

7. Then make it clear it is not 'on the table'. SS has nothing to do with

the deficit, it didn't cause it, didn't contribute to it, that would be impossible, as impossible as any other US Govt. creditor being responsible in any way for the deficit.

So, why is it always part of these discussions?

We all know what caused the deficit. Illegal wars, two trillion dollars worth of tax cuts for the wealthy, bailing out Wall St. after they gambled away this country's security etc. The Fed Govt's budget is totally separate from the SS fund. It is utterly ridiculous that the big Republican lie re SS has not been put to rest long ago.

A declaration from the WH right now, such as the one made by Tammy Baldwin this week, that SS had zero to do with the deficit and that anyone attempting to connect the two is deliberately lying to the American people, should be made, should have been made long ago.