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Fri May 04, 2012 at 07:24:45 AM MST
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| (UPDATE: The Social Security Kill Team, i.e. Pete Peterson Foundation's 2012 Fiscal Summit will meet next week. See below the fold for details.)
The Conventional Wisdom found in Washington, DC is a constant threat to our democracy and an easy out for politicians who don't have the guts to do their jobs. The Iraq War was a result of that failed wisdom. Social Security has been a constant target of this special kind of "wisdom" - no matter how many reports are released stating Social Security is sound and needs only minor modifications, gutless politicians, who could easily fix it, are ever-more-eager to slash the benefits for America's elderly, sick, and disabled Citizens.
Democratic Senator Mark Udall is perfectly OK with the CW that Social Security must be cut; he's perfectly willing to make that "painful" decision. He fits my gutless description to a 't'.
Here is Senator Udall's lie once again: "On paper Social Security is solvent, but if you look behind the curtains it's not." The other lie about this issue is that it's a tough decision for political wimps like Udall: he'll be patted on the back and have glowing profiles written in the Washington Post. He'll maintain his government pension and gold-plated health care for life. It's only his constituents, inexorably and over years, who will slowly suffer the consequences of his signature on the Grand Bargain to cut Social Security.
Now, reports are circulating that Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi and her Blue Dog Lieutenant Steny Hoyer are also itching to sign on to cuts:
Russ Feingold, the former senator from Wisconsin, said in an email to supporters that Pelosi has signaled a disturbing potential willingness to adopt a plan (the hideous Simpson-Bowles budget plan that Michael Bennet also supports - Z) that could slash these benefits. And it follows a pattern: Too many House Democrats, including Steny Hoyer, are already on board." |
| Zappatero :: UPDATE: Udall's "painful decision" inches towards reality thanks to Pelosi and Hoyer |
Feingold's challenge, sent to backers of his group Progressives United, comes after Pelosi has repeatedly said that she would vote in favor of the Simpson-Bowles plan, a deficit cutting project that slashes Social Security and Medicare, while raising revenue and cutting defense spending. The progressive online organization CREDO Action will also be sending an email to its supporters backing up Feingold's challenge. No number of reports from the Social Security Trustees seems able to stop the talk of this "grand bargain". And not enough politicians are willing to do the right thing, as Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders are, to halt the conventional wisdom that Social Security has to be cut.
The most successful and efficient social safety net program of the 20th century has been a target of Republicans since the day it was passed. But Social Security looks ever more likely to be cut by the party that implemented it and has been its champion for 75 years: Democrats.
UPDATE: The Pete Peterson Foundation, sponsored by one of those Republicans who for years has targeted Social Security, meets next week to further its goals. Another traitorous Democrat, Erskine Bowles, is pushing this solution to our nation's debt despite his family's long-standing ties to Democratic Party principles:
May 15th
Washington, D.C.
The Andrew Mellon Auditorium
8:30am
Featured Speakers Include:
President Bill Clinton
Speaker of the House John Boehner
Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner
Senator Rob Portman
Congressman Paul Ryan
Congressman Chris Van Hollen
Senator Alan Simpson
You can email the Pete Peterson Foundation here.
While weak-willed politicians like our own Mark Udall and Michael Bennet enable those cuts, their predecessors like Morris Udall and Harry Truman and Franklin Roosevelt will spin in their graves on that fateful day. The sick and elderly will die much sooner once Mark and Michael, and Nancy and Steny, and all those who subscribe sign on to the grand bargain demanded by that conventional "wisdom" found only in Washington, DC. |
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