Why Does President Obama Repeatedly Blame Entitlements?

[jtown1123]

In President Obama's interview with Bill O'Reilly, deficits were discussed as well as Obama's budget:

Obama said he will include $400 billion in proposed cuts in his new budget, including to defense, but conceded that “the long-term problem is entitlements.” “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. And what I’ve said to the Republicans is, ‘I want to work with you to figure out how we cut spending on this.’ … One side is not going to be able to get it done because it requires tough choices.”

source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49011.html#ixzz1DNQz09xA


I am nauseated that he has bought this right wing nonsense about the deficit...who effin cares? We have a jobs crisis. Want to fix the deficit? Do it after people have jobs and it is responsible to do so. Simply let the Bush tax cuts on the $250,000 plus crowd expire, end the wars. Cutting Social Security, Mediare and Medicaid when the wealthy Wall St. tycoons got off scott free for gambling away people's 401(k)s and causing the housing bubble, is morally wrong and politically moronic.

[Name removed]

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[xchrom]

2. SS is an entitlement? nt

[Autumn]

Sure it is. Just ask

any republican. Of course Democrats know better.

[xchrom]

14. i asked because a democrat included it as an entitlement -- and not just any democrat. nt

on edit from the article: “the long-term problem is entitlements.” “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.'

[Enthusiast]

94. 'Real' Democrats do know better. nt

[StarsInHerHair]

116. ah because Obama is not a real Democratic President

nt

[rhett o rick]

131. Now you are starting to catch on. He extends the Bush tax cuts for the uber-rich and

cuts Social Security and Medicare. Glad you finally figured it out.

[StarsInHerHair]

152. I've been here for a LONG time as KakistocracyHater, PLUS I was calling alot

of the "Dems" the Other Right. Never waved those tasselled things around either.

[SammyWinstonJack]

153. It would seem that the real entitlements are TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH!

Those are entitlements that Obama can/does support. :puke:


Obama=DINO.

[stockholmer]

18. unfortunately for USA,any transfer payment not mandated by Constitution is definitely an entitlement

and there is a huge catch 22 (means testing) with a Social Security fix. For so long the canard that it has to be universal or it will lose support (in other words even a billionaire gets it if they have paid in) has been thrown out there that the very canard will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Another large problem is the cap that you put on FICA tax. The country simply cannot fund $112 TRILLION in unfunded Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare mandates without the top 1% (who control over 50% of your wealth) paying an uncapped FICA tax and also not getting a transfer payment which is designed by its very nature to allow the poorer people to simply live when they retire.

If anyone says this is unfair to the rich, simply point to any person who doesn't have children, and say 'these people pay large taxes to support a public school system that they will not use due to their lack of children'.

Besides, the rich got rich because of the American system, and if the bottom half of the country falls into chaotic poverty and violent uprising, the vast majority of these upper classes will soon loose their wealth as well.

In fact, the actual truly wealthy ($1 billion plus) know full well that a nouveau riche lawyer or doctor worth, say $10 to 50 million, living in Long Island or Malibu will be swept away quickly if the system ever really collapses, and that they (the billionaires) will simply appropriate this wealth, just as they have the lower classes.

[grahamhgreen]

72. Besides, the rich can afford it.

[Hannah Bell]

84. It has not a goddamn thing to do with the constitution.

•right granted by law or contract (especially a right to benefits); "entitlements make up the major part of the federal budget"

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/web


your $112 trillion figure is bullshit too.

[stockholmer]

89. well,in re to $112 trillion in unfunded liabilities,guess you're calling bullshit on the Fed Reserve

its their number

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ (lower right, hover for sources and what it includes)

this is from the Dallas Federal Reserve Chairman, a year ago

http://www.dallasfed.org/news/speeches/fisher/2010/fs100210.cfm

Pundits and analysts like to focus on the year in which Social Security will go permanently into the red on an annual cash flow basis—which recently was projected to occur in 2019 but could occur as early as 2016. But they largely ignore the severity of the broader problem: accumulated entitlement debt over the infinite horizon. According to our calculations at the Dallas Fed, that unfunded debt of Social Security and Medicare combined has now reached $104 trillion—trillion with a 'T'—in discounted present value. And while much attention in recent years has been devoted to Social Security, the lion's share of the total entitlement shortfall (nearly $90 trillion) actually comes from Medicare.


and, btw, Social Security didn't take, like he said, until 2016 to go into the red, it happened in 2010
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/05/news/economy/social_security_trustees_report/index.htm

CBO Projects Social Security to Be Forever in the Red
http://crfb.org/blogs/cbo-projects-social-security-be-forever-red

