Deficit Commission Plan Wins Backing From Members Appointed by President Obama

[Better Believe It]

Deficit Plan Wins Backers
Bipartisan Support Adds Momentum Despite Sharp Criticism From Left and Right
By DAMIAN PALETTA And JONATHAN WEISMAN
December 2, 2010

The full 18-member panel will vote on the proposals to cut the deficit on Friday and is expected to come up short of the 14 votes needed to issue a formal recommendation to Congress and the White House. But the show of bipartisan support, including the votes of five of the six members appointed by President Barack Obama, gives the plan momentum many thought impossible just weeks ago.

Obama administration officials said they would harvest many of the commission's ideas as the president assembles a budget plan for 2012. They pointed to cuts in defense spending, limiting tax deductions and a broad overhaul of Social Security as areas to pursue. Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), a commission member and the incoming House leadership's point man on deficit reduction, said he would use many of the commission's proposals as a starting point for a Republican plan.

A White House embrace of significant parts of the report would cement Mr. Obama's tack toward the political center after Democratic losses in the midterm elections.

David Cote, chief executive of Honeywell International Inc. and a presidential appointee to the panel, said the Baby Boomer generation he is part of would "crush the system" if no changes were made to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. He plans to back the plan.

Two sitting lawmakers, Sens. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.), chairman of the Senate budget committee, and Judd Gregg (R., N.H.), also publicly supported the plan. There are 12 lawmakers on the panel, and their support is seen as crucial because Congress will have to enact any changes.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.), another panel member, said raising the retirement age for Social Security over time "is acceptable to me," signaling a possible compromise both parties might seek on changes to that program.

Another presidential appointee, former service union president Andy Stern, said he would offer his own deficit plan but said that didn't mean he would vote against the commission's version.

.... he (Obama) also wants to head off bond-market jitters and satisfy political demands by setting some plan for long-term deficit reduction, aides said.

White House officials said the commission has made that easier by changing the terms of the debate. Rather than talking about tax increases, they attacked "tax expenditures," a more politically palatable terminology adopted by Republicans such as Mr. Gregg. By being ambitious in areas such as the mortgage interest deduction, the commission may have given political cover for Washington to take more modest measures, such as lowering the cap on tax-deductible mortgages. The same is true of Social Security.

Read the full article at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704594804575648503541856136.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

[bigtree]

1. can't even muster enough votes to report it out to Congress and the WH

DOA . . . like this post

[jaxx]

5. Yep, Rupert's WSJ out there spinning the tales.

They never quit and the gullible eat it up.

[Better Believe It]

11. And do you really think a Republican controlled House won't take up these proposals next year?

And I suppose it's also highly unlikely that a Senate with six more Republican members will consider deficit commission proposals.

Well, perhaps you can explain your optimism in this regard .... something beyond a drive-by remark.

I'm listening.

[jaxx]

15. There are 400 good bills from the House sitting in the Senate right now.

Do you really think Harry Reid will be in a hurry to help the repubs? They can take up proposals till hell freezes over, but that doesn't mean they'll go anywhere.

[Better Believe It]

26. Senator Reid has done a mighty fine job allowing Republicans to obstruct/control the Senate so far.

What makes you think it will be any different in the new Senate?

[Better Believe It]

7. The commission proposals will be considered by Congress with or without 14 votes.

The commission proposals will give political cover to members of Congress to vote for less extreme cuts.

So Congress will slightly moderate some of the cuts in spending and increases in taxes for working people during bogus nogotiations and call it a great bi-partisanship win! President Obama will of course endorse and sign legislation that will implement government wage cuts and mass layoffs, tax increases for working people, cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.,

President Obama's proposal to freeze the wages of government workers is just the first salvo of this attack.

Read the full article.

[WCGreen]

2. "Tax Expenditures" Call it what you will....

It's still cutting cat food expenditures...

[Winterblues]

3. would cement Mr. Obama's tack toward the political center

What exactly IS the political center? From what I can gather it is capitulation to the extreme Right Wing..

[joeybee12]

4. Caught my eye, too...nt

[Vincardog]

8. Bingo OBAMA passed the political center the day after he was sworn in.

[notadmblnd]

9. It will end his chances for a second term. The republicans are going to bury him with his

damn compromising and giving in to them. Everything they do is to undermine his chances of being reelected and he's just going to go along with them. I thought he was smarter than that?

[jaxx]

10. Is it the line in the sand? The last straw?

Quit sticking up for the repubs with comments like that.

[notadmblnd]

12. I do believe it is.

[jaxx]

16. Ok then, see ya.

[notadmblnd]

23. I'm afraid I won't be seeing you

you're going to be working very hard trying to convince the unemployed, those who rely on SS and those with back breaking jobs that compromise and cuts to programs for the working guy is the only way to cut spending while at the same time giving more and more to the already rich wall street, bankers and corporate greed monsters.

Have fun!

