Pic Of The Moment: Mitch McConnell: I Have Literally No New Ideas, So Let's Try This Again

[EarlG]

Sources: McConnell floats entitlement changes in high-stakes fiscal talks

Follow @demunderground

[SoapBox]

1. 1st Rec!

[Plucketeer]

2. Mr Turtle's desperation plea...

OK then - how's about some fresh lettuce, at least???

[djean111]

3. Ah, Chained CPI again? Obama likes that one!

That's not a desperation move, it has worked before.

[Fred Sanders]

21. The Obama-bashers need to find a new home, not DU...my opinion.

[Katashi_itto]

23. Yes, its a personal opinion.

[djean111]

25. So - I am supposed to embrace Chained CPI, just because Obama proposed it,

and Pelosi chimed in with how it "strengthens Social Security"? No thought processes allowed?
When Obama said hold his feet to the fire, he meant it for only if his feet were chilled?
Chained CPI is not a Democratic thing to do, IMO.

[SusanaMontana41]

29. THANK YOU.

You mean there's still time for Obama to make his "grand bargain" and deal away the only financial security seniors have?

FUBO.

[JDPriestly]

36. We on Social Security don't get a cost of living rise this year.

Social Security is not causing the problem with our deficit or our debt.

Social Security is a barely livable, barely subsistence living, just a bit more than the minimum wage. It may be sufficient in the back hills of Arkansas where housing is relatively cheap but in states like Ohio or California or New York where many, many seniors live, it is subsistence.

If Obama agrees to any cut to Social Security COLAs, he deserves to be resoundingly criticized.

The up-side is that any compromise that lowers the COLA or payments or eligibility for Social Security will help win voters to Sanders.

A lot of seniors vote for Republicans. This will make a great Democratic issue if Sanders is our nominee. Not so much for Hillary. She is soft on Social Security no matter what she says. It's one of the issues on which I do not trust Hillary at all.

There are lots of people out there who rely on Social Security and receive less, in many cases, considerably less than $1000 per month to live on. They have to have food stamps or some assistance. For that reason, it makes no sense whatsoever to cut the COLA. The Social Security benefits shrink so that the money coming from the general fund to support welfare-type payments have to go up. It does not save money to cut Social Security colas. It is a Republican fetish and just one way their greedy little souls can make poor people suffer just a little more.

It's mean, and I certainly hope that Obama refuses to have anything to do with cutting COLAs.

But if he does agree to this, he deserves all the criticism he gets. That is a cowardly thing to do.

Cut the military budgets before you cut Social Security.

[FairWinds]

4. I'm a political scientist, but I still don't understand . .

why the democrats don't run election campaigns based on the
theme that the GOP is engaging in the sabotage of our government -
everything from SS to Medicare to libraries and public schools; not
to mention the entire regulatory structure - from the FDA to SEC to EPA.

The GOP should not be able to win any election at all.

WTF?

[LittleGirl]

9. Welcome to DU and spot on!

Seriously, that's what I believe in my heart.
No more b.s. allowed. WTF?
Show everyone what the GOP is doing to the country and ask them to vote for our side.
who/what/where is the spine in our party?

[slumcamper]

12. Spot on!

Of all things I've read on DU, this most closely mirrors my own sense of discontent and utter disbelief over the non-strategy of the Democratic Party.

[The Wizard]

17. Bigotry is a powerful influence with morons (NT)

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. "Political Science" doesn't apply. This is "Political Religion"....

It is a faith taken from the doctrine of Saint Ronnie of the Bonzo (bow yer heads) which stated "Government IS the problem".

It has created generations of anti-government people wanting to get elected to tear the government apart from within.

[2naSalit]

22. ^^THIS^^^

From another political scientist.

I don't get it either unless they are complicit in the conspiracy (and I don't use that term to discredit the concept of what is taking place).

[SusanaMontana41]

33. Conspiracy

is 100 percent the correct word.

Wealth looks after wealth, and wealth doesn't like company (especially if serfs comprise that company).

"Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, fellow Americans. That is, if you can afford the boots."

[SusanaMontana41]

32. Because

we elect Democrats like Barack Obama who promise changes, all right, but deliver the kind of changes that hurt seniors and create boondoggles for Big Business (see TPP) at the expense of We the People.

If anyone is doing the sabotaging, President Obama is Exhibit A.

[raouldukelives]

37. Because it isn't just the GOP that wants those things.

It is Wall St. They want it all and with the resolute assistance of millions of shareholders, they usually get what they want.

If one has money in Wall St then they have a voice. Of course, it is the voice saying burn it all down but some people really don't care what troubles other people or future generations suffer as long as they have a chance at a profit.

[gregcrawford]

5. I do not believe that constipated tortoise...

... even HAS a conscience. How can people vote for someone so demonstrably evil?