Previously, both the Social Security Trustees and CBO projected that there would be a few short years of surplus early on this decade, but that deficits would begin by mid-decade and continuously grow as the Baby Boomer generation enters into retirement. The Trustees projected total deficits between 2012-2021 would total $380 billion this past August. These projections exclude the interest earned on the existing balances in the trust funds--offering a better view at the program's yearly finances and its sustainability




finally, you must have simply have misunderstood what I said about entitlements, laws, and the Constitution

Social Security and Medicare are simply laws, laws that have brought forth a programme

they are not mandated by the Constitution (which was my point)

as such, if tomorrow the US House of Representatives passed a bill ending both, then the US Senate passed a similar bill, and it went to conference committee, and this reconciliation bill went back to the House and The Senate, and they passed it, and then Obama signed it (how a USA law becomes a law)

BOTH THE PROGRAMMES END

that is why I called them entitlements (apparently in the USA, the word entitlement has a hugely negative meaning)

if they were in existence from a Constitutional clause, then it would take a Constitutional Amendment to end them


cheers (and lighten up, ffs, I am not your enemy) :)

[Hannah Bell]

92. now tell me the window on that "unfunded debt" & you'll see why it's a bullshit number.

also note that the number actually comes not from the fed, but from pete peterson. check the citations.

& ss didn't go into the red in 2010, sorry.

[stockholmer]

104. Pete Peterson uses a shorter time horizon, thus has a smaller cumulative number,+ here is the CBO's

actual PDF, (including interest), showing that the outflows now are in the negative from the general fund and are now drawing on the trust fund part (including interest from the trust fund) to make up the difference


or in the Congressional Budget Office's own explanatory notes

"a/ "Other income" consists chiefly of transfers from the general fund to the Social Security trust funds. Such transfers appear in the budget as both (1) a positive outlay (the general fund portion) and
(2) a negative outlay or offsetting receipt (the trust fund portion)."


look, you are owed that money, I think that it is a crime if you do not get it, I also think it is insane if they try to privatize your social security, as the banks will then soon really rape you

end the empire, rebuild your infrastructure, save your social safety net, go to single payer, not-for-profit health care system, develop sustainable energy sources, revitalize your unions, your education system, and re-design the suburban sprawl that is petrol-fueling your country to death

if this sounds right wing, then I truly do not know what to tell you

[Hannah Bell]

106. i notice you neglect to tell me the window pete is using, or link it. instead,

you throw up some smoke.

sure sign of dishonest debater.

[jtown1123]

150. Pete Peterson??? You're joking. He has HATED Social Security forever

and has spent billions of dollars on phony experts, news outlets, and misinformation campaigns to turn people against Social Security. Why don't you quote an actual economist or Social Security Actuary. haha, pete peterson, you make me laugh.

[jtown1123]

93. SS is not in the red. check with SSA, that article was false

and didn't include interest payments. SS is in surplus. These are not unfunded liabilities. The Federal Reserve (Greenspan and Bernanke are all Ayn Randian morons and criminals who caused the downfall of our economy).

Of you want some accurate info on SS and the non-crisis, read the Social Security Actuary report, the Center for Economic Policy and Research policy papers.

[stockholmer]

99. and, btw, I am so Anti-Fed, it would make your head spin

they are bleeding you dry as a nation

[Hannah Bell]

102. lol. no central bankers in sweden, eh?

just one of the original homes of the republic of money.

[stockholmer]

109. our Riksbank has done a great job running our finances thru this tough times...

Anders Borg is one of the best financial ministers in the world, at this moment.

We are not in the Eurozone, we are not ruled by the horrific ECB, nor by the scoundrels at the IMF, World Bank, nor the worse-yet BIS. The Swedish krona is up over 28% versus the US dollar in just the last 6 months, and our exports have increased significantly as well.

We will run a national surplus this year, all the while lowering our unemployment rate down to near 7%, growing our economy at a 5%+ rate, all with a workforce that is 80%+ unionized.

We have almost a zero poverty rate, plus a full and robust social safety net, including universal single payer health care, free university for all, and a minumum wage that is well more than double the US. Plus we dont bomb and shoot people of colour all over the globe.

If the American people take their government back from the bankers, the war-machine, the for profit health and pharma cartels, and the rest of the multi-nationals, they can have it even better than we do.

[Hannah Bell]

113. lol. yah, sure, no banksters in sweden. ha-ha.

study your own history.

[Enthusiast]

95. You are my enemy.

Anyone that comes on DU spouting right wing talking points is my enemy.

