OK, I'm just putting this up for discussion. It's a bit of a read but shockingly revealing as even Obama now considers adjustments to the Social Security system that will hurt the poor. There's also a link to a decent article about this white paper. Upshot? We might wonder why Democrats would help implement policy developed by the Cato Institute.
Who’s Selling Who Down What River
Wherein we see how the Ds do the work the Rs can’t get away with
Wherein we see how the Ds do the work the Rs can’t get away with
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About Tip Johnson
Tip Johnson is a longtime citizen interest advocate with a record of public achievement projects for good government and the environment. A lifelong student of government, Tip served two terms [...]
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Scott Wicklund
Apr 14, 2013Young Senator Obama’s audition before the “Hamilton Project” of the Brookings Institute in 2006 is a good place to start.
http://www.correntewire.com/obama_at_the_hamilton_project_2006_this_is_not_a_bloodless_process
Above link has both video and text.
Bill Clinton was almost there for the masters when a certain blue dress got in the road. Thank you Monica for my Medicare and Social Security!
I have been watching this operation for the last four years as the momentum has slowly been building. Bill Black calls the current plans “The Great Betrayal.”
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/02/why-obama-refuses-to-kill-the-sequester.html
Here is Professor Michael Hudson with a good recap:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/michael-hudson-on-obamas-catfood-social-security-reform.html
I have found Correntewire, Firedoglake, Digby’s Hullabaloo, and Naked Capitalism to be the best resources for the blow by blow.
Keep it up, there is lot at stake.
Scott Wicklund
Apr 14, 2013Here is a little video of Dan Rostenkowski running from irate seniors:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/14/1201404/-Remembering-the-Medicare-Catastrophic-Care-debacle-What-happens-when-you-piss-off-seniors
When folks grasp the full implications of the scheme (reduced Social Security benefits, higher co-pays and deductibles for Medicare, higher taxes at the bottom end due to bracket creep while the top end was capped by Obama, there will be hell to pay.
Right now the elected Democrats are largely like deer in the headlights. They mumble about “a balanced approach” as if some tip change from the 1% is equal to the impact on the bottom. Their staff will tell you how important that “everything is on the table.” Call for yourself to hear it!
g.h.kirsch
Apr 14, 2013“...even Obama now considers adjustments to the Social Security system that will hurt the poor.”
Oh that’s precious! Ever since he took his first dollar from Jamie Dimon and his pals, it’s been obvious he’s just another slave of the masters of the universe.
Same old deal, except now the chains are golden!
Dick Conoboy
Apr 15, 2013Several days ago the site Counterpunch posted an article entitled “Obama Does Social Security and Medicare” by Rob Urie, an artist and political economist in New York. Here is an excerpt:
“Those whose politics begin and end with rolling off the couch every few years to vote could in theory be forgiven for perceiving a yawning chasm between the Republican and Democrat candidates. Marketing firms were paid a lot of money to create that illusion. And Mr. Obama almost certainly has the political calculus correct that the bourgeois commentariat, a/k/a/ ‘the left,’ will whimper in protest for a few days, weeks at most, before falling in line for Hillary or whatever militaristic, corporatist abomination the Democrats put forward in the next Presidential election. Early reports even have liberal pundits sticking with the line Mr. Obama is only posturing with the proposals, despite his near decade prior explaining why he believes Social Security and Medicare must be cut to be ‘saved.’ However, this is truly a ‘let them eat cake’ moment. Mr. Obama’s policies will needlessly, and in economic terms gratuitously, hurt a lot of people—overwhelmingly those who self-identify as the Democrats’ political ‘base.’ And lest there be confusion over the matter, in his first term Mr. Obama fully restored the fortunes of America’s ruling class at several trillion dollars of public expense before proposing these cuts.”
I encourage all to read the entire piece by clicking on this link. http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/12/obama-does-social-security-and-medicare/print
Tip Johnson
Apr 15, 2013Corpublicrat Cartel vs Party99?
Scott Wicklund
Apr 17, 2013Looks like the “scholarship” which “both sides” are using to justify the shock doctrine cuts is bogus.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/linchpin-pro-austerity-paper-rife-with-errors-recomputed-results-show-no-growth-hit-from-high-government-debt.html
http://www.correntewire.com/evil_clowns_reinhart_and_rogoff_based_their_pro_austerity_study_on_a_butchered_excel_formula
Both links flesh out the monster.
Dick Conoboy
Apr 17, 2013It’s time for Christine Lagarde to move back to France and tend her garden. 😊
As for the monster, we always knew it was horse meat or other equine discharge.