Why aren't Democrats pointing out Trump's position on Social Security?

[Arizona Roadrunner]

Sometimes you wonder if the Democratic Party is ready for "Prime Time". They now have a chance to go after the "negotiations" between Trump and Ryan on such things as Social Security and we hear nothing from the Dems. Could it be that the New Democrats are so tied to Wall Street and their interests in privatizing Social Security and turning Medicare into a voucher program, that they can't speak for fear of losing funding from their benefactors?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-supports-cutting-social-security-report-says_us_5749db63e4b0dacf7ad515e4

[saltpoint]

1. I think after he comes howling out

of the Pukes' convention in Cleveland, we can begin to call in a few air strikes over the air waves.

Social Security will be a particularly juicy topic for several ads. I think any blue-leaning ad agency would be champing at the bit to do an entire series.

Trump's cooked and doesn't know it.

[Person 2713]

2. So many times they have had a chance in so many campaigns to highlight issues . Effective campaign

ads that practically write themselves but the public hears
ZIP

[CrispyQ]

7. Make you wonder, huh?

I remember the summer of 2009, LA had that Remote Area Medical event where thousands of people went to get free medical/dental care. It was on all the stations. Every. Single. One. Images of people lined up outside. Images of people getting care inside. Interviews with Americans who had no health insurance or bad insurance. And where were Obama & the dems during that event? Were they telling America, "Hey this is what single payer would be like, only better, you can go to a doctor in your own town?" Not today's dems. They were crickets while Palin & her gang went off all summer about government killing grandma. Not one fucking chirp from the dems. ZIP, like you said.

It's good cop|bad cop & the people are being fleeced.

[Tal Vez]

3. It's hard to attack Trump for something that he hasn't yet said publicly.

Apparently, Trump has told Ryan privately that he favors cuts to Social Security. But, apparently he is also telling Ryan that he can't can't publicly call for cuts. I don't think that Trump is going to go public with that and will probably deny the accuracy of this report.

A related issue concerns what Ryan is to make of this. Should he believe Trump if he can't get Trump to go public?

[Jack Bone]

4. I blame DWS. nt

[larkrake]

5. All Trumps positions are made up and will change six times during the GE

Ryan is more dangerous

[Jeffersons Ghost]

16. Trump postions will change more than that; but Trump is plenty dangerous

His position on nuclear proliferation would make ANY world leader but an IDIOT nervous. His aggressive, violent attitudes suggest that he will become increasingly dangerous to other nations.

[appalachiablue]

34. +1. Not that bright, but determined and dangerous.

Bill Clinton & Sen. Paul Ryan (R-WI) Caught on Tape Discussing Medicare Cuts at 2011 Billionaire Pete Peterson event. ~ TYT, The Young Turks Cenk breaks it down.



Peterson Has Lobbied for Yrs. to Privatize Social Security's $2.3 Trillion Trust Fund on Wall St.; Speaker at Clinton Event.



MEDICARE was enacted in 1965 during President Lyndon B. Johnson's Administration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)

Wiki: Peter George "PETE" PETERSON (Peter Petropoulos) (born June 5, 1926) is an American businessman, investment banker, fiscal conservative, philanthropist, and author, who served as United States Secretary of Commerce from February 29, 1972 to February 1, 1973. He is also known as founder and principal funder of The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which he established in 2008 with a $1 billion endowment.
The group focuses on raising public awareness about U.S. fiscal-sustainability issues related to FEDERAL DEFICITS, ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS, and TAX POLICIES. In recognition of his support, the influential Peterson Institute for International Economics was named in his honor in 2006. Peterson has been named the most influential billionaire in U.S. politics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_George_Peterson

May 4, 2016. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Va. urges business elites, "we need ENTITLEMENT REFORM, we need TAX REFORM, it generates revenue. If you don't get engaged, you're turning the keys over to the extremes." Milken Institute 2016 Global Conference. ~ Warner called on an audience of business and political elites to respond to PUBLIC DISCONTENT by LOBBYING HARDER for the reduction of corporate taxes and the cutting of public programs like SOCIAL SECURITY. The Milken Institute economic policy think tank gathers politicians, corporate executives and others annually. http://www.milkeninstitute.org/events/conferences/global-conference/2016/program-glance/date/2016-05-02

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Usually the most

effective Optics and Sound Bites have the most impact during the last sixty days of a campaign. And someone has to capture a sound bite or video in order for it to really have impact. Remember the 47%,and you know darn well Trump's handlers are on edge with this cause they know he would be toast big time. Con Man Don will self destruct shortly,notice his crying about funding,and he has changed his phrasing and his body positioning . He is a Hustler from the get go and it is only going to go down hill from now on.

[safeinOhio]

8. I tend to think he BSing both sides

The only thing he cares about or has an opinion on is himself. The easiest opinion to change is the one you don't have or care about

[sarcasmo]

9. Common Sense, this issue should sway the election.

[Hydra]

10. It's because the DLC already has an agreement with Ryan to do the same

Hillary was smart early on to not say anything about her platform. If she didn't commit to anything, she's free to do anything, right?

[9999dmg]

11. Exactly.

Hillary has come to finish what Bill couldn't.

[Hydra]

12. And what Obama couldn't either

I can't believe how far they got with the Simpson-Bowles BS...good thing it wasn't far enough...and thank God for Monica! We're surviving on pure luck here.

[Ferd Berfel]

14. Let's not forget that Obama already tried to kill Social Security once

when he offered it up to the Reich. The only thing that saved it from the chopping block was the suicide pact of the Caucus Room Conspiracy people. Otherwise it would already be on the way out.

