A day before President Obama’s meeting today with congressional leaders about the fiscal cliff, some Senate Democrats held a summit on the Hill to urge Obama to not let the third-rail — entitlements — be touched.
The Strengthen Social Security Campaign, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the Alliance for Retired Americans, MoveOn.org, the Service Employees International Union, the AFL-CIO and others helped coordinate the event.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with Social Security Works and MoveOn.org, are gathering petition signatures to “stop dismantling Social Security,” arguing “there are fair and sensible ways to reduce deficits, but having the rich and the powerful beat up on working families and the elderly is not one of them.”
“We are here today to send a very loud and very clear message to the leadership in the House, in the Senate and in the White House: Do not cut Social Security; do not cut Medicare, do not cut Medicaid and do not provide more tax breaks to the top 2 percent who are doing phenomenally well and in many cases have never had it so good,” Sanders said.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said last week’s election “presented the American people with a choice between two very different visions for our economy.”
“When it comes to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the American people told us to protect and strengthen these programs, not cut them,” said Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. “In the coming weeks and months as the Senate works to create jobs, strengthen the economy, and reduce the deficit and debt, we will stand firm against any misguided effort to cut these programs that undergird the middle class.”
“Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are pillars of economic fairness and stability for Americans. Although it is important to reduce our deficit, we should not do so on the backs of our nation’s seniors, disabled citizens, and those who are already struggling to stay afloat in this economy. I will fight any efforts to cut benefits under these programs,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
The liberal Dems argue that Social Security, which faces an insolvent future, “has not contributed a dime to the deficit.”
Republicans are insisting that entitlement reform be included in a deficit-reduction compromise.
“2013 should be the year we begin to solve our debt through tax reform and entitlement reform,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said.
As expected. These special interests will dig in and fight reform, and if they fail, will turn on each other to make sure they get as much as they can. It’s tactics to make sure you get the largest slice of the pie you can. No thinking outside of that box – you can’t risk losing money (i.e. power) in some scheme of reform because they all know their fellow special interests will turn on them in an instant and take their money.
Progressive groups act like a confederacy of jackals – more than willing to stab each other in the back for more time at the trough.
Share the pain, leeches.
I love watching this shell game.
1. We don’t need to reform Social Security because it doesn’t contribute to the deficit. All those government bonds safely stored in the lockbox ensure that Social Security will be solvent for decades.
2. We don’t need to worry about the debt, because so much of it is debt that we owe ourselves. That debt is economically meaningless.
Am I the only person smart enough to realize that these two statements cannot both be true? And yet the White House says it and nobody questions it. If we have truly reached that level of ignorance, we are screwed.
My fear is that we have the government the majority of the country deserves. Unfortunately, the rest of us are along for the ride.
Batten down the hatches…rough seas ahead.
I got some reform! Fire ALL the existing social programs employees who make determinations and replace them with war hardend diabled vets! Lock up all the doctors and lawyers who make a fat living off defrauding the governments social programs. Then reform means testing eligibility down to whatever the ‘real’ mean level of poverty income is in any given state. Then reform all the social programs to reflect a 3-5 year recertification of eligiblity up to age 65 depending upon the type and class of social assistance. Uncap employee social security contributions. Means test, means test, means test all social programs with further stipulations of maintaining legitimate verifiable employment searches to age 65. Medicaid can only serve general health maintenance and when necessary can be referred to the Medicare program for a particular major medical procedure. To age 65 all able bodied working vets (not MOH, disabled vets or destitute vets) must acquire health services from their employers or whatever source the new government insurance program is.
In other words return the programs to the original legislative intent — a hand up not a handout!
Here’s the way the program will likely be “reformed” when the predictable happens and nothing is done about it. The government will just keep printing money to finance its debt, including all those unfunded liabilities. People will still get their social security checks, but they won’t actually buy anything due to inflation. People will still be eligible for and enrolled in medicare, but no doctors or hospitals will take it anymore due to costs so grossly exceeding payments, so it’ll be worthless. Anybody who saved for retirement will either see their accounts seized by some Nancy Pelosi, or inflated away to being worthless. Then we’ll all be stuck in the soup line, all equal, just like Obama wants. Buy gold and guns. In cash off the record.