[stockholmer]

98. not a single word I said has to do with the right wing, I think you need to save SS,and end the wars

you must not read the whole posts, or you infer motives with no basis in fact

[Hannah Bell]

103. the idea that SS needs to be "saved" is a right-wing meme.

the only thing it needs to be saved from is the machinations of the ruling class.

ours, & also the global ruling class who are pushing the same programs around the world.

sweden is actually ahead of the curve in some of these moves to the right.

because contrary to propaganda, it's not a socialist paradise, but a seat of the money power from way back.

and your $112 trillion is a bullshit statistic. tell me the window on that stat.

[stockholmer]

110. saved as in not privatized, and not reduced in terms of duration and benefits

as to this window you refer to, I do admit I am somewhat at a loss, unless your are referring to the http://www.usdebtclock.org/ web site, in which case the window is towards the bottom, on the right side.

[Hannah Bell]

112. the window for the $112 T unfunded liability that you quoted. you don't mean you post things & have

no idea what they mean, do you?

is this money supposedly due tomorrow? next year? next 20 Years? next 100 years? next 500 years? next infinite number of years?

you posted the number like you knew something, tell me about it.

[Enthusiast]

136. Thank you, Hannah Bell.

You are one of the good ones. I appreciate you.

[rhett o rick]

132. The biggest fish eat the smaller fish until there is only one big fish left. Then he starves.

That's capitalism.

[eridani]

133. Why not? If you pay into it, are you not ENTITLED to get a payout? n/t

[Autumn]

3. It is rather sickening that a Democrat would

spout right wing nonsense regarding SS. Getting tax breaks for the rich was not a tough choice now, was it? His priorities are all messed up. Which leaves me wondering. Which side is he on?

[StarsInHerHair]

121. I think we all know which side he's on and it makes us feel sick to the stomach

especially when extending W tax cuts for the richest iNCREASED the "oh SO important deficit" by what, $99 billion?

[Skink]

4. we are going to have to raise FICA on everyone.

wages are stagnating people are out of work.

[katnapped]

5. Everyone except the rich, you mean

Since it's only important that us pee-ons 'sacrifice' :sarcasm:

[jtown1123]

8. Just raise the cap on pple who make more than 106,800. problem solved.

[bluethruandthru]

10. [phone] n/t

[Dappleganger]

22. Bingo!

Thankfully that will not affect us, lol.

[sufrommich]

Yes! nt

[Divine Discontent]

78. I keep waiting for our party's leadership to push this! Even Reagan knew when to raise taxes, which

was over 10 times in his disastrous tenure. The president needs to point to that fact when pushing for higher taxes on the rich. He points often to Reagan, so point to that and raise the SS tax on them to unlimited and not 106K!

:bounce:

[Hannah Bell]

105. the rich don't make most of their money from wages. they get it from capital.

ss doesn't tax capital, the income tax does.

they just extended income tax cuts.

don't you see you're being played?

[StarsInHerHair]

117. then a Social Security Tax should now be required on capital

so that's why the f*ckers are always blathering on about 'cutting capital gains taxes'.


THE WEALTHY SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO HELP SHOULDER THE BURDEN LIKE THE REST OF AMERICA

[Hannah Bell]

122. the proper remedy is to raise income & capital gains taxes. it is not to

turn social security into a "gift" from the rich that can be demagogued & reduced at their whim.

simply rescinding the bush tax cuts pays off the borrowed $ from the ss trust fund.

the rich got the benefit of that borrowing in the form of tax cuts. now they can pay it back.

[Hannah Bell]

86. there is no problem requiring this phoney "solution"

[jtown1123]

90. true, but you have to offer something when pressed

[Hannah Bell]

101. why? "offering something" means you accept that there's a "problem".

there's not.

[Better Believe It]

68. But President Obama just cut the FICA for one year .... maybe longer.

[markpkessinger]

138. Indeed. That why his tax cut compromise has sickened so many of us!

[Hannah Bell]

85. please study the ss trustees' reports before you make such pronouncements.

[eridani]

134. No we won't Just eliminate the income cap n/t

[RegieRocker]

6. He must be getting a really big payoff for his turncoat

performance.

[BobbyBoring]

87. I don't think it's that

I think he's getting to keep his brains located in the inner part of his cranium as opposed to JFK and others who spoke of change~

[RegieRocker]

129. As with the Mafia. Play ball get paid or get whacked.

[snappyturtle]

7. K&R I don't know why...I think it's political suicide on the Democratic side.

on edit: I hope the un-reccers realize what's at stake. I don't take any pleasure in criticizing the President's policies but when it runs against the grain of Democratic principals, I think I must speak out.

[jtown1123]

13. Thanks for this! I am sick of people denying a very serious problem

just because they don't want to criticize a Democrat.

