Ramming this through at the 11th hour UNDER DURESS by falsely linking it to the deficit is Rovian...

[Faryn Balyncd]

....politics at its worst.




Deficits in the General Fund (which are the result of decades of "deficits don't matter" supply sided voodoo economics, and massive unfunded military spending combined with historically low income tax rates on the very wealthy) are now artificially linked to the most fiscally responsible federal program of all time - - - Social Security, which has a $2.2 trillion surplus guaranteed by Treasury Bonds that the plutocrats do not wish to pay back.

They want to CONTINUE their addiction of raiding payroll taxes to subsidize General Fund deficits, instead of repealing the Bush tax cuts to the very wealthy.

It is shameful for leaders of ANY party to duplicitously try to ram through a major raid on Social Security and Medicare BY DURESS - - - under the guise of dealing with a manufactured debt ceiling "crisis".....a "crisis" that has NEVER before been invoked for ANY spending, much less for the unfunded military spending that CAUSED the General Fund debt.

It is disingenuous to campaign on promises of the restoration of democratic governance and TRANSPARENCY, and then to be party to FUNDAMENTAL dismantling of Social Security by ramming through a bill cobbled together in dimly lit backrooms - - - the particulars of which to this moment are not available or understood by Congress, much less American citizens - - - and breathlessly presented to Congress under the guise of dealing with an impending manufactured deadline.

Congress should not allow itself to be coerced into making fundamental (not to mention damaging) changes to Social Security because of a panic caused by General Fund improvidence.




The first order of business is the need to DEFEAT the "Gang of 6" scheme.

Then, following the passage of a clean, unadorned debt limit raise, they need to get to work balancing the General Fund deficit while forswearing the addiction of continued raiding of Social Security.....This means either to cease funding the simultaneous wars, or to repeal the Bush war-time tax cuts for the rich.

After that, real Democrats can get to work dealing with some very real issues facing Social Security - - - like the fact that (since the Boskin Commission, & contrary to Simpson Bowles) current CPI/COLA's significantly UNDERSTATE inflation in general, and for the elderly in particular

That will require all the genuine statesmanship our leaders can muster.








:kick:

[handmade34]

1. people are hooked on drama

all that is needed RIGHT NOW is a simple vote on a simple 1 page act to raise the debt ceiling... all this stuff going on is unnecessary, obnoxious, unreasonable, irrational, baseless, groundless, unwarranted, etc, etc they are all idiots!

[peace4ever]

52. and par for course for TPTB lately

they know how to take advantage of the emotions of regular folks by studying mass and individual psychology for centuries.

look at how good we are a t marketing products today... they are no dummies, thats fer sure.

[girl gone mad]

2. k & r

[TheKentuckian]

3. It is an undefeated strategy so far. They roll us and then their dirt is sacred.

I tend to think that they are going to do whatever they think is less than what will make all hell break loose.

The emergency shit is for spin purposes to defuse and confuse public sentiment enough to maintain the illusion that thee is political opposition rather than collusion.

[riderinthestorm]

4. A big K and R. Nothing to add here. nt

[creeksneakers2]

5. There really is a problem

We are running a $1.6 trillion deficit and the debt is going out of control. The question is, what to do about it. Right now it looks like they'll give the GOP 98% of what they want an throw in tax cuts for the rich to make the problem even worse.

[5X]

6. k and r....

cause I agree.

[chill_wind]

7. K & R.

Very well stated.

[NorthCarolina]

8. The problem is that the conservative New Dems run the show in the Democratic Party

The current crisis has likely been carefully manufactured to accomplish the single goal of cutting Social Security and Medicare. The Democratic Party has long since ceased to be an advocate of the people, and rather are just a wing of the GOP.

[Jefferson23]

9. K&R, thanks for the link Faryn. n/t

[Bryn]

10. Thanks and a big K&R

:hi:

[arcane1]

11. Under Duress is the only way to make it happen

Scare us to the point of saying "for god's sake, do SOMEthing to avert disaster!!!!"

