Heads-Up !!! - 'Why Democrats Might Cave On Social Security Cuts' - HuffPo

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148. The answer is:

competitive disadvantage.

When Obama first ran for President, it was widely acknowledged that the United States has the most expensive health care system in the world, and that is viewed as a competitive disadvantage in trade. It made our exports more expensive and less likely that global corporations would expand employment here. So, initially, the Obama Administration set about to reform it by offering a public option -- like most of the rest of the world -- but that got sidetracked politically by Senate conservatives and industry lobbyists, and we ended up with a poor Plan B: mandatory universal private coverage that puts more of the costs onto the middle-class. That policy outcome was an object lesson, so they've basically given up on the public route to benefits reform.

We now see an abandonment by the same "pragmatists" of a commitment to present levels of SS and Medicare coverage. They're cutting costs in the deluded view that they have to in order to keep what's left of US-based multinationals operations (and investment) in the U.S. The policy chosen is deluded because this is not nearly strong enough incentive or deterrence to keep capital here.