Clinton's "pragmatic incremental-ism" is a dodge. The DLC Third Way crowd has the same goals as the Reich - they just want to do it in slow increments. So my choices are: lose the safety net and 60+ years of progress by 1000 cuts in slow increments, or, quick?

terrific choices

[Hydra]

18. IKR?

And I consider President Obama to be part of the DLC, despite his comments otherwise. The DLC is basically Bushco, but consider themselves to be more slick, run a tighter operation and do a better job with PR. And yes, incrementalism can be summed up as "We didn't want to screw all of you people, but we have to consider 'political realities'..."

[Ferd Berfel]

39. incrementalism is

a delaying tactic to buy time for the 1% to figure out how to either stop progress in that direction, or, to figure a way to make up the difference somewhere else.

[Enthusiast]

19. You nailed it, Ferd.

[Andy823]

28. I am sure you have some proof of this

I mean you wouldn't just come up with something you can't back up, right?

[socialist_n_TN]

33. Yep. Obama has already tried for that Grand Bargain with Ryan......

and Clinton is the next in line to try. Like it took a Republican to open up China and a Democrat to "reform" (read: gut) welfare, it will take a Democrat to gut Social Security too.

[wiggs]

13. Doesn't matter what Trump said yesterday or the day before...

...we'll get whiplash reacting to his BS and bait. Who knows what he'll say or do in the future. Lump him together with what all republican leaders and republican platform advocates and beat that argument to death every day: GOP and the 1% want to cut safety nets, get their grubby hands on the SS trust fund, destroy faith in government programs, therefore cut taxes for the wealthy, therefore reduce wages, therefore free up money for political contribuions, shuttle safety net money to private corporations and their lobbyists, etc.

Clinton should be talking about the big GOP picture....everyone will remember trickle down, privatized SS, GOP fed deficits, etc. Who cares what Trump tweets or says...it's just a distraction and camoflage for long term GOP policies that they really don't want the public to focus on. So focus on them.

[jtuck004]

15. When two politicians agree, you don't need one of them. They don't want to appear redundant. n/t

[Enthusiast]

17. Cutting and or privatizing Social Security is the stated goal of Pete Peterson/Third Way.

Corporate America wants your FICA contributions. It's just more corporate welfare. It will be highly unusual if they don't succeed.

Maybe we can still get Bernie elected and he can veto such a measure.

[mudstump]

20. The establishment democratic party has no game...

we lost mid-terms because they said nothing....ran on nothing....and now they want us to get behind nothing.

[Cobalt Violet]

21. They don't want their own postion inquired about.

It must be very similar to the republicans.

[Phlem]

22. Because everything is on the table

with respect to the unwashed.

[Vinca]

23. It's hard to pin Trump down on any position.

One day he's protecting SS, the next he's throwing old people to the wolves. How anyone on SS can trust him enough to give him their vote is a mystery.

[rtracey]

24. none

None, Sanders or Clinton are hitting trump hard enough. There should be a wave of dem attacks on ANYTHING trump says, but its not happening.....and no Bernie supporters, he is not hitting enough, same as Clinton..... These are losing candidate options. We as democrats, either candidate supporters need to at least come together on this reality.

[basselope]

25. Remember, it was Obama who put Social security on the table!

[SheilaT]

26. The problem is that those at the head of the party

are sufficiently well-off that Social Security is a meaningless small amount to them. They haven't a clue how important it is to most of the recipients.

Worse yet, too many people have bought into the notion that SS is failing, is bankrupt, is going to run out of money any day now and close its doors. I'm 67 years old, and when I was in my twenties a surprising number of my age mates were saying they didn't expect SS to be around when they retired. Well, it is around. Most of us are retired now. But if people continue to pay lip service to the idea that it's on its last legs, then they just roll over and accept cuts and the raising of the full retirement age.

At least so far they haven't raised the earliest age to collect, but I'm sure that's coming.

[WhiteTara]

27. Hillary has already made a speech about it and even though

it was just reported yesterday, she is on it. Maybe Bernie will stop screaming about Hillary's emails and go after the real problem.

[Andy823]

32. Doesn't really matter what Hillary has said

The "anyone but Hillary" crowd will not listen. They made their minds up a long time ago not to listen to facts, reason, or anything else. All they want is a "scorched earth" attack on her. They did the same thing with Obama, the Democratic party, any politician that did not agree with their "my way or the highway" mentality, and then they turned their attacks on Hillary.

[jeff47]

36. No the problem is we listened. And listened to her earlier, contradictory speeches

and also listened and watched her earlier, contradictory actions. On a wide range of sources.

That's why she's doing so poorly in polls on being trustworthy. Which creates a feedback loop where she can't just make speeches to fix it.

[WhiteTara]

38. Well, not everyone hates Hillary

she has garnered millions more votes and endorsements than either man in the race. She will be a great president, even to those haters in the country.

[Brother Buzz]

29. I would wait until the GOP nails down that plank before I'd attack

But that's just me.

[bkkyosemite]

30. I remember Ryan and Billy boy talking about taking down SS...this is a scam on the

average citizen.

[bigwillq]

31. Because they're too busy talking about Bernie.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

35. I just hope Hillary's position is better.

I am THIS EFFING CLOSE to starting to collect.

What I don't need is some politician attaching some kind of test to the benefit, or tying the increases to some sort of chained index bullshit.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

37. why does this OP have only slightly over 650 readers with numerous comments and 22 recommendations

[truebluegreen]

40. Because the leadership agrees? nt