Why is Social Security Under Attack from Obama, when it ADDS NOTHING to the deficit???

[ProSense]

57. Ah,

"The truth of the matter is that my policies are so mainstream that if I had set the same policies that I had back in the 1980s, I would be considered a moderate Republican." - Barack Obama

...context is everything.

AMA: One issue that Cuban-Americans are worried about is, they believe that you favor a socialist model for our country. Cubans and Venezuelans especially because of what they have gone through. What do you think of that?

PBO: I don't know that there are a lot of Cubans or Venezuelans, Americans who believe that. The truth of the matter is that my policies are so mainstream that if I had set the same policies that I had back in the 1980s, I would be considered a moderate Republican. I mean, what I believe in is a tax system that is fair. I don't think government can solve every problem. I think that we should make sure that we're helping young people go to school. We should make sure that our government is building good roads and bridges and hospitals and airports so that we have a good infrastructure. I do believe that it makes sense that everyone in America, as rich as this country is, shouldn't go bankrupt because someone gets sick, so the things I believe in are essentially the same things your viewers believe in.

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/272957-obama-says-his-economic-policies-so-mainstream-hed-be-seen-as-moderate-republican-in-1980s

President Obama was redefining the right to emphasize how crazy the Republican Party has become.

It curious how excited people are over this statement in the context of defining the President versus what he actually said, which was related to policies. Republicans today are extremists. The President is saying his policy proposals are mainstream.

The President's health care law:

Expands Medicaid: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022047642

Increases taxes on the rich: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2059710

Includes a federal-control clause: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021978966

That doesn't include eliminating the middle man from federal student loans, expanding Pell Grants and strengthening Medicare, to name a few.

If he's "Republican," he's one I can live with.

As for the past, let's not let rhetoric get the best of reality. Republicans sucked in the 1980s, and there were a lot of Democrats over the last 40 years who also sucked.

Phil Gramm:

In 1976, Gramm unsuccessfully challenged Texas Democratic Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, in the party's senatorial primary. Then in 1978 Gramm successfully ran as a Democrat for Representative from Texas's 6th congressional district, which stretched from the Fort Worth suburbs to College Station. He was reelected to his House seat as a Democrat in 1980.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Gramm#United_States_House_of_Representatives

Richard Shelby:

Originally elected as a Democrat, Shelby switched to the Republican Party in 1994 when Republicans gained the majority in Congress midway through President Bill Clinton's first term. He was re-elected by a large margin in 1998 and has faced no significant electoral opposition since.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Shelby

Zell Miller:

Miller crossed party lines and backed Republican President George W. Bush over Democratic nominee John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zell_Miller

The dynamics are not new, and the struggle is ongoing.

A Democratic President enacted the COLA.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022045787