"Obama caved; Social Security is next. Sucks to be us."

[Bluebear]

by Gaius Publius

Sucks to be us. Obama caved. And the Social Security theft is already being sold as a way to pay for the Rich Boy tax cuts (h/t Digby, who has a great article up). Bloomberg:

Lawmakers may embrace plans by President Barack Obama’s debt commission to curb the costs of Social Security and $1 trillion in tax breaks even as comprehensive deficit reduction hinges on whether both parties seek confrontation or accommodation.

Gee, who'da thought? (Sucker.)

Note this list of names, from Digby. Suspects all:

This view about Social Security is backed up by Peter Orszag, recently departed from the administration (and reportedly headed to Citi), Dick Durbin, the president's proxy in the Senate, ex-labor leader Andy Stern along with numbers of Democratic Senators, signaling that Social Security really is on the menu.

Orszag is a known quantity, a made man. But Durbin and Stern still have some cred. Watch them carefully, especially Durbin. He'll be re-burnishing lib-cred shortly. Don't be dazzled.

You knew this was a war, didn't you? Gird up; it's (sadly) the times we were born to. Others have had it this bad; it just bad luck. When the Romans marched in, everything changed, and no one got a vote on it. Sucks to be us, but hey.

http://www.americablog.com/2010/12/obama-caved-social-security-is-next.html

[leftstreet]

1. K&R

Every last penny in our pockets. They wantz it

:cry:

[spotbird]

2. Abandon Hope,

if you haven't already.

[glitch]

10. And start fighting for Change.

The real thing, not the Chump stuff.

[dennis4868]

3. Why is the narrative that Obama caved?

The last thing the repubs wanted was to pass unemployment insurance for 13 months....they HATE helping the little guy and now they are....so who really caved?

[Tansy_Gold]

5. They caved a teeny tiny bit. They gave a little pittance to the peons

And got a whole lotta cave from obama and the dems. Billions and billions.

Do the numbers.


TG

[Name removed]

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[Bluebear]

7. Compare who got what ($$$$) and learn who caved.

[originalpckelly]

8. They caved. They caved because they let this come to a head at a vulnerable moment.

And there are republicans who will benefit from this extension of the unemployment checks, you know.

[donco6]

9. We caved - big time.

Remember, half those "little guys" are Republicans. It was a win-win for the Republicans - they protected their moneybags and solidified the loyalty of their irrational base (see! We cut taxes AND provided for our own! Aren't we great!)

[rhett o rick]

18. Pres Obama caved, that's who. It's now going to be Obama's tax cuts for the billionaires. nm

[dennis4868]

20. And I assume you will call it....

Republicans unemployment insurance for 13 months for the little guy?

[Hannah Bell]

29. UE gets $60 billion, billionaires get $140 billion. as i see it, they come out $80 billion ahead.

with the added savor of a new weapon to wield against social security.

a coup for them, i'd say.

[Egnever]

30. Of course they will

the same usual suspects pilling on. The people you are responding to have never supported this president.

[rhett o rick]

37. It should have been a separate fight so the public could see who favored the little guy.

Now it looks like the Democrats caved again. This will not help our chances in 2012. Obama added almost a trillion to the deficit.

[bvar22]

38. They traded Obama a penny for a dollar.

And some here are calling THAT a "good deal."

[rhett o rick]

41. And next year they will take the fucking penny away and laugh at the sucker Democrats.

I want to fight. I want a president that is willing to fight.

[Name removed]

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[originalpckelly]

12. No, a third party has no chance.

And this is the Democratic Underground. Check out EarlG's thread.

I intend to make Obama do the right thing.

[readmoreoften]

45. And apparently the Democratic Party has no chance either.

No chance of standing for any working American. So why should anyone pay attention to them? All they do is concede to the banking elite and quasi-fascists. Who cares if I vote for them or not? To what effect?

"Make Obama do the right thing..." Good luck with that.

[Crazy Dave]

11. K&R and...

...if unemployment is still above 9% in 2012 with corporations still making record profits, forget my vote. I'm staying home.

