"There is no more pretense possible. As we’ve warned for some time, Obama is eager to put a notch on his belt by being the President that rolled back the New Deal programs that helped create broad-based middle-class prosperity and dignity. He’s cast himself as an adult inflicting discipline on profligate Americans. But in reality, the profligacy was most concentrated among elite financiers who used leverage on leverage vehicles to stoke liquidity that led to worldwide underpricing of risk. They paid themselves record bonuses in the years immediately preceding the crisis, and then in a grotesque display of ingratitude, did so again in 2009, able to do so only thanks to massive taxpayer support, alphabet-soup special borrowing programs, and the tax on savers known as ZIRP. And the direct result of their looting exercise that produced the crisis was the explosion in government deficits, due to a collapse in tax revenues and a rise in payments under countercyclical programs such as unemployment insurance and food stamps."
Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/now-its-official-obama-sells-catfood-futures-um-social-security-and-medicare-cuts.html#oZwo93tZz05Hm7Qi.99
As Greg Sargent points out, however, this is not really such big news, his offer to Boehner back in December is well known and there was no reason to think it wasn't still on the table.
"Keep in mind what is happening here. We are not in the realm of Obama kayfabe, where he pretends that those big bad Republicans forced him to do what he wanted to do all along. This is Obama’s budget offer, not the result of pretend hard fought battles over positions that are at most 10 degrees apart.
Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/now-its-official-obama-sells-catfood-futures-um-social-security-and-medicare-cuts.html#oZwo93tZz05Hm7Qi.99
The idea that he wants to savage SS and Medicare is overkill. Chained CPI is not an appealing idea and in a perfect world I wouldn't do it either. However, this is not a perfect world. In fact Obama is under political pressure-as always; after all this is politics. To refuse to even entertain entitlement cuts means resigning ourselves to permanent sequestration.
It's also more than 10 degrees from "ending the New Deal." I mean I agree it's a benefit cut. So was the deal of 1983 which I also didn't like. However, it wasn't the end of Social Security and neither would Chained CPI. It is certainly 10 degrees from say block-granting out Medicare and devolving Medicaid to the states. Some of these comments just give a window into the extreme visceralness of Obama Derangement Syndrome (OBDS).
Yves just loves commentators attacking the President:
"If it is any consolation, the chattering classes are ripshit. The article went up at the Times after 12:30 AM. By the time I saw it, about an hour later, it had 48 comments. Of them, 46 were disapproving, ranging from resigned to ripshit. A few examples:
J Wolfe: Keep the stupid stuff but get rid of things people really need. Free pre-k schooling (ie., free daycare) but toss retirees (ie, boomers) under the bus. Nice. Does this president have any clue at all how to lead and manage anything more than a street rally? He is one of the most clueless, inept and unqualified presidents ever. I don’t see any cutbacks in his lavish 1% lifestyle even though people can barely afford to buy food and gas these days. Pathetic.Isn't this a little bit of overkill? Is he really the most unqualified President ever-or one of them? I agree we shouldn't play the race card frivolously but I find such statements absurdly immoderate and extravagant. I don't know that this is wholly motivated by race but I don't think Obama's being a Black man discourages comments like that.
A classic OBDS moment though is the commentator TK421 who thinks the Tea Party is protecting "Social Security."
"Don’t knock the Tea Party, they are the ones protecting Social Security now. Time to call your Republican representative and tell them not to agree to any deal that raises taxes."
Yes. They won't allow Obama to raise taxes on the rich or end sequestration. Glad to know they're protecting the public interest.
Well put... Obama Derangement Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteTK Tom. I went over to Naked Capitalism after on the link above and got into a bit of a brouhaha with all the firebaggers... Reminds me of the old days when I'd argue with the Firedoglake people all day.
ReplyDeletehttp://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2011/08/banned-from-big-liberal-blogsophere.html