[Dappleganger]

23. Well said.

[WinkyDink]

66. "...it's political suicide on the Democratic side." But not for Obama; perhaps. ;-)

[snappyturtle]

142. Perhaps not....well, actually the way things have been going, most likely not! nt

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

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[Stinky The Clown]

11. That's a great question.

The fact is, citing "entitlements" as a governmental burden instead of being government's essential job is a very repubican stance.

[jtown1123]

12. Yupp

[somone]

15. Because Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid recipients are the new welfare queens

and many of them drive Cadillacs!

[stockholmer]

35. just wait until the real austerity IMF programmes hit, all but the oligarchs will soon be demonized

The brutal irony is that the statist bankers, war machine pushers and multi-national capitalists are in reality the huge 'welfare queens', as they have received 10's of trillions of subsidies and bailouts in just the last 3 years.

They control the US media, and soon you will see a multi-level, hyper-sophisticated attack from all spectrums that will work on the collective psyche, turning neighbor against neighbor, citizen against citizen, in a truly deep-rooted subconscious mindset of false blame and scape goating.

The one thing that will not be allowed is attacks on the monetary system of Wall Street, Banks, The Federal Reserve, etc (as seen by the constant drum beat of false optimism over the stock market, even as the regular person is beaten down) Just look at the extreme trouble that a simple, complete audit of the Federal Reserve draws.

Nor will the war machine be allowed to come into debate, as the right wing AND the left wing will work hand in glove with the state security apparatus to quash all dissent. There will be false flag terror attempts (already seen with underwear bomber, etc) and the pushing of the Clash of Civilization meme to keep the right wing whipped up. As for the left, there will be a pernicious appeal to keep the war factories going for economic means for their districts. This is such a false argument, as innumerable studies have showed, a defense dollar spent yields back a fraction of a dollar spent on peaceful capitalistic pursuits. This is due to scales of economy, blow back expenses (ie more wars due to a pursuit of empire means more spending) and the simple fact of raw corruption that pervades the USA defense contracting industry (see the Sept 10, 2001 announcement of $2.3 TRILLION missing from the Pentagon--- all forgotten the next day).

[fasttense]

16. Let's make some tough choices:

1. Take back the tax give away to the uber rich.

2. Make the uber rich pay the same percentage in Social Security taxes as the poor pay.

3. Reinstate the death tax.

4. Stop the wars.

Obama is a RepubliCON and every time he says or does a very RepubliCON thing the majority of Democrats act surprised. They don't seem able to understand that in Obama we have a Herbert Hoover and NOT an FDR.

[Hannah Bell]

107. the "uber rich" make their money from capital, not wages. SS taxes wages, not capital.

[stockholmer]

118. a 1% Tobin Tax would tax the oligarch's capital, hit them where it counts

Levy a 1% Tobin tax (securities transfer tax or trading tax) on all financial transactions including derivatives (futures, options, indices, and over the counter derivatives), stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and commodities, especially program trading, high-frequency trading, and flash trading. Re-institute the Glass-Steagall firewall to separate banks, brokerages, and insurance.

Use the Tobin tax revenue and a revived corporate income tax to provide immediate tax relief and aid start-up production to individuals, families, the self-employed, and small business by increasing personal exemptions and standard deductions.

Full funding at improved levels for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, jobless benefits, and related programs. Offer Medicare for All to anyone under 65 who wants it at $100 per person per month, with reduced rates for families, students, and the unemployed, until a true single-payer plan is passed. Pay for this with Tobin tax revenues.

Re-regulate commodities markets with 100% margin requirements, position limits, and anti-speculation protections for hedgers and end users to prevent petrol-fuel price spikes. Vigorously enforce collective bargaining, labour laws and anti-trust laws against monopolies and cartels.

it would be a start

[StarsInHerHair]

123. also because corps. threaten to run away overseas if asked to pay equal taxes

I'd like to create a tax, like a cell-phone contract-if a corporation moves outside the U.S. to avoid paying their share, they pay an off-shoring tax. This would be immediately due in full and it would be the full rate that's applied in the U.S. Sort of like a 'claw-back'

[Hannah Bell]

124. go fix sweden.

[eridani]

135. Stop using that Repuke meme "death tax"

No one ever pays taxes for dying. Some heirs pay taxes as an anti-parasite measure.

[Little Star]

17. Because the only thing that matters is getting re-elected.....

in 2012. He "believes" we Dems have no where else to go and Republican wet dream wording will give him the independent vote along with some Republican votes. That is my thought. WE HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO GO,that is why he can lie and shit on us by calling SS a entitlement. Sickening!

