Channeling Monty Python: The "Grand Bargain" Is Not Quite Dead Yet... Just For This Year... [View all]

[WillyT]

Last edited Thu Feb 20, 2014, 09:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Breaking: Obama To Drop Social Security Cuts In His Budget
Sahil Kapur – TPMDC
February 20, 2014, 12:49 PM EST

President Barack Obama will drop Social Security cuts he supported last year in his upcoming budget proposal, White House sources told TPM.

The president's budget blueprint for the coming year will omit the so-called Chained CPI proposal, which slows the rate at which Social Security benefits grow (which were included in his budget plan last year).

Then...

The decision is a result of the decreasing deficit, burgeoning focus on equality of opportunity and the fact that Republicans refused to return the favor when they had the change. Obama was also facing a rebellion among liberals who strongly oppose the idea. The president isn't definitively taking the idea off the table as part of a broad budget deal that includes tax revenues.

"The offer to Speaker Boehner remains on the table for whenever the Republicans decide they want to engage in a serious discussion about a balanced plan to deal with our long-term fiscal challenges that includes closing loopholes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations," the White House official said.

Link: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/obama-to-drop-social-security-cuts-budget