[CrispyQ]

6. My husband recently turned 65.

I've attended several SS/Medicare seminars and workshops to learn more & at each one the presenter says that 5 years ago there were hardly any of these events. Now they are all over & attendance is good. Everyone I've gone to has had at least a dozen people or more.

Remember some time ago when they floated the "cut off age for not have SS benefits cut is 55." The outrage from the under 55 crowd surprised them. I don't think they realized how many 40 year olds are counting on SS.

Mess with SS & Medicare at your peril, you dumb shit McConnell. Dems better bewared, too.

[Martin Eden]

7. Here's the needed change:

Lift the income cap on paying into SS & Medicare; problem solved!
Next, end corporate welfare & tax loopholes for the rich.
Then stop spending trillions on wars that only serve the MIC.

That is, if Republicans in Washington REALLY want to reduce budget deficits.

Which they don't.

In fact, they NEED huge budget deficits.

The only way they can fulfill their pledge to "shrink government to a size that can be drowned in a bathtub" is to make it unaffordable, and that requires Huge. Budget. Deficits.

The American public does not want to give up the SS & Medicare benefits they've been paying for their entire working lives, so the strategy is to manufacture artifical budget crises to convince the people they have to accept "hard choices."

Meanwhile, all the laws that have rigged the game in favor of the One Percent remain in place.

[LittleGirl]

11. If they tried that

there are millions of us 55-60 yr olds that will take to the streets if they take away the only safety net for retirement that I've paid into since 1976. Damn it, I want it back so hell yes, there are many of us that will take to the streets. Because, look what we've already lost! Many of us are not currently working because of lay offs or shipping our jobs overseas, or health, or, or, or. It doesn't matter, some of us didn't end up milionaires.

We're working stiffs and are mad and we're not going to let anyone take that away from us. ugh, no way.

Nope.

[Martin Eden]

20. They're trying it right now

The article in the OP explicitly states McConnell is leveraging budget deficits and the threat of government shutdown to extract concessions on SS & Medicare.

Of course they can't come right out and state they want to abolish these programs, so their strategy is to chip away at it however they can by getting the public to accept incremental reductions based on the notion we can't afford it. Hell, some Republicans have already suggested privatizing SS and switching Medicare to a voucher program.

A sane public not distracted by the infotainment industry and/or brainwashed by Faux News would vote all those bastards out of office, and yet the R's won huge in the 2014 midterms.

[SusanaMontana41]

41. I never worried about Obama getting his "grand bargain" with the GOP

because Republicans were so recalcitrant.

Now he just might get it.

Infuriating.

[saturnsring]

8. so you say "but i need a reason TO vote. " democrat havent inspired me to vote." or

im not voting for someone just cause there's a D by his name.

voting for the lesser of 2 evils is working for me anymore.

i need something to vote for not against "

is this enough of a reason?

[lark]

10. Yeah Yurtle, go for the gusto.

Dems will stop that fantasy fast. Obama should not agree to any entitlement cuts whatsoever nor to undoing sequestration by increasing military spending while cutting domestic outlays. Both of those should be complete non-starters. Don't think McConnell expects to get anywhere with this either. Bet he's just trying this to get the tea-partiers in line. At least he can say "he tried"?

He should know that the crazies don't care about what's possible, they just want everything for the 1% and are looking forward to shutting down the government again. Hopefully sanity will prevail, but Repugs will pay a steep price if they shut down the government so close to an election.

[toddwv]

16. The only problem with that

Well, two problems with that...

1) The media isn't interested in putting the majority of the blame where it belongs; right on top the heads of the GOP.
2) The Demcrats themselves don't seem to interested in controlling the message.

[lark]

45. There's a reason for #2

It lets them help the 1% while pretending they are for the working class. They just can't help what those bad ole Repugs push them to do. poor little helpless Dems that they are.

[SusanaMontana41]

42. Obama already gave away "entitlement" cuts!

He did that during Round One. Thank GOD the Republicans didn't go for it.

Of course he shouldn't do it. I'll bet he does it anyway.

[lark]

46. Yeah, I know what you mean.

This time, he says he won't allow it where last time he actually pushed it. We'll see, but I am hopeful that since there's no "grand deal", he won't go for it.

[FairWinds]

13. Hey Crispy & Little Girl -

SS and Medicare are both ALREADY UNDER ATTACK, with the
old death by a thousand cuts trick. Raising eligibility age,
taxing benefits, and much more.

The Dems should be screaming this from the roof tops, and the
people should be wild in the streets.

But they are not . . .

[allinthegame]

14. I ran the idea

About S/S changes to a bunch of 40 somethings at a recent trade show I attended.
Not one of them was aware of their impending doom. I also do not understand why the candidates on the D side aren't banging the drums constantly about this issue.
Income inequality is important, however, I see this as just a large, if not larger concern, to those under 55.