[somone]

24. Anyone who sabotages or denigrates the New Deal is not a Democrat

in my book

[Little Star]

36. I agree.

[Lorien]

28. We do have somewhere else to go. I'll be writing in a candidate

others will probably stay home, but local races are too important for that. I don't vote for politicians who push a GOP agenda, therefore I won't vote for Obama again.

[Little Star]

38. Yep. I think some of us will be doing similar. However....

just look here on DU at those that will vote for the party choice no matter who that choice is. I will and have always voted Dem even when I have had to write in my own Dem choice. I won't vote against my own interests and SS is now my line in the sand.

If a Repug wins the WH in 2012, it won't be with my vote. If Obama does anything more (like the tax holiday) to harm SS.... well you know where I stand.

I'm seeing way too many things done or not done by this admin. that I do not like.

[Autumn]

29. He "believes" wrong. I don't have to

get up and go to the polls. I can stay home.

[Amonester]

119. The Presidency should be LIMITED to ONE term.

Why two terms anyway?? That screws up everything.

[StarsInHerHair]

126. he is wrong, just because we haven't heard of anyone yet on a national level

that doesn't mean we have no other choices. Obama's about to be surprised, as surprised as he was about Egypt.

[QC]

19. Because Obama spends much of his time lately validating right wing talking points.

He's hit most of the others, so why not this one.

Let's face it: his worldview is essentially that of a conservative.

[disillusioned73]

20. News Flash......

Republicans will ALWAYS hate you, no matter what you say or do.... REPUBS WILL ALWAYS HATE YOU

[dkofos]

21. Ask the puppet masters (If you know who they are). You don't really think BO

is in charge of anything do you.

[Dappleganger]

25. He plans to continue unraveling the "system" just like Bill.

[Lorien]

26. Why do people on the Left repeatedly use the Reagan term "Entitlements"?

Pre-Reagan they were called "social Programs". "Entitlements" was a term that Reagan began to use to make it sound as if people were being given a government handout that they (unjustifiably) think they are entitled to, instead of a payout from a program that they funded throughout their career.

[jtown1123]

27. I really don't know...I guess it's because it's so in fashion now.

I don't like the word but that's what people use to make these programs sound icky and welfarish...just disgusts me.

[Lorien]

30. We need to stop adopting their language. No more aiding and abetting

Social security and Medicare are SOCIAL PROGRAMS. Let's be the ones on message for a change.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

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[Lorien]

111. Agreed. Even Reagan's policies are to the left of many Democrats, and I'd take

Nixon over most of them any day (hard to believe that I'd even type that, but he was far more progressive than Obama). A (D) behind a politician's name means next to nothing.

[Dragonfli]

147. It is a truth that is hidden on this site (perhaps they think we will forget a truth they do not

allow us to speak in public), I thought not speaking of the warts of one's party was only for right wingers. Yet here I am typing under the ghost of a truth that may no longer speak of what it has seen.
Silencing your allies seems to me a bit arrogant, even hostile, perhaps you would prefer ditto-heads to functioning brains and silence to bad news that can be prepared for.

Friends are silenced and Republicans are greeted with rose petalled walkways and compliments, that is what is wrong with the deleted post and as a macrocosm the party as a whole.

[jtown1123]

47. +1000!

[Dappleganger]

51. Well said!

[liberation]

145. Maybe because no one actually on the left is using that term?

Obama is most definitively not on the "left" by a long shot.

[quinnox]

31. President Obama is using GOP talking points

"Entitlements" is GOP language.

"The problem is entitlements, we got to cut entitlements!"

This is disgusting when at the same time he goes to the Chamber of Commerce and talks about how we need to cut corporate taxes.

How can anyone but blind faith followers not see these as being backwards and Republican priorities?

[somone]

33. Don't forget the cumbersome and job-killing regulations

that we must get rid of ASAP so we can out-innovate and out-run everyone to the bottom

[liberation]

146. His language @ the chamber of commerce was the most telling

He basically admitted the role of the government had been fulfilled as it had delivered in terms of making things better for businesses, and he was hoping that the private sector would pretty please think about returning the favor in their own time... no rush.

That and after watching O'reilly literally shit on him, it is clear that Obama is many things: a great speaker sometimes, a nice guy to play pick up basketball with, the head of a beautiful family, a success story of mixed heritages, etc, etc.... but a leader and the possessor of an actual populist vision are not some of them.


Oh, well.

[Smarmie Doofus]

32. This kind of thinking threatens our ancient and holy order:

>>>>Simply let the Bush tax cuts on the $250,000 plus crowd expire, end the wars. Cutting Social Security, Mediare and Medicaid when the wealthy Wall St. tycoons got off scott free for gambling away people's 401(k)s and causing the housing bubble, is morally wrong and politically moronic. >>>>>

Working people are spoiled and a pain in the ass. Besides which, wars are *fun*.

