"This is too important a discussion to be having with a gun to your head under a deadline."
Who said that quote? Believe it or not, it was Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe this am.
I think that any reasonable person from either side of the political fence can agree with him.
The financial debates going on under the guise of raising the deficit ceiling are about cutting the modern foundations of our society when we talk about making changes to Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security. That statement is not Progressive hyperbole.
I called the President "cavalier" in a post the other day when he said
We can’t get to the $4 trillion in savings that we need by just cutting the 12% of the budget that pays for things like medical research and education funding and food inspectors and the weather service. And we can’t just do it by making seniors pay more for Medicare. So we’re going to need to look at the whole budget, as I said several months ago.
I use the word in the sense of denying to a topic or person the seriousness of regard that they deserve.
Now back to that comment from Joe Scarborough:
"This is too important a discussion to be having with a gun to your head under a deadline."
Go back and look at some of the items "on the table":
*Blended rates for Medicare that will effectively cause a Medicare to shrink and die as more and more medical care providers simply come to the conclusion they can no long afford to be a part of it. You'll have Medicare, you just won't be able to use it.
*Raising the age for Medicare to 67 which will also have the side effect of more people falling through the cracks and either dying through LOC (Lack of Care) or going bankrupt even AFTER the ACA. (yes, I can document it, go ahead and ask me to and I will in a reply, I just don't want to make this Diary overlong)
*A Cut in SS benefits through how COLAs are figured.( Yes, they were discussing a cut. If it wasn't a cut, why were they discussing it?)
Now that these life altering and societal transforming issues are on the table, we are far past the idea of "tweaks". And that, Mr. President is the answer to your question,
"If not now, when?
When is anytime the discussion can be moved out into the open, subject to public scrutiny and not in your closed door meetings where you keep members of your own party and the public in the dark - as you did with your meetings with the healthcare industries during healthcare reform. Look where that got us.
When is when the proposals can be put out there and discussed with enough time to consider all the ramifications and consequences, both intended and unintended
Time for both parties to declare victory and pass the deficit ceiling and get on with the business of the American people.The Republican can say they held fast on no new taxes and the Democrats can claim they won because the Republicans didn't take them up on their acquiescent and spineless delivery of the safety nets in exchange for some tax loopholes - although hopefully their spin will be better than mine.