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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAlex Sink said we should "dust off the Simpson-Bowles." No strong stand on Social Security.
That was enough right there to discourage some Democrats from voting. Of course she is a lot better than David Jolly, but that commission wanted to raise the retirement age to 69 by 2075. Long time off, but then she went on to sound like a deficit hawk. Jolly turned it on her very quickly, and it made for some good sound bytes.
Alex Sink's words about dusting off the Simpson Bowles recommendations:
From the Tampa Bay Times:
Alex Sink would cut Medicare funding, raise Social Security taxes?
UPDATE: The Sink campaign pushed back hard on the NRCC attack, calling it a "gross misrepresentation" to say she fully endorses Simpson Bowles. Based on an audio sent to Buzz, here is what Sink acutally said: "My approach is we have got to bring down the trillion dollar deficits. They are not sustainable. The question is how do we go about doing it. I think we go back and at least dust off the Simpson-Bowles. Im sure Im not going to agree with everything that was in it, but it was a bipartisan group of people who said this is one path forward. Lets see which aspects of that we have agreement on...."
She would have been better off not mentioning it. Even seniors in Republican districts don't want the retirement age raised.
She could have said that Social Security and Medicare should not be touched.
Here's how the Republicans used it....the irony was that this was originally their idea. They only opposed it because a Democrat said she wanted to see what parts she might like.
From Mother Jones:
GOP Group Attacks Dem for Holding Social Security Position GOPers Promoted
A few days ago, after Sink blasted her Republican opponent, David Jolly, for being a lobbyist who has worked for clients advocating the privatization of Social Security and Medicare, the NRCC struck back. Katie Prill, a spokeswoman for the group, assailed Sink, Florida's former chief financial officer, for supporting the Simpson-Bowles long-term budget plan that was released in late 2010. This centrist blueprint called for raising $1 trillion in revenues via taxes and proposed measures that would squeeze money out of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, including a slow and gradual increase in the retirement age. Prill noted, "Alex Sink supports a plan that raises the retirement age for Social Security recipients, raises Social Security taxes and cuts Medicare, all while making it harder for Pinellas seniors to keep their doctors that they know and love. Sending Alex Sink to Washington guarantees that seniors right here in Pinellas County are in jeopardy of losing the Social Security and Medicare benefits that they have earned and deserve." (The congressional district Sink is vying to represent covers Pinellas County.)
Seniors of both parties remember the careless way the chairs of that commission spoke of the elderly. Here's what the Democratic co-chair said.
Social Securitys Code Words: Erskine Bowles takes the stage
"Were going to mess with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security because if you take those off the table, you cant get there. If we dont make those choices, America is going to be a second-rate power, and I dont mean in fifty years. I mean in my lifetime."
Boy does that sound dire, since Bowles already sixty-four; Simpson, for what its worth, is seventy-eight. A live-blog on the Web site of the Charlotte Business Journal shared more of Bowless thinking. Were going to come out of this commission not very popular. Everything is on the table, he said.
And then there are the words of the infamous Alan Simpson, the Republican co-chair.
More on the group that will "reform" Social Security..."enormous unaccountable authority"
Simpson refers to seniors as "old cats."
These old cats 70 and 80 years old who are not affected in one whiff. People who live in gated communities and drive their Lexus to the Perkins restaurant to get the AARP discount. This is madness.
Here are some words from Alan Simpson in a recent Newsweek interview:
Try this: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will use up all the taxesrevenuethe government takes in this year. And to do the rest of governing we'll have to borrow, including for massive things like defense, homeland security, education. Those will be paid for by shaking a tin cup in front of the world. And China will probably be throwing more chips in the tin cup than any other country, just waiting patiently for us to expire under the debt. The people who distort the commission and try to scare people into doing nothing, let's say they win the day, and we don't do anything to try to bring down this debt. Well, great. They've got grandchildren, too, and in 40 years they'll be sucking canal water and picking grit with the chickens.
She should not have referred to this commission and its findings. There were so many other important things she could have said.