[notadmblnd]

25. Don't even imply that I'm a troll

If that is all you have for an argument then you're a poor excuse for an Obama advocate.

[ProSense]

14. Clinton and Reagan both established similar commissions

no one remembers. The fact is that this led to serious alternative proposals from Andy Stern, Jan Schakowsky, Our Fiscal Security, and Joseph Stiglitz (PDF)

[Better Believe It]

18. I'm starting to reach the conclusion that Obama fully understands this and just doesn't care.

Perhaps it's just time to take a break and move on to the more lucrative "the private sector" after one term.

Some progressives are publicly pleading with him to stand up fight for what he "really" stands for and believes in.

He is.

[ProudDad]

34. The 2010 "political center" is about 500 yards to the right of Barry Goldwater...

And, folks, as a result, we're ALL going down...

[Better Believe It]

44. That's about right.

[ProSense]

6. WSJ nonsensical spin

Stern has not said he will vote for it. Ryan, not a Presidential appointee, is not going to vote for it.

In fact, the whole thing is moot.

[no limit]

13. Nice to know we spent all those millions of dollars for something that is moot.

[ProSense]

17. The vote is moot on this proposal is moot. The

debate was constructive, and led to excellent alternative proposals from Andy Stern, Jan Schakowsky, Our Fiscal Security, and Joseph Stiglitz (PDF)

[gratuitous]

22. And which proposals do you think are going to get traction?

Because the pebbles are already sliding downhill and the boulders are trembling in anticipation of tumbling downhill. The Commission will provide the political cover necessary to raise the retirement age and cut social security benefits for future retirees. And after the cuts, we'll go to means testing for social security benefits, and it will be a short jaunt from there to cement the notion in the public mind that social security is an entitlement for greedy poor people, rather than a retirement insurance program to provide a floor for seniors.

If I hadn't seen this exact same scenario play out in the NAFTA disaster of the 1990s, I might be more optimistic. But once again we have a Democratic president, seeking to curry favor with an emboldened GOP "majority" to undo crucial protections for working people. We're still waiting, by the way, for those promised "side agreements" to NAFTA that would provide environmental protections and enforcement of labor regulations. There will be similar promises of something in the future to enact these changes, on the pretext that Something Must Be Done Now to save the United States. But those promised future protections will somehow never be gotten around to, or the new Congress won't feel any obligation to take up anything more, and the 30-year party for the wealthy will continue on, now that the underclass is securely locked into paying for it for another generation.

[no limit]

28. I agree with you

[ProSense]

30. The one supported by

by most people, including voters. They can make a difference, ask Blanche Lincoln.

[gratuitous]

31. I hope you're right

But I think you're wrong.

[no limit]

27. You honestly think debate led to those proposals?

Debate doesn't change anything in washington. They could have had the exact same proposals without millions of dollars pissed down a toilette.

[ProSense]

29. Of course,

why on earth would so many people come up with proposal to address the deficit if there wasn't an ensuing debate about the deficit?

[no limit]

32. Your implication is that the debate from the deficit commission led to these proposals

a debate in the house or senate would have accomplished the same thing. And I use the term "debate" loosely. Because debate implies that the people who are debating don't have their heels dug in on issues. In this case they do.

[ProudDad]

38. There's no "debate" about the deficit/debt...

There's been NO analysis of where it actually came from (the war machine and tax cuts, and their "solution" is to cut taxes and barely nick the war machine?)...

There's been NO discussion of the fact that the rich got richer by CREATING the deficit...

There's been NO discussion of the real elephant in the room of rising costs of government, the for-profit USAmerican SICK CARE system....which could be solved with Improved and Enhanced Medicare for All...the fuckers just assume that Medical costs will rise 25 per year forever and make us Seniors pay more out of pocket!

You, like many on this board, have this bizarre notion that USAmerica is a "democracy" and that the (s)elected officials actually give a shit about our needs or interests as human beings trying to survive under vampire capitalism...

USAmerica is NOT a democracy...

(s)Elected officials don't give a shit about anything but pulling the wool over your eyes so you'll vote for them...

Reality sucks, don't it? :shrug:

[ProudDad]

37. Oh, you mean like Sotamayor, Ginsburg, Stevens and Breyer

on the Supreme Court -- the perennial minority?

I see nothing but corporate capitalist tools (INCLUDING Stern) with just ONE potential "liberal" in Schakowsky...on this "commission". This deck was HEAVILY stacked toward corporate tools, republicans and blue-dogs... :puke:

Stiglitz is NOT on the Commission! Although Dog knows he SHOULD have been, or even better, Herman Daly, someone who actually has a Plan B!

On Edit: And you are aware that the next republican led House will put forward NONE of those "alternative proposals, right?!"