[Erose999]

34. He's parroting the language of his critics on RW hate radio. For some reason he seems to think that

if he completely panders to the big business agenda, and the Rushbo/Neal Boortz set they will be the ones who re-elect him.

He has blindsided his progressive base and it will probably cost him dearly come election day 2012.

[Enthusiast]

96. But, mission accomplished.

And the Democrats will be blamed for cutting social security forever.

[Just sayin is all...]

37. "Entitlements" is a legal term with meaning

ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM

A federal program that guarantees a certain level of benefits to persons or other entities who meet requirements set by law, such as Social Security, farm price supports or unemployment benefits. It thus leaves no discretion with Congress on how much money to appropriate, and some entitlements carry permanent appropriations.

http://www.lectlaw.com/def/e081.htm




"Entitlement" is not a dirty word! It's a legal term that means something. -It doesn't mean it's welfare. It means it's not optional, not negotiable, not "Discretionary" spending.

If it was welfare, it would be discretionary, and they could cut it.

This guaranteed part of our budget is growing. And that is a problem. Because it has to be paid.

Just sayin is all...

[stockholmer]

40. the only problem with that is that it is a law, and this can be changed by simple congressional vote

as opposed to a Constitutional clause, which requires an amendment

Thus, the conflict of monetary outflows will come to the fore, (SS, Medicaid, Medicare on one side vs war machine, banks, and interest paid on the debt to the private Federal Reserve on the other).

guess which side will win?

(remember, even if they cut ALL discretionary spending immediately, which is of course impossible, it still leaves over a $1 trillion per year deficit)


If the Fed raises the funds interest rate to oh, say 5% (where it was in 2006), that deficit becomes $2 to 3 trillion a year, due to debt service.

If it goes to 1980-81 levels (19%+), you are staring at $5 to 6 trillion+ a year in deficits.

This would mean the absolute loss of the US dollar as the worlds reserve currency, bankruptcy and collapse would quickly ensue, unless a world war is started, as a significant amount of the the current level of resources needed (petrol, food, etc) to simply keep the American people alive will have to be taken at gunpoint.

[StarsInHerHair]

128. it doesn't matter, they're using the slang meaning, like with evolution

'theory', not the formal scientific definition=law, but it's JUST a theory, meaning hypothesis.

[bobbolink]

39. What nauseates me is that it has been obviously clear for a long time but where are the big protests

When are all of you going to put this on the line and make noise with and for poor people who are getting fucked over?

What will it take?

[stockholmer]

41. many people have been warning about this for decades,but they were simply labeled fringe, dangerous

public relation regimes are not just to sell goods via adverts, first and foremost they are designed to protect the interests of the systemic controllers

all forms of peaceful dissent are not treated equally

[bobbolink]

43. "warning" is NOT protest.

"progressive" are passively accepting ALL cuts to the safety net.

Yet, they want us to vote in THEIR best interest.

Fuck it.

[stockholmer]

50. Wounded Knee, MOVE, Waco, Kent State all protested something, and got shot for their efforts

the system co-opts all who raise a voice against the true center of power, then paints a scarlet letter designed to scare off the herd (if the dissent is from the right, then the controllers shape them into demons that the left hates, and vice versa with a left-based dissenting group)

divide and conquer, its been going on for thousands of years, but now is done via a hyper-complex control grid of technotronic matrices, ie. full spectrum dominance

most barely can play checkers, the systemic controllers play 32-level chess

[bobbolink]

54. And, yet, we continued protesting... against war, for Indian Rights, etc, just as Egyptians are doin

You seem to be arguing for repression.

So, go argue by yourself. Some of us have higher standards.

[stockholmer]

65. where do you draw the conclusion that I support repression?!, I despise tyranny

I fight for social justice, and fair play for all global citizens on a daily basis, to the best of my abilty

dont see how you could possibly draw any other conclusion, you are simply 180 degrees wrong



"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
ML King, Jr.

[stockholmer]

69. I think you misread my critique of HOW the system controllers impose their will on us for advocacy

that couldn't be further from my stance. In fact, without knowledge of the oppressor's tactics, there can be no true resistance, just a funneling-off of disperate ideological camps into pre-approved modes of protest and reactionary outcomes, aka a controlled paradigm.

[jtown1123]

49. I for one have been calling and writing the White House, my members & Senators

what disheartens me about DU is so many people unrec these articles because they are in denial about this threat. Wake up folks! The only way we can get Obama to stick up for the New Deal is if we pester him to death. He needs to hear from us and asap.

[bobbolink]

56. It is NOT about the politicians. It is about making a lot of noise publicly.

You know, like the Egyptians?