When Bill Clinton made his last minute rally calls for Alex, there were so many great and powerful issues he could have raised. Instead he said she should be elected because she would work for better cooperation between the two parties. I can't remember if he used the word bipartisan, but that was the point he was making.
That was not a good last-minute rallying call. The low turnout of Democrats probably kept her from winning. But the party and the candidates need to closely examine the reasons for such low turnout. Just blaming the left, which is a popular pastime...is not a solution.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)She deserved to....
newfie11
(8,159 posts)She didn't deserve a vote!
bvar22
(39,909 posts)For most of my life I have ridiculed Working Class Republicans for voting AGAINST their own Financial Interests.
Why should I vote against MY Working Class, Organized LABOR financial Interests just because someone puts "D" after their name?
That would be damned foolish.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)I am inclined to agree. There's a fear of upsetting the right. We have got to get over that.
pa28
(6,145 posts)Sink was peddling "very serious people" third way BS and the voters stayed home in droves.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)monmouth3
(3,871 posts)socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)TWICE!
I swear southern Dems just can't let go of that fucking Reaganomics, neo-liberal bullshit. They'd rather lose elections than back down from that.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)A clear sign that they're not on our side.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)Very much so.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)Once they're bought, they have the decency to stay bought.
We only make two kinds of Democrats down here. Screaming leftists and right wingers. And only one of those rakes in the corporate cash.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)Screaming leftist here. Of course, I'm not really a Democrat anymore (far, far to the left of even the most left wing Dem) since I've lost faith entirely in the electoral system to effect changes that benefit the working class. Intellectually, it was easy to see this and argue it for decades, but emotionally it was hard to let go of that "voting" crutch.
Rex
(65,616 posts)They were trying to distract from this being a Third Way candidate. I should have realized something was up.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)1) Doesn't care who wins as long as ...
2) The corporations get everything they want.
The rich don't have loyalty to either party; only to themselves.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,428 posts)riversedge
(72,680 posts)on both side of the driveway. but ice fishing was good yesterday.
riversedge
(72,680 posts)many other areas of Fl. Bad strategy to talk rollbacks or cuts to SS.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)But yes there are a good number of retirees... many who rely primarily on SS. Bill Young fiercely guarded SS, one of the reasons he was so popular here. Bad move on Sink's part.
thesquanderer
(12,283 posts)because a squishy moderate won't turn out the base, and the solid right-winger will.
Autumn
(45,964 posts)Until your post I never got a satisfactory answer. Hope you don't mind, I added a link to your OP to mine.
Recommend.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Here's more from a couple of days ago...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024652573
Thx for the link and rec.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)Runner up.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,428 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)MindMover
(5,016 posts)RVN VET
(492 posts)Has she never listened to Bernie Sanders?
She represents the Left's craven genuflection to the Right.
Now, there is no way I would ever vote for a Republican. That would be like voting for cancer. But I would not have gone out of my way to vote for Ms Sink. No way.
If she's an example of how this mid-term is going to be waged by Democrats, we might as well just lie down now, with a lily in our hands, because we're already as good as dead.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)Not at ALL accurate. Mainly because Sink was not even REMOTELY left, much less "Left" (capitalized). She was the epitome of what happens when the "lesser of two evils" become so close to the "evil" choice.
NOT. EVEN. REMOTELY. LEFT.
As a L(capitalized!)eftist I resent even being considered in the same political COUNTRY as her, much less ballpark.
silvershadow
(10,336 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Or would we better off if she won?
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)But the point is she didn't. I am giving my humble opinion as to one reason.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)and other bogus "centrist" positions guaranteed that.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Fuck's sake.
Democrats! Hey! party leadership, I'm talking to you! You want to win in Republican districts? Run as a real alternative to republican policies! So long as you sell yourselves as Right-light, you're just going to lose to the hard right, and look dumb doing it. Run as leftist options and you might still lose, but at least you're getting the fucking door open. And you know what, maybe you won't actually lose, because voters are always dissatisfied with the status quo.Give 'em something new to rally for.
