This is starting to piss me off!

[AAO]

http://americablog.com/2012/12/obama-cuts-social-security-medicare-on-table.html

Obama finally admits cuts to Medicare, Social Security are on the table
12/12/2012 12:32pm by Gaius Publius

Boehner and House Republicans have proposed curbing the rate of increase for Social Security payments and raising the eligibility age for Medicare, among other changes, which are non-starters for many Obama supporters. In his interview with Walters, the president hinted at new flexibility on entitlement spending cuts, but only once Republicans concede on top tax rates.

“If the Republicans can move on that [taxes] then we are prepared to do some tough things on the spending side,” Obama said. “Taxes are going to go up one way or another. And I think the key is that taxes go up on high-end individuals.”

Raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 is “something that’s been floated,” Obama said, not dismissing the idea outright.

“When you look at the evidence, it’s not clear that it actually saves a lot of money,” he said. “But what I’ve said is let’s look at every avenue, because what is true is we need to strengthen Social Security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we’ve got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly.”

[former-republican]

1. That's not why he was elected , he was suppose to be the protector of it.

I hope that article is wrong.

[democrattotheend]

2. Write to the White House. Use the my2k campaign

Bitching and moaning on liberal blogs is not going to do any good. What we need is to have a deluge of letters/emails/calls/tweets to the White House showing how strong the objection is to this from a broad swath of Americans.

Angry rants about being sold out are not going to do any good. What we need are stories about how this would affect you or people you know.

They are looking at these comments and letters to get stories for the my2k campaign. What we need to do is send them message to the president, respectfully, that we appreciate his fighting to keep middle class taxes low but think it's even more important that he protect Medicare and Social Security.

Here is the comment form: http://www.whitehouse.gov/engage/join?utm_source=blog

Write a letter, and get other people you know offline to do the same.

It's out there as a trial balloon...let's quash it.

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. Doesn't this ...

“When you look at the evidence, it’s not clear that it actually saves a lot of money,” he said. “But what I’ve said is let’s look at every avenue, because what is true is we need to strengthen Social Security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we’ve got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly.”

Kind of dampen, this:

Raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 is “something that’s been floated,” Obama said, not dismissing the idea outright.

[treestar]

5. Yep, that's a lame basis on which to base their headline

But then there are people just looking for any excuse to say Obama is "putting it on the table."

[sabrina 1]

6. Why is he talking about SS and Medicare at all right now? This conversation

is supposed to be about the Deficit. He has been informed over and over again, and during the Campaign he did seem to get it, that these programs did not cause the deficit.

We know what the main drivers of the deficit are. Why is he not focusing on them each and every day until Republicans, who LOST the election, get it through their heads that we will not be fooled by their lies?

If this happens, as the Progressive/Unions coalition has warned, 'there will be hell to pay'.

[1StrongBlackMan]

7. Why is he talking about SS and Medicare at all ...

Because it is far more important that President Obama appear "reasonable", "open-minded" and "willing to compromise" to the general public than his appearing "strong" to partisans.

It was his continued appearance of reaching out to the gop (much to the dismay of Democrats/Liberals/Progressives) that got him re-elected and has public opinion down on the gop. And it is this continued appearance that makes it possible for him to stand firm, even to the point of us going over the "cliff", on tax increases on the wealthy and ambiguous promises to "reform" "entitlements.".

[sabrina 1]

8. What got him reelected was that the other side was so bad there was no

choice. And every Democrat I know would have preferred to have had a choice.

See the huge Coalition that was formed BEFORE the election this time by Progressive Organizations, Unions and Senior groups, plus SS advocacy groups, because while they felt they had no choice, they stated that they wanted to be prepared for any betrayal especially on two issues, SS being 'on the table' and raising the Medicare age.

This election was about stopping the rabid Republicans from winning.


He should NOT be talking about these programs as they have no place in these discussions. But we all know that the 'deficit reduction committee' was set up primarily to try to privatize these programs using the deficit as cover.

Too many people know the facts now. It's not like it was six years ago.

If they raise the age for Medicare, I believe there will be a major political shift in this country. That is the 'red line' for the usually dependable liveral and left leaning independent vote, and this time people prepared for it.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. And ...

how did the public come to a realization that the other side was so bad? It's not like the gop has changed much. They have always had their nuts and nutty issues.

Too many people know the facts now. It's not like it was six years ago.

I disagree ... the vast majority of people don't know or care about the facts; they only want DC to get something done to alleviate their pain. And when they see one side saying, "Everything is on the table, including cuts to SS and Medicare" (which, BTW, doesn't mean you won't reject even the discussion of touching SS or Medicare while at the bargaining table) and they see the other side saying, "You must cut spending or we'll crash the economy"; the vast majority of people side (sided) with the more concilitory figure.

If they raise the age for Medicare, I believe there will be a major political shift in this country. That is the 'red line' for the usually dependable liveral and left leaning independent vote, and this time people prepared for it.

Uh huh ... and prepare of 2010 revisited.

This is not to say I support any "reform" that negatively impacts beneficiaries ... I don't; nor do I think President Obama does either.

[sabrina 1]

10. During the campaign, Obama was strong on not supporting any cuts to

benefit programs. While the Republicans made the mistake of being honest about their intentions.

I met so many people for whom this was a major issue, which is understandable since so many lives are affected by it.

So, if you are saying he 'has to appear reasonable' why was he not saying this during the campaign?

Because if he had, he would have lost the senior vote, and if you think they don't know what's going on, you are mistaken. They are extremely active in politics and organizations like AARP keep their huge membership informed on these issues.

2010 again? I don't think so. I think it's more likely that the people will become far more involved in choosing their own candidates rather than allowing the party to do so. In fact, they were in this election. Several Progressive organizations eg, pushed candidates like Elizabeth Warren and helped her win in Mass. No one is trusting politicians anymore to take care of issues that are so important to them.

A raising of the Medicare age would be deadly for many people in that age group. And to even think of any 'cuts' to SS is simply unacceptable. That fund belongs to the people. Benefits could and should be RAISED not cut.

Using weasel words like 'strengthen' and 'fix' is not fooling anyone anymore. SS is fine and needs no 'strengthening' right now. It always needs monitoring, but it has zero to do with the deficit and by even mentioning it they are making a lot of people very nervous, although not surprised. We saw what happened during the last Lame Duck Congress with the Bush tax cuts.

[AAO]

12. We should be cutting the defense budget by at least a third. That's 2 trillion after 10 years.

[upaloopa]

4. Medicare and Social Security should

not be a part of this. If it is we are giving into right wing ideology only. Tax rates need to go up because of years when the right built up the deficit by giving away the surplus they inherited to the wealthy. Medicare and Social Security only effect the deficit by letting the government off the hook by not paying back what it borrowed. I say go off the cliff and spare us the cuts. What's the difference in us paying more taxes and us losing benefits?
Tax the rich and leave us alone. We did not share in the prosperity so we should not have to share in the sacrifice.

[onethatcares]

11. then every elected and non elected government

employee should get the same program. from the V A janitor to the POTUS.

We have to look at every avenue.

Gaudammmmint, it's time to cut the bullshit and make them all pay for the same thing.

I know I didn't vote for anyone that thought they were better than myself.