[DeSwiss]

12. Kick all the LIARS out!!!! - K&R n/t

[Overseas]

13. K&R.

[mmonk]

14. This is a fabricated crisis. Thus it's just classic shock doctrine.

We should be getting used to it by now but also should be getting wise enough to it to recognize it.

[Capitalocracy]

18. We should be figuring out ways to actually do something about it.

It's been identified, a lot of people recognize it (not enough, but a lot), now it's time to figure out what the hell we're going to do about it.

[mmonk]

24. Yes, that definitely needs to be worked on.

[scarletwoman]

21. Exactly! +1

[sarcasmo]

15. This drama keeps them from talking about what needs to be talked about

Jobs!

[roxiejules]

16. Good Cop - Bad Cop charade

http://michael-hudson.com/2011/07/the-euthanasia-of-industry/


It’s a good cop-bad cop charade. The Republicans are playing the role of the bad cop. Their script says: “You cannot raise taxes on anybody. No progressive income tax, no closing of tax loopholes for special interests, not even prosecutions for tax fraud. And we can get a lot of money back into the economy if we give a tax holiday to the companies and individuals that have been keeping their money offshore. Let’s free the wealthy from taxes to help us recover.’

Mr. Obama can turn around and pretend to be the good cop. “Hey, boys, let me at least do something. I’m willing to cut back Social Security. I’m willing to take over what was George Bush’s program. I share your worries about the budget deficit. We have to balance it, and I’ve already appointed a Deficit Reduction Commission to prepare public opinion for my cutbacks in the most popular programs. But you have to let me get a little bit of revenue somewhere.”

In the end the Republicans will make some small token concessions, but they’ll get their basic program.


- Michael Hudson

[sabrina 1]

17. And it's so transparent.

I've tried to get answers as to why SS is even mentioned in this debate, but so far have failed.

Even if they cut SS, it would not help the Deficit, since it would go to a different fund. In fact, it would increase it as they would raid it again and increase the debt.

They do think we are stupid.

[Jefferson23]

23. +1.

[DesertFlower]

29. there's a very simple solution to

social security -- remove the cap, but god forbid the rich should put more into FICA. medicare doesn't have a cap. those making over $170,000 a year pay more for medicare. drop that down to $140,000-$150,000 with some higher co-pays.

ever see the ad for the "hoveround"? they say medicare in most cases pays for the whole thing -- then they show the guy taking a trip to the grand canyon. if he can travel maybe he can pay a little more for his mechanical chair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GWZp1U2iS4

[sabrina 1]

30. I agree. But SS is not in trouble right now, so it does not need to

be addressed at all at this time. And since most people know that, this is why they are suspicious about WHY it is constantly being included in any conversation about issues it, first of all, has or had and will not have, anything to do with, and secondly because it is not in need of immediate attention and even more importantly, if they do their jobs and fix the Fed Budget, start creating jobs and as you say, raise the cap on SS, SS will be automatically taken care of for decades to come.

It simply doesn't belong in this discussion. But in this discussion it is, and the question is 'why'?

[DesertFlower]

31. i keep wondering why too. isn't

it solvent until 2035?

[sabrina 1]

32. Yes, and that is a very conservative estimate based on this year's

economy and job situation. It changes each year depending on the economy. Some estimates say it is good well into the '40s and even as far as the '70s. It should be, it has a 2 trillion dollar suprlus and the interest on that money invested in Treasury Bonds, is another source of income for the fund. So even if the employment tax falls short in terms of paying benefits, which it has several times over the years, it still shows a surplus due to the interest on the Treasury Bonds which has always been paid.

[DesertFlower]

33. makes you really wonder.

[Enthusiast]

36. They don't want a solution.

That should be apparent by now. They want to keep the money they stole.

[Enthusiast]

35. It is the only thing that is transparent.

Everything else is a deep secret.

