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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLabor puts Dems on notice: Don’t touch Medicare and Social Security benefits
With the crisis chatter in Washington now turning to speculation about the coming budget talks and the possibility of a grand bargain to replace the sequester, liberals and unions are getting increasingly nervous that Congressional Dems will give up entitlement benefits cuts in exchange for, well, whatever is on offer from Republicans, which isnt at all clear.
In an interview, Damon Silvers, the policy director of the AFL-CIO, laid down a hard line, putting Dems on notice that any agreement that cuts entitlement benefits even in a deal that includes GOP concessions on tax hikes is a nonstarter. Silvers strongly suggested labor would withhold support in 2014 from any Dem lawmaker who supports such a deal.
We are opposed to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits cuts. Period, Silvers told me. There will be no cover for members of either party who vote for such a thing.
Silvers said the AFL-CIO also opposes the entitlements cuts in the Presidents budget, such as Chained CPI and a form of Medicare means testing. Its unclear how, or whether, those will figure in what Dems bring to the table in the budget talks, which are mandated by the deal just reached to end the crisis.
Chained CPI is like the vampire of American politics, Silvers said. It keeps being shot through the heart and it keeps reviving. The reason it keeps coming back is because it has billionaires behind it.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/10/17/labor-puts-dems-on-notice-dont-touch-medicare-and-social-security-benefits/
jsr
(7,712 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)INSANE BILLIONAIRES: Let's kill everyone and take their money!
SANE BILLIONAIRES: I like the way you think. I really do. But if we keep everyone alive, and working for us, we'll make even more money, in the long term.
INSANE BILLIONAIRES: You communist!!!
So from a progressive perspective, you always have to hope the Sane Billionaires win. Still, there's generally a huge chasm between what the Sane Billionaires want and what progressives want.l
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)But the direct link doesn't work for me either..
Try the first result at this Google search..
https://www.google.com/#q=sane+billionaires+vs+insane+billionaires&safe=on
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
annabanana
(52,791 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)Now if they want to touch them by making them better, I don't have a problem with that.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)but I am 100% with them. There are too many better alternatives than bleeding people in need. Especially in light of the fact that social security has been more than adequately funded.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)'cutters of social security and medicare' title, it is done. The social safety net is the Democratic Party's greatest achievement.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Jakes Progress
(11,122 posts)He needs to stand with us.
LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)Omaha Steve
(99,713 posts)Those two programs don't have anything to do with the USA budget!!!!
K&R!