I appreciate your speaking up to your congresscritters.... if more would do that, it would have an effect. But the only way to get more people to do that is to make it a public issue.

That part is up to everyone here.

Otherwise, we are just complicit with the suffering and death.

[jtown1123]

67. This issue has been taken up by a pretty big coaltion of seniors

labor and other progressives groups. Sadly, the White House is not listening. That's why we need to racket things up quite a bit...not sure how though.

[bobbolink]

71. I hope you are right, but I don't see the evidence of it.

Yes, the above-mentioned groups care about Social Security.

Poverty... naw..... "Let 'em die".

"That's why we need to racket things up quite a bit...not sure how though. "

Some of us are working on that. PM me if you are interested.

[Time for change]

44. That's sickening

How much further to the right is he willing to go to make himself acceptable to Republicans?

[Dragonfli]

48. He is just being himself, he hasn't even gotten to the right of himself yet, he's just warming up.

[bobbolink]

58. "Just warming up"? I am deathly afraid you are 100% correct.

:cry:

[ProSense]

61. "How much further to the right is he willing to go..." As far right

as Feingold, who has also referred to Social Security as an entitlement.

<...>

Walker rightly notes that entitlements, too, should be addressed, but a one-size-fits-all solution to those programs will not work. The problems underlying entitlement programs vary greatly. Social Security, for example, is in relatively good shape, needing only modest changes to put it on a sound long-term fiscal footing. Medicare and Medicaid, by contrast, are a much greater challenge. Those two entitlements are health care programs, and they face the same pressures driving the growth of overall health care costs. The only sustainable way to reduce federal expenditures on Medicare and Medicaid is through comprehensive health care reform, where preventive care is valued, necessary care is accessible, and long-term care is affordable. The numerous inefficiencies in the current system have led to a record-setting rise in both the cost of health care and the cost of obtaining health care. Health care costs have become so excessive that more and more Americans forgo necessary health care, only to end up in emergency rooms with compounded medical conditions and compounded medical bills. Reforming our health care system is the key to getting Medicare and Medicaid under control.

link

[Bluebear]

45. Bill. Of. Goods. nt

[philly_bob]

46. Some "entitlements" = contractual obligations, like pensions & SS. /nt

[StarsInHerHair]

127. they're American Rights, not entitlements, they're what separates us

from the Third World Countries.

[sarcasmo]

52. The new Republican buzz word is entitlement and it's very sad that President Obama feeds into the

buzz.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

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[kenny blankenship]

55. Because he's a Republican?

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

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[bobbolink]

59. He and his family will be set for life. The TRUE American Dream.

[Ken Burch]

60. But that's ok, because he wants to "look forward, not back"

n/t.

[bobbolink]

62. Yes, it is the American Way.

He's smart, alright. He used his intelligence to figure out how to game the system in a BIG way.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

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[Marnie]

70. Admit it Obma is a total RepoCon and the people he coned

are the liberals and progressives.

[GeorgeGist]

73. Because profits are Giveaways ...

and entitlements are Earned.

[grahamhgreen]

74. Raise the SS cap. Return to the taxes of the Greatest Generation and the deficit is gone in 2 years.

This stuff is a no-brainer, the guy is working against our best interests.

[obxhead]

75. He's been entitled to do so.

[Ken Burch]

76. "He's BEEN entitled to do so...?"

Uh...who entitled him?

I didn't. Neither did anyone else who actually voted for a guy.

[obxhead]

77. The corporations that got him elected of course.

Ok, in fairness I should have used the sarcasm thingy as that is how it was intended.

However in reality we have nothing to do with the equation. The elections are only an illusion of choice between 2 people picked to support the agenda of the elite that control our country.

I don't bash "entitlements" that politicians commonly call on for cuts.

[Ken Burch]

81. I get your meaning.

n/t.

[Name removed]

79. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jtown1123]

91. He says entitlements caused our deficit and he wants to work with republicans

on "reforming" them. I have quite a few people on DU that agree with me. Take your negativity elsewhere.

[Name removed]

80. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lovuian]

82. He obviously doesn't want to get elected in 2012

these words will haunt him

[county worker]

83. I'm beginning to judge Obama's actions for myself by who is benefited by the outcome.

In this case the "entitlements" argument is an adaptation of a right wing idea into Obama's bag of tricks. The outcome does not benefit the working class, it benefits the wealthy because it leaves them off the hook for deficit reduction and puts the onus on the working class who depend on entitlements.

You could raise taxes on the wealthy and not really hurt them but cuts to entitlements hurts people who have no other means of support.

In this I despise Obama!