[SusanaMontana41]

43. The candidates on the "D" side

are corporate hacks.

I want a candidate on the "d" side. That's why I'm voting for Bernie.


FEEL THE BERN!

[stonecutter357]

15. K&R!

[geretogo]

19. Hurry up and die you devil as well as that evil cult you belong to called the GOP .

[Dont call me Shirley]

24. Contact his office....

Here's the opening paragraph on his email site, special isn't it.

"State Government Issues & Legal Matters

As your United States Senator, I have no authority to intervene in matters involving a state agency. Some of these matters include food stamps, Medicaid, child support payments, and insurance regulation. If you have a problem involving a state agency, you should contact the Office of the Governor of Kentucky at [phone]. Also, you may contact your state senator or state representative for assistance. Please go to www.lrc.ky.gov or call [phone] to locate your state elected officials.

I also do not have jurisdiction in matters pertaining to civil or criminal cases. This includes family court matters such as child custody, child support, and divorce issues. I cannot give legal advice or intervene in legal disputes, whether in civil court or criminal court."

http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm


WASHINGTON OFFICE
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[turbinetree]

34. Basically.......................

he's a right wing lackey that doesn't do much, except pass the proverbial buck, if someone asks for help, while he collects $225,000 attacking the same programs that he defers to the governor of the state for help, and then blames all the citizen of the state looking for information on these programs-----------why, again his he in office?


What a jerk---------------a complete self serving right wing do nothing jerk.

[Dont call me Shirley]

38. And the post shows that clearly, what a jerk he is.

[turbinetree]

40. Yep...........................

he shows that he is not for the citizens of the state, they call his office to get help---------------------and all he does his shrug his proverbial $225,000 shoulders and the bribe money he gets from the corporate interest that has paid off this lackey and say basically get lost, your on your own, until he runs for office.

The people of Kentucky, my mothers home state which use to be democratic during the Kennedy/ Johnson years, are getting snookered by this right wing ideologue that does nothing for them, except attack the seniors of the state, the disabled, the unemployed, by saying that if you collect what you paid in to you should be denied.

I think he should have a card board sign in his hands begging for a job, and food, and the citizens of that state has the chance to vote the other jerk out of office and give him a sign that also says will work for food and need a job, by the name of Rand Paul, who wants to do the same thing as this jerk.


I watched a "debate" tonight that had the "candidates talk" about what this country needs, issues to be solved, just like in Kentucky and else where, and not what the "clown car" has been saying.



Honk----------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[Blue Owl]

26. He's getting ready to endorse Trump

The tortoise and the hairpiece

[SusanaMontana41]

44. "Tortoise and the hairpiece"

[wordpix]

27. "While we're talking entitlements, Mitch, those tax havens & low cost leases for mining, drilling,

grazing and building on public lands are on the table." THAT's what Obama should say

[FairWinds]

28. Here are two of the "thousand cuts" that are slowly . .

destroying Social Security . . from Mike Kitces,

"Social Security benefits first became partially taxable in 1983, and the rule was expanded in 1993 to its current form. As the rules stand now, rising income can subject 50% or even 85% of Social Security benefits to taxation, until a maximum of 85% of all Social Security benefits are included in income for tax purposes."

First cut in 1983, another in 1993.

For a person in my situation, this translates into a TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR CUT to my SS benefits.

These are not the only cuts - there have been others.

Where is the outrage? Where is the Democratic Party?

[djean111]

30. Where is the Democratic Party?

Look to the right. That's where the Democratic Party has been sliding.

[turbinetree]

31. I have idea............................

instead of someone making $225,000 a year spewing right wing crap of hate and fear, and all of those that are making $174,000 a year doing nothing but spewing more right wing crap.
All they say and do, is expect us those, that have paid into a Social Security system from the first day we started working, to take a pay cut-------------------why?

So this idiot wants me and you to be on the street corner sooner with a card board sign?

Why do they always want to be attacking this society,, what did we do to them, nothing, we paid and played by the rules.

Why don't they take a big pay cut and just serve for the betterment of country as public servants, with out pay, just in the house alone with the 247 right wing bozo's running that system, would save us over 42 MILLION a year.

In the right wing bozo senate of 55 we can save almost 10 MILLION a year.

Neither right wing chamber's has done anything for the 55 MILLION that we tax payers pay them, if they were under a performance review on a yearly basis , they would be FIRED. It's a no brainier, they should be FIRED.

All we hear is hate and fear, and we don't want you to have your benefits---------------------nothing.



Honk----------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[JDPriestly]

35. I hope Bernie talks about this tonight.

Let them shut down the government. Seniors will stop voting for those clowns.

And then what do they have left?

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

39. Mitch ---> Shell