Thursday, July 07, 2011
Its A Trap
Putting Social Security and Medicare on the table is a bad idea, both for the Nation and the Democrats. Rank and file Democrats will see it as a betrayal of core party principles, Republicans will use the negotiations to gut both programs, and they'll go into the next election campaigning that the President cut Social Security and Medicare benefits while raising taxes. Its a lose-lose proposition for Obama.
Meanwhile, since the budget woes are almost entirely the result of the Bush tax cuts (we went from surplus to deficit almost immediately after they took effect) and unpaid for wars, seems to me the logical thing to do would be get out of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya while allowing the Bush cuts to expire.
We'd probably still be in deficit due to the weak economy, but the red ink would be greatly reduced, unpopular wars (and the drain on the economy caused by them) would be ended, and popular programs that help keep the elderly out of poverty would be retained.
Oliver Willis has some thoughts on this matter:
We’ve broken enough stones in America on the backs of the middle class and the poor. We bailed out the uber-wealthy and didn’t attach any strings as they collapsed the global economy.
No more.
I can't see why the Republicans so dislike President Obama. He's accomplishing everything they've ever wanted.
Meanwhile, since the budget woes are almost entirely the result of the Bush tax cuts (we went from surplus to deficit almost immediately after they took effect) and unpaid for wars, seems to me the logical thing to do would be get out of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya while allowing the Bush cuts to expire.
We'd probably still be in deficit due to the weak economy, but the red ink would be greatly reduced, unpopular wars (and the drain on the economy caused by them) would be ended, and popular programs that help keep the elderly out of poverty would be retained.
Oliver Willis has some thoughts on this matter:
We’ve broken enough stones in America on the backs of the middle class and the poor. We bailed out the uber-wealthy and didn’t attach any strings as they collapsed the global economy.
No more.
I can't see why the Republicans so dislike President Obama. He's accomplishing everything they've ever wanted.
