When Democrats talk like Republicans -- Bob Kerrey on Lawrence O'Donnell this evening

What exactly does one do?

Kerrey is running for the Senate seat in Nebraska. I have always liked him somewhat. Tonight, however, his appearance on Lawrence O'Donnell left me thinking I could not vote for him if I lived in Nebraska. Obviously, I could not vote for the Republican running against him either. So the only comment I can legitimately make is that I am so happy I do not live in Nebraska. On election day, I would not have a viable choice for whom I could enthusiastically vote for to serve in the Senate as representing Nebraska.

What did he say that I found demoralizing? He spoke about the importance of bipartisanship. If elected he would make the tough decisions necessary to reduce the deficit. He spoke about the cooperation between Tom Coburn and Dick Durbin in working together to achieve a bipartisan agreement to reduce the deficit. He spoke well of those willing to make the "tough" choices necessary to fix our economy.

Not so tough to do though if one is retiring and not up for re-election. Tom Coburn plans to retire in 2016. Dick Durbin is telling people he is thinking of retiring in 2014. I think both of these will follow through with their retirement plans, and that is exactly why they are working together on this issue. Unlike others who do plan to run again for re-election, these two would have nothing to lose. Perfect political candidates to make those difficult choices! No future voter retribution to worry about!

So what specifically did Kerry refer to that he could endorse in the Coburn/Durbin bipartisan agreement?

In order to reduce the deficit, one needs to look at the biggest drivers. Those drivers are Kerrey said Social Security and Medicare. In order to reduce the deficit, adjustments must be made in those two areas. Kerrey said he could endorse reducing four of the biggest deductions on taxes, the increased revenue from which cuts would serve to reduce the deficit. These four biggest deductions are home mortgage interest on Federal returns, as well as deductions for state and local income taxes, charitable donations and health care costs. Stripping those deductions would generate increased revenue to reduce the deficit.

Really?

Do our politicians ever connect the dots? I think stripping an individual's ability to deduct the home mortgage interest on their Federal return would have a devastating impact on the housing market. It has just now started to recover. In the past a number of people in my generation were sold on the decision to buy a home because one could deduct the interest on his her taxes. That made the purchase of a home an investment. Remove that incentive and one is going to lose a lot of potential buyers. That is my thinking and I feel confident in saying this. Personally, I would have never bought four homes in my lifetime without that incentive. I would have just rented, preserving the ability to escape fixing needed repairs and the ability to relocate with giving my landlord 30 days notice. Removing this deduction would adversely impact, I believe, the banking industry as well as private individuals because fewer people would apply for loans.

Remove state and local income taxes as a deduction? If the Federal government taxes my say $50,000 income without reducing that income by the amount already taxed by my state of Maryland, I would consider that a double dipping. How would I respond? I wouldn't cooperate. I would sell my retirement home which I paid for over 20 years, and take the proceeds and pay off the mortgage for the house in which I currently reside. No deduction on my tax return, I am not playing. I am paying the loan off. Sorry, mortgage holder, you lose.

Remove the charitable deduction? That is just going to reduce charitable giving. Charitable giving is an important component to many Americans during these days of recession. I do not support that.

Remove the deduction for health care costs? Why not go after the real white collar crime in America -- the health insurance and prescription drugs costs charged by entities which overcharge participants and drive up the cost of Medicare and health care in general. Don't punish the participants; go after the true criminals -- those who egregiously overcharge those participants. Sorry, I do not support that either.

My position is that these changes are not truly, as politicians are fond of saying these days, sharing the sacrifice. It would hurt the middle and poor classes the most.

Why not, in the spirit of bipartisanship and just general fairness and a sense of decency, go after what the Congressional Budget Office describes as the true drivers of the debt?



at http://www.cbpp.org/research/index.cfm?fa=topic&id=121

Just asking ... why not go after the drivers listed on this chart as opposed to benefits that assist the middle class and impoverished?

So what does a Democrat do when his or her fellow Democratic candidate sounds like a Republican instead of a protector of classic Democratic values? I truly have no answer to that question. What is your response?

Sam