On the PBS NewsHour (4/12/13), the left/right debating duo of Mark Shields and David Brooks took up the issue of Social Security and “chained CPI“–the very controversial White House proposal to cut Social Security benefits over time by changing the way inflation is calculated.
So what did the pundits think of Obama’s plan? From the right, David Brooks thought it was brave:
I give him credit for some things. He did have some reasonably small Social Security reform, this thing called chained CPI, which is part a benefit cut, part a big tax increase. He does do some things which are brave. He does, I think, sort of move to the center.
Brooks wanted more cuts, but this is a start. And from the left? Mark Shields had this to say:
I think what he did was gutsy; any time you make your own base that angry, as he obviously has done. Last fall, the Republican Senate leaders said about the chained CPI and the means-testing for wealthy Medicare recipients, that these are the kinds of things that would get Republicans interested in revenues.
Well, President Obama is doing that. And there seems to be precious little interest in revenues on their part. But — so I think he gets credit and should get credit for doing something bold and difficult.
Even host Judy Woodruff was left to comment, “It sounds like are you giving him a little more credit than David is.” Even on PBS, the left and right agree that cutting Social Security is brave; I guess that makes the public a bunch of wimps.
If being brave is about hurting those you purport to care about
Then I guess those child abusing priests must be frigging heroic.
Instead of brave or gutsy, how about stupid?
“The other conflict dominating the news? Proposed Social Security and Medicare cuts to stem the deficit ‘crisis.’ Similarly here, ‘extreme’ positions mask the underlying dynamics. I do hear some talk about the deficit being a function of lost tax revenue due to massive cuts for the rich (and straight up tax evasion) coupled with high unemployment (of folks who would otherwise be paying taxes on their income). What I rarely hear is a critique of the wholesale looting of the treasury that has been pulled off by private ‘defense’ contractors and… you guessed it… the weapons industry. Possibly a passing reference to the costly execution of two wars, the waste and mismanagement (‘incompetence’), but never an actual indictment of war profiteers themselves. In Money Out of Politics, I brought up the specter of corporate leadership buying into office and then legislating for their own profit. Borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for the Iraq War and then sounding the alarm on program insolvency should raise a little skepticism over the sincerity of those who are clearly looking to cash in on these programs through privatization.”
More here:
http://whatisthemissingpoint.blogspot.com/2013/04/paying-for-war.html
This really raises my blood pressure. Who are the most evil journalists on the map? It’s not FOX, it’s not CNBC, it’s not Rush Limbaugh. It’s PBS and their ilk. Why? Because they set the boundaries of debate. They are much more devious and dishonest. They are the architects of the most profoundly effective propaganda the world has ever seen. I hate Jim Lehrer far more than any right winger. If he was here in front of me right now I’d slap his face and spit on his shoe. Gawd, what an evil jerk pathetic excuse for a human being.
The same argument leads me to conclude that Obama is the most evil and most dangerous president of all time, second only to Clinton. Anybody who voted for him the first time was incredibly simple minded. Anybody who voted for him the second time is either stupid beyond all possible belief, or is a closet Republican.
Under Bush this country moved further to the left than I can remember. Everybody was up in arms about corporate welfare and military adventures. Under Obama this country has moved further to the right than I can ever remember. Suddenly everybody and their grandmother is talking about the good war and how Obama cleaned up Bush’s mess by helping out the bankers.
Stop the planet, I want to get off.
Is it still okay to be on point here? America’s foremost sociocraptologist and Mr. I-Agree-With-David-But are laughably out of touch. A while back I took advise posted here to stop watching PBS NewsHour and have since been feeling much better informed.
Hey lets do the obvious, stop the wars. Then next we put people in power who trust and accept their hearts, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and others who can see beyond money into their own hearts and allow themselves to be guided by their natural feelings for each other.
PBS NEWS HOUR: David, Mark &. Judy! High paid jerks, sounds to me!
THIS senior is VERY brave. I’ll be HAPPY to CONSIDER “chained CPI” — on the day AFTER (a) capital gains and dividends (outside IRAs and 401(k)s) and “carried interest” are taxed as ordinary income, (b) ALL income is subject to individual FICA/Medicare tax, and “carried interest” is ALSO subject to the employer’s share of FICA/Medicare tax, (c) ALL securities sales and purchases (stocks, bonds, futures, derivatives, plus whatever Wall Street and LaSalle Street dream up tomorrow) are subject to a modest Financial Transactions Tax, and (d) an expanded Buffett Rule sets a 30% minimum tax rate for individuals with AGIs of $1 million or more and businesses with net income of $10 million or more. How’s THAT for a reasonable compromise?
This whole discussion is a false narrative, Social Security has never added a dime to the deficit, and runs efficiently. The math fixes to shore it up for the long term are simple, yet never mentioned by republicans whom only wish to derail the program. What in the name of God is wrong with these people?!
“We The People” have no friends in Washington and no friends on TV beyond Bill Moyers and Amy Goodman. The rest are either owned by corporations or dependent on corporations to either keep their cushy jobs or stay in office until they end up in even more lucrative cushy jobs as corporate lobbyists. The “bold” Obama will ensure a GOP victory as the sick and elderly abandon the democrat party. This is undoubtedly the master plan that will lead first to privatization and ultimately the doom of Social Security and Medicare.
This concession by Uncle Tom Obama is a travesty to the memory of the Reverend Martin Luther King. Social Security has no connection to the deficit and the funds have been looted by the government illegally now for years. It is a theft of the people and the common good. And why anyone could take seriously any comments from the rich pundits of the corporate newsmedia is beyond me.
Now you see the distillation of the two wings of the Plutocrat party on PBS. They agree more than disagree. And the reason to cut important things that help people over corporations because of “necessity.” Said economy necessity has been created for just such a purpose. Piss the New Deal etc. away to stop the deficits. Of course doing so in a Depression means sure fire unemployment, starving people and violence in the streets. Just perfect for martial law and whole sale suppression of our Bill of Rights. Then the oligarchs gain the plenary control they want for their Plutocratic empire to replace our faltering Republic.
The agreement of left and right over cutting Social Security has more to do with reluctant and reality-enforced integrity than with bravery. We can no longer conceal from future generations that we leave a legacy of unfunded liabilities. Social Security is just one of those liabilities. Such intergenerational injustice is unfair. What a revolting development this may turn out to be.
Decreasing Social Security really infuriates me!
Among the many issues at hand, my issue is that Social Security is the ONLY income for Disabled People.
Social Security was created to supplement Seniors’ monies – not to support them. The thought is that seniors had the opportunity to work longer and thus accrue more monies.
However, we also need to consider the millions of disabled people in these “United” States of America, not the least of whom are the Veterans who gave their lives for this country. The ONLY income for the disabled is social security.
Personally, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (this is a random disease and anybody can get it; I think genetics play only 2%. Nobody in my famiily has it). So at 42 y.o. and became unable to work. After working for 30 years, I receive $1300 a month from social security. how does anybody live on that? And you want to decrease it? Really?
Moreover, I find it interesting that the Obama’s do not consider this. Indeed, Mrs. Obama’s fathers was impacted by multiple sclerosis starting in his mid-thirties. She has not gone into detail about how the illness impacted her childhood and formation. In fact, she could be a great spokesperson for the disabled!
Think hard about how any decrease to social security would impact the
millions of peoples’ lives!