2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumSpending Cuts Do Not Equate to Benefit Cuts
Cutting funding of inefficiencies in popular social programs such as Social Security and Medicare is good. It leaves more funding for actual benefits.
Let them spin this as anti-democratic.
Obama is placating the Right with the good kind of savings, the kind that increases efficiency and preserves benefits.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)and what the exact proposals are that deal with them; thank you
Neon2012
(94 posts)Obviously this is a game of perception.
Example, if you want an end to tax breaks for people making over 500K you start the negotiation at 250K.
Most of you don't trust Obama.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)period. They rather snip away at social programs than cut back on the real wasteful spending. Congress is maintaining their Empire. Congress has 250 millionaires. They are an elite class, competing against each other for power. We got people in our Congress with Foreign investments. That is corrupt to me. It is a conflict of Interest. When someone bought up Susan Rice's assets, it stunned me. I thought she was a career Ambassador?
And I still don't believe Pickering's report on Benghazi. It is better to take the fall, then maybe expose what you were really doing in Benghazi, besides conducting Foreign relations. I don't believe our government at all for both Parties. I just get the sense, the practical people are demonizing the left and Right. I don't consider myself an extremist, and i don't consider Governments' runned by greedy Wall Street Vultures practical. Especially when they start screwing me around at the expense of my pockets. I'm going to give an example again, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and other equity investment groups,I would like to know do they have Foreign investments in countries like Afghanistan? Do they have any contractual agreements with the karzai Government and who has the rights to mine the Gold and Silver mines in that country? What connections do American investors also have in the Chinese economy.
The reason I'm enquiring is the number of U.S. billionaires versus the Chinese. Why aren't there as many Billionaires in China as there is in the U.S. because it isn't even close? The same case with millionaires. I'm just following the money and it leads to the U.S.
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)but from what I'm reading about Social Security (which is famously efficient in its operations), it's a benefit cut.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)is a CUT IN BENEFITS.
And Social Security is already overwhelmingly efficient. It is not like some private industry has their fingers in the pie (although they'd like to, wouldn't they?).
Neon2012
(94 posts)I'm sure savings can be found.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)Medicare is not far behind.
Stop assuming that government programs are by definition wasteful. The waste that was recently cut out of Medicare was a result of private companies in the Medicare Advantage program (a Republican innovation) skimming profits for themselves.
This happens EVERY TIME they try to privatize public programs: transportation depts, utility companies, medical, prisons, defense, whatever. The private company gets handed a government contract on the premise that they can do the work for less and what happens is they find a way to cut their costs, or raise prices so that they can pocket the difference.
You know the power outages on the East Coast that go on for weeks after big storms? Private utility companies cut down on maintenance and available crews to save money and then don't have the means to deal with major disasters.
Check out what private contractors make, as opposed to soldiers--the private vs public versions of our Defense department.
See all those signs on the highway, naming specific companies doing repairs? Before privatization cities and states had their own crews and did their own maintenance, with a limited budget for equipment upgrades, and zero profit .
There are many things that the government can do, better, for less. If you don't know, learn.
Overseas
(12,121 posts)Therefore it is a cut.
Give them back the COLA.
And raise more revenue from where all the revenue went over the past 30 years-- to the tippy top. If a measly THREE PERCENT tax increase at the top doesn't work, TRY FOUR PERCENT!
Try a tiny transaction tax on Wall STreet first!