[NC_Nurse]

88. Because it's easier than blaming the greedy criminals who stole all of the $$$

[femrap]

97. The Boomers are

going to hit the streets if they don't get their damn SS....they have paid into the damn system their entire working lives.

Why he cut the amount workers put into SS by 2% is evil. He's ACTIVELY trying to kill SS.

He's not what he seems and never has been. What a waste of a Nobel Peace Prize.

[Blue_In_AK]

100. They always fail to mention that one of the biggest creditors

with regard to the government's "deficit" problem IS the social security fund. If they had kept their dirty mitts off of it instead of borrowing and borrowing and borrowing against it, the social security fund would be just fine.

I hate our government.

[Hannah Bell]

108. In accordance with the original Social Security legislation, ALL funds in the SS Trust Fund

are invested in US securities.

That means they're borrowed into the general fund.

There's nothing wrong with that, and that's not the problem.

What was wrong was when reagan jacked up SS taxes to create an ever-growing surplus of money that wasn't needed to fund current retirees, expanding the Trust Fund *way* past the mandated one-year reserve.

[Name removed]

114. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dtmfman]

115. social security is an entitlement?

hmmm...so...the government seems to think that I would not normally be entitled to the monies they deduct from my paycheck for Social Security?...go figure..

America need to wake up...get out in the streets and up in someone's face...step away from the computers!...oh wait...that's what they're counting on...a bunch of "screen potatoes"....

[StarsInHerHair]

120. "the long term problem" is the wealthiest sucking our National Treasury dry

using various manufactured problems and paper tricks to get government handouts. Remember how the Banksters wouldn't even show Congress their books?

[FiveGoodMen]

125. All right-wingers do

[readmoreoften]

130. Because he's a new school Democrat--aka: old school Republican.

[Zax2me]

137. Ugh. Why listen - how can you?

Won't give that person the time, even if it is Obama being interviewed.

[slipslidingaway]

139. Maybe Obama should have talked about HC entitlements when he was advancing...

subsidies to the for profit companies with his HC "insurance."

Of course Medicare is going to be a problem, ever hear of the boomers or advances in medicine.

:argh:

Sure ... let the for profit companies insure the healthiest segment (with government subsidies) and then have government be responsible for the most needy.

Obama did not even try to explain this to American people, instead the Dems hid behind we do not have the votes.

And Obama talked about reducing the deficit mostly through entitlement spending before he ever moved into the WH, but of course there were excuses.

[Kablooie]

140. For some reason they don't want the entitled to get their due. Only the un-entitled.

I've been paying into SS for my whole life.
Now they want to steal it from me.

[defendandprotect]

141. Evidently he thinks the same way Alan Simpson thinks ... !! And GOP'ers????

[kath]

143. Wow, he sounds JUST LIKE a fuckin' Republican.

oh, wait...

We need a WPA, CCC type program and he whines about "entitlements" like the fucking Repugs??
Bails out Wall Street and dosn't do jack shit to put working people back to work?

It becomes more and more and more clear that this president is no Democrat.
:banghead:
:banghead:

[Name removed]

148. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dragonfli]

151. Truth is not allowed, I get deleted if I do not praise his conservatism and call it liberal

You should watch your truth telling or the same will happen to you. I basically typed a self evident truth and for some reason those words were so dangerous they had to be deleted, I didn't even break the linked to rules. Is there a special basement here where we do not have to lie in order to post? 5 or 6 years ago the truth was allowed, I wonder what happened to this once Democratic site that it can not stand truthful debate? The real world is not pretty and sometimes you have to describe something dirty using the word dirt, we should not cringe in fear and destroy the truth when we hear it!
WE should debate facts, not fairy tales that are not true but do not frighten the children.
Politics is not kindergarten.

[liberation]

144. He's simply astroturfing to make it seem as if cuts on SS are inevitable

The cuts will not happen until his second term though, I don't think he is that politically daft to go ahead with that part of his agenda before the elections.

But basically, politicians of bot parties are referring to SS using the same language, and repeating the same FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) over and over until it magically becomes "accepted self evident wisdom."


This is like the nth time they are doing this in I don't know how many decades, I am surprised more people are still not on to this cycle.

[Cleita]

149. Could be the fruitcake he's offering to the right.

What does he have, Stockholm Syndrome? Unfortunately, he's not the one who is going to suffer if the right prevails in destroying the New Deal.

[ozone_man]

154. A higher level of chess?

This is the problem with electing congress people. They don't know how to lead like executives, like FDR. Obama is always looking for a consensus, to appease Republicans, resulting in a steady shift right, following Clinton's footsteps. Unfortunately for the country, we need a leader with backbone, right now.

[Cleita]

155. I couldn't agree more but

I also am not raising my hopes.