They think enough of us are stupid to let them carry this off and they're right. This same group falsified the election results in 2000 and 2004. And the same bunch ALLOWED 9/11 to happen. And the same bunch brought us Afghanistan and Iraq. These are criminals, the most powerful criminal group in history.

[swilton]

48. Despite the demonizing of the Republicans

the Democrats only have themselves to blame for this debacle. Where were they between 2008 and 2010 when they had majorities in the house and senate? They failed to even incorporate the public option in the health care debate.

They love to put the blame on the Republicans and how evil they are. But Independent Bernie Sanders is the only representative with the courage to stand up to them. Until the Democrats put their own house in order I see no reason to listen to their rhetoric and I have little reason to vote for them other than the phrase - oh the Republicans would be worse.. Actions speak volumes more than words.

[scarletwoman]

19. Hey, look how great it worked with extending the bush tax cuts!

It's disaster capitalism: create a crisis, bring in the solution.

I believe there's even a term for this "crisis > solution" tactic, unfortunately I can't think of it. I came across it years ago in the context of the 9/11 attacks.

And examples run all through Naomi Klien's book about disaster capitalism. It's how those in power control the game, control the populace, and get exactly what they want.

sw

[Lifelong Protester]

20. Thanks for the heads up and yes, the whole thing is a damn

charade. Unnecessary. And as was posted earlier, I think by madfloridian, it is positively IMMORAL to be scaring the crap out of seniors by playing around with the Big 3. That is INHUMANE. For that, and many more reasons, I hope there IS A HELL for these pols to roast in.

[robinlynne]

22. you are so right. I can't stand it!!! I think we should be jamming the WH phones with complaints.

[Enthusiast]

37. I imagine people have broken every

existing record for White House calls and petition signing saying they do not want benefit cuts. Guess what? They do not care. The electorate also wants out of Afghanistan. We also want to raise taxes on the wealthy. Guess what? They're going to cut taxes on the wealthy. And Obama says he is for it.

[robinlynne]

44. i haven't seen any calls to call the white house...just saying.

might he care that none of us want to vote for him because of his actions?

[russspeakeasy]

25. The Gang Bang of Six must be stopped.

[russspeakeasy]

26. A false calculation of the SS cola is a planned tax on the elderly.

[Change has come]

27. Good luck to us all.

:kick:

[DesertFlower]

28. K&R. nt

[Enthusiast]

34. Obama lied.

No question about it. He lied during the campaign and he lied leading up to this moment. He has favored cutting "entitlements" all along. He has always been a supply sider too.

[Enthusiast]

38. One moderate Democrat, two blue dogs and

three Republicans. Seems fair.

[blkmusclmachine]

39. Change You Can Believe In

:sarcasm:

[Pooka Fey]

40. Textbook "Shock Doctrine". K&R

[Yon_Yonson]

41. Thank you for saying that and I fully agree

[Hell Hath No Fury]

42. The only hope for O politically --

is to dump all deals and raise the debt ceiling unilaterllay, invoking the 14th.

The only hope for us is for Congress to block any attempts to cut the Big Three. My fear is there are not enough Democrats left to do it. :(

And you are right, that O linked SS/Medicare to the debt made it the issue it is today. A pox on him for that. :mad:

[myrna minx]

43. This is the manufactured crisis to complete the shock doctrine on our

final safety net. :puke:

[Ganja Ninja]

45. Ramming it through at the last minute is a universal way for both parties

to cover their asses. They probably agreed months ago how this was going to come down. Now they can go back home and say "we know this deal sucks but we had to do something to avoid default".

[KoKo]

51. Drive it down to the Midnight hour and then pass it...Next morning

it will be done and it will be declared a "hard fought victory for the American People."

[felix_numinous]

46. K&R!!

[FiveGoodMen]

47. The Bush Admin never left office.

They changed their front man.

That's all.

[slipslidingaway]

49. kick nt

[KoKo]

50. K&R...!

[dionysus]

53. do explain how a clean bill gets through the house. thx.