COMPETE, DON'T CAPITULATE
former9thward
(33,388 posts)It is 37% R, 35% D and 28% I. Obama won the district in both 2008 and 2012. Sink won the district in 2010 when she ran for governor. The demographics have been changing and the reason Young kept winning was because of incumbency and name recognition. The DNC expected to pick up the seat when Young retired or died.
CrispyQ
(37,975 posts)"People will vote for the real repub every time." I think Michael Moore said that.
airplaneman
(1,268 posts)This caught my eye (besides SS adding to the deficit):
And China will probably be throwing more chips in the tin cup than any other country, just waiting patiently for us to expire under the debt.
Apparently he is unaware that China's debt has grown from 0.5 Trillion to 22 Trillion in the last five years. Given that their GDP is much smaller than ours apparently they think our dept matters but theirs don't.
-Airplane
secondvariety
(1,245 posts)Part of the problem is Young held the seat for almost 40 years and the Dems apparently have never really backed a viable candidate. I don't think Abe Lincoln could have beaten him.
I'd like to see Charlie Justice run again in November but he's a county commissioner now and may not.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)I have heard good things about Charlie Justice. Wasn't he one of the Dean Dozen several years ago?
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Look what is happening to public schools with both parties in support of the corporate reforms.
They are leaving public school teachers and other voices of education out in the cold.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)the parties need to be even MORE different than they are now. The right wing has gone fascist, and any similarity to them on the part of the Dems, is terrifying!
blackspade
(10,056 posts)As always!
MisterP
(23,730 posts)on point
(2,506 posts)djean111
(14,255 posts)We are supposed to vote for people who, for instance, believe Social Security adds to the deficit, and that the Cat Food commission was the bestest thing ever. And after a certain local level, the DNC/Third Way corporate sponsors literally are holding all the cards (money). Just to keep out a GOPer who believes Social Security adds to the deficit, and that the Cat Food commission was the bestest thing ever.
To add insult to injury, we are told "well you knew how they felt when you voted for them" and "well, who do you want to champion TPP, cut Social Security, etc? A Dem or a Rep? Isn't it better than having the GOP do it?"
Can't find it now, but today i read something about a young girl who wrote a letter to Congress asking that any taxpayer funds going to campaigning go to the fight against childhood cancer, or something like that. Guess they may as well, and just let the banks and corporations order up our elected officials like items on a menu. Get the farce over with.
socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)becomes so close to the "evil" that you can't tell the difference without a scorecard. The strategy begins to fail.
KG
(28,766 posts)and that should be good enough, right?
DonCoquixote
(13,663 posts)She knows they will hang Obamacare around her neck, yet still blasts "bipartisan."
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)The beginning of the Turd Way was the beginning of the end of the party
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Oh, maybe you meant something else.
DonCoquixote
(13,663 posts)But she needs to be THROWN OUT because she helps support weak, right wing Democrats.We will never win in Florida as long as she is in charge.
jsr
(7,712 posts)FloriTexan
(838 posts)madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Have a nice week-end.
neverforget
(9,446 posts)Shocking that cuts to Social Security and Medicare aren't popular.
Democrats adopting Republican ideas lose. Period.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)adopting Republican ideas, that is. Never learn.
sendero
(28,552 posts)... people vote for real every goddam time.
When are these jackasses going to learn? The economy has been dead for 6 years over the thinking of deregulators, the tax cutters and the austerity freaks. NONE OF THOSE WORK, NEVER DID AND NEVER WILL.
CrispyQ
(37,975 posts)I will vote dem when they deserve it & I'm lucky to have mostly decent dem representation. I look forward to working for a better candidate than Bennet in 2016.
The dems used to be the party of the people, not the corporations, but most of them are on the gravy train, now, too. They throw a few more crumbs to us than the repubs do, but they are on the same train going in the same direction.
In this cartoon, Obama is an icon for the democratic party.
And this is what's been going on for over 30 years.