Co-Chairmen:
Sen. Alan Simpson. Former Republican Senator from Wyoming.
Erskine Bowles, Chief of Staff to President Clinton

Executive Director:
Bruce Reed, Chief Domestic Policy Adviser to President Clinton

Commissioners:
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) (WHAT THE FUCK!!?!???)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA 31)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI 4)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
David Cote, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell International
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Ann Fudge, Former CEO, Young & Rubicam Brands
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX 5)
Alice Rivlin, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute and former Director, Office of Management & Budget
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI 1)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL 9)
Rep. John Spratt (D-SC 5)
Andrew Stern, President, Service Employees International Union

[Better Believe It]

19. Moot??? A Republican controlled House and the Senate can and will take up budget cutting proposals

President Obama has already launched the first salvo with his proposal to freeze the wages of government workers.

And as has been pointed out several time, the deficit commission proposals are giving political cover to politicians when they propose less "extreme"
cuts than those advanced in the commission plan.

Are you ready to play the "good cop, bad cop" routine?

This is Politics 101!

Nothing hard to figure out or complex at all!

This might be all new to a political novice but not to anyone familiar with how the government works.

[ProSense]

21. No, they will not. There is no mandate for

a vote. The commission disbanded on Dec. 2 without a final decision. Considering the proposal is not the same thing. There will be discussions about elements of it and all the other proposals. That is why they were presented.

Also, what Republican-controlled House?

You're trying to give life to a dead proposal. It's dead.

[ProudDad]

36. Elections have consequences...

"what Republican-controlled House?"

Beginning within 2 months...

And they'll use this report as their "blueprint for deficit control" legislation...

And say it's "bipartisan"!

Where have you been?

[ProudDad]

35. Wrong!

The republicans who will take over the House in January will use it as a blueprint for legislation...

And the blue-dog fucks in the Senate will join the repukes to pass most of it...

And Obama, the corporate creature, will sign it all...

And you can take that to the bank!

Didn't you notice that your real masters reacted to slashing Social Security Benefits by a huge bump in their stock market casino?

[ProSense]

40. "The republicans who will take over the House in January will use it as a blueprint for legislation"

Good grief. Stop being scared of Republicans. Paul Ryan is voting against it. I'm sure Republicans are capable of hypocrisy, but stop pretending that their hypocrisy makes them powerful.

[ProudDad]

41. The House of Representatives

originates ALL legislation...

Which if passed is taken up in the Senate...

Which if passed is signed by the pResident and becomes law...

What part of this don't you understand?

The Republicans will be in (lockstep) control of the house in 7 weeks!

I'll bet you $100 at 10 to 1 that some form of this crap will be introduced and passed in the House early next year...

And if you'll look at the slim 2 Senator "majority" coming in Jan. 2011 (including at least a dozen blue-dogs traitorous cowards) they have a great chance of passing it there too...

And Obama will sign it...

This is all junior high school civics stuff... :eyes:

Oh, and I fear the cowardice and greed of the Democrats as much as the rapacious republicans...

And the republicans are NOT hypocrites -- they'll tell you exactly what they want and who they want it for...

Dog protect me from hypocritical Dems in the Congress and W.H.!

[ProudDad]

39. Would you buy a used car from this man?

Moot?

[MadHound]

20. First of all, I wouldn't bet against the report failing to pass,

As of last night there were twelve of the fourteen votes needed on board with the report. I expect that a huge amount of pressure is being put on the remaining holdouts as we speak, and I'm expecting that at least two of the holdouts will cave by vote time tomorrow.

But as the White House is signaling here, even if the report doesn't make it out of committee, the administration is going to push through this plan to kill the middle class by any means necessary.

It is official, Obama is not a friend to the poor, middle or working class.

[Better Believe It]

43. There will be some minor modifications of the plan to stick it to the elderly and working people.

[Better Believe It]

24. Presenting plan to cut deficit, commission members offer surprising compromises

Presenting plan to cut deficit, commission members offer surprising compromises
By Lori Montgomery and Brady Dennis
Washington Post Staff Writers
December 2, 2010

Members of President Obama's bipartisan deficit commission expressed a surprising willingness Wednesday to compromise on issues that have long divided Republicans and Democrats, including raising taxes and cutting Social Security.

While only seven of the 18 members endorsed the package outright, others staked out positions that could change the terms of the well-worn Washington debate over taxes and spending.

Only one member of the panel, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), said she would vote against the package, arguing that it does too little to protect the middle class against an economic system that seems rigged to benefit the wealthy.

"You think about where this started. A lot of people said we wouldn't get six votes," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who with Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) came up with the commission concept. Of a dozen lawmakers on the panel, Conrad and Gregg were the only ones to offer immediate support for the deficit-reduction proposals, though Rep. John M. Spratt Jr. (D-S.C.) said he is also leaning toward a "yes" vote.

Read the full article at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/01/AR2010120107445.html

[ProudDad]

33. Fuck THEM!

And fuck the asshole that appointed them!!!

Clueless bastards!

[ProudDad]

42. Well, not clueless

well-paid functionaries rather...

[Better Believe It]

45. kick