[LooseWilly]

28. If all that's the case in 2012

Might I suggest you at least vote for Cthulu? I mean, why settle for the lesser evil? ;)

[dflprincess]

43. Don't stay home.

At least show up and file a blank ballot. That way they'll know you cared enough to pay attention but couldn't find anyone to vote for. If you just stay home you'll be written off as apathetic.

Besides, maybe there are some local races that will be worth voting in.

[msongs]

13. only ONE party seeks accomodation and it's not started with R... nt

[TomCADem]

14. But I Thought That By Staying Home In 2010, Democrats Would Get More Liberal? ROFL!

Yet, I am sure the stay at homers will double down and demand even more apathy.

[tkmorris]

26. It wasn't Liberals that stayed home Tom

And I suspect you know that. We warned of course that a lot of independents that came out for Obama in 2008 would find themselves uninspired in 2010, and that's precisely what happened. The "stay-at-homers" are Moderates, but that doesn't mean they are halfway between Liberals and Conservatives. They are just people that want a LEADER, and hard firm answers, not wishy-washiness.

But hey, if you think what the admin is doing is working you just keep on keepin' on. Rock the house.

[LooseWilly]

31. Meanwhile O'Donnell is pointing out that the left has nowhere to go...

It's ironic that, when there's a threat that the party might be turning off the left, which is followed by a defeat, no one thinks to consider the fact that Democrats might do well to stop dismissing the left as having nowhere to go.

If there's nowhere to go, then their votes won't arrive with either party... at which point the Republicans win. (Not that it matters at that point... as one will need to be a professor of political science to distinguish the difference between a Republican and a Democrat by then.)

[readmoreoften]

46. Newsflash: getting out the vote didn't make them more liberal either! ROFL!

:eyes: Nothing will "make them more liberal" because they are politicians beholden to the big money interests they serve. It's as simple as that.

[Major Hogwash]

15. I thought we were the Romans in this scenario. We are in control of both houses of Congress.

And the White House.

[Mimosa]

16. Bluebear never posts B.S.or propaganda (unlike *some people*) n/t

[Starry Messenger]

17. We need solidarity.

Like the French and all of Europe, out making our "betters" nervous. Writing nice notes isn't going to cut it.

[earth mom]

34. Way too many let them eat cake moments the past 10 years-all everybody does is write letters

that the powers that be no doubt shred before they even bother to read them!

:banghead:

[jtown1123]

40. So do we riot? That seems to be our only option

[Foo Fighter]

19. Does this really surprise anyone?

It's par for the course with this administration. Hell, increases in SS taxes paid for the Reagan tax cuts so hey, why shouldn't they dip into SS to pay for the Bush tax cuts?

Chains you can believe in.

[Mimosa]

21. ^ "increases in SS taxes paid for the Reagan tax cuts "^ True!

Some of us were around then and paying attention.

[Foo Fighter]

42. Glad I'm not the only one.

Some of us don't forget things like that.

At least Obama was honest about one thing: his admiration for Reagan. Unfortunately for us, it seems to have gone from admiration to emulation.

[Kalun D]

22. BWAH HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!

LOLZ!

Chains you can believe in!!

[Foo Fighter]

44. Glad you got a kick out of it!

Actually, that was his original slogan but someone at the poster printing company didn't hear it right and it came out as "change" instead of "chains." Obama was pretty pissed about it at first but then just decided to blame it on the progressives at the printing company so I guess it all worked out in the end.

[earth mom]

35. Chains you can believe in! Good one! Sounds Rovian to me!

:wow:

[David Zephyr]

23. The GOP requests, he delivers.

Quite a thing.

[pansypoo53219]

24. or obama is giving them enough rope to hang them.

ensure they can't fix the economy.PROVE they can't drive.

[Catherina]

25. It's 3-D Stacking Rings

Mere mortals can't possibly follow along

[TheKentuckian]

32. Fuckin A!

[boppers]

27. I thought restoring slavery was next?

Did I miss a memo?

[Name removed]

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[boppers]

36. Are we forbidding women's ankles next?

I have a hard time following all the theories.

[Poboy]

39. recommend