I see that people were pleased with President Obama for walking out of the room due to being treated disrespectfully by Rep. Eric Cantor, but what they've missed are these pertinent facts:
the President does not want a clean debt ceiling bill, and he does not want the McConnell bill. He wants to tie the deficit to the debt ceiling raise, and
is still aiming for the biggest package which involves cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
He and others in the White House truly believe that cutting entitlement programs in the guise of "deficit reduction" and tying that to the debt ceiling will make themselves look good to Independent voters. Here's Ezra Klein with more on why the President does not want a clean debt deal,and still wants the biggest package:
A lot of Democrats took one look at the McConnell plan, which would raise the debt ceiling without substantive fiscal concessions, and saw their way out of this mess. But not the White House. What’s come clear in recent weeks is that the Obama administration is much more intent on reaching a major deficit deal, and much less intent on making revenues a major part of it, than most observers assumed.
That’s led them to offer Republicans a deal that is not only much farther to the right than anyone had predicted, but also much farther to the right than most realize. In addition to the rise in the Medicare eligibility age and the cuts to Social Security and the minimal amount of revenues, it’d cut discretionary spending by $1.2 trillion, which is an absolutely massive attack on that category of spending.
This deal isn’t just a last-ditch effort to save the economy from the damage of a federal default. The White House would far prefer this deal to the McConnell plan, or to the $2 trillion deal that was under consideration during the Biden negotiations.
You can read further into Klein's article as to the rationalizations for going so far to the right, and putting Social Security and Medicare on the table. Digby also goes deeper into this, and her post is a must-read for anyone following the debate over the deficit kabuki theater and the debt ceiling raise.
The situation is continuing to develop, and there are now talks about a new plan led by Senator Reid and McConnell that would function as a magic bullet. For more details on this plan, please see the excerpt below:
Additionally, the deal would create a new "deficit commission" compromised solely of lawmakers who would be tasked with finding additional savings in the budget. The commission's recommendations would be given automatic, amendment-free votes in both chambers of Congress.
First reported by The Washington Post, the plan is far from complete. A Republican source on the Hill cautioned not to treat it as an official option, let alone a top one. "There are a lot of people with a lot of ideas," the source said. A Democratic source said that the language -- let alone composition -- of each part of the deal remains un-finalized.
But the contours do, on the surface, seem promising. The basic premise is to blend the debt ceiling deal crafted in talks led by Vice President Joe Biden with the plan that McConnell proposed this week, which would give the president authority to raise the debt ceiling while vetoing corresponding cuts.
As the dual plan is envisioned, House Republicans would be able to claim that they passed a deal without including revenue raisers or tax hikes. The president, meanwhile, will be able to move the debt ceiling debate into 2013, albeit while having to hold a largely pre-determined vote for a second extension (once the $1.5 trillion in cuts run out) before the election. Democrats would have to swallow a deal that didn't include revenues, but they will have protected entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare from cuts.
In other news,
the AARP is going up with a new ad calling out the President and Congress for considering cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
You can see their press release urging seniors to fight back against cuts to Social Security and Medicare:
One proposal would cut the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) — a change that would cost seniors thousands of dollars over their lifetimes.
According to the president's fiscal commission, changing the way the COLA is calculated would cut benefits by $112 billion over 10 years. Because the cut would compound every year, it would be felt the most by the oldest and sickest seniors when they've gone through much of their retirement savings.
The President and Congress are considering cuts to Medicare benefits, which would shift thousands of dollars in additional health care costs onto seniors. Proposals could include raising co-pays on things like home health care and raising premiums and cost-sharing for some beneficiaries.
Two other budget proposals are getting a lot of attention in Congress: a cap on the federal budget, which would include arbitrary limits on Medicare and Social Security, and a balanced-budget amendment. Both of these proposals could trigger across-the-board cuts in Social Security or Medicare — or in both programs if Congress is unable to limit spending in other parts of the budget.
AARP believes that instead of making harmful cuts to Social Security and Medicare, Congress should cut down on wasteful spending and close tax loopholes.
I am glad that the AARP is finally stepping up and doing the right thing by our nation's seniors after that Medicare Part D drug debacle. They have redeemed themselves on this one from my viewpoint.
The blended proposal by Senator Reid and McConnell might be best since it leaves Social Security and Medicare alone. There are still concerns about Medicaid, which has impacted the lives of my nieces and nephews for the better. They need that program desperately, and any benefit cuts would be bad, especially for my nephew, who is having speech and some cognitive processing problems.
For him, and all others that rely on "entitlement" programs, please call, call, and CALL Congress and the White House to say NO! to those proposed cuts.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
From joanneleon's wonderful diary below:
Phone calls now and while you are making the calls get ready. Get ready to go to your local Congressional office. Get ready to go to DC if you can. Get ready to get out on the streets.
White House: 202-456-1111
Nancy Pelosi: 202-225-0100
Harry Reid: 202-224-3542
Van Hollen: 202-225-5341
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Update (h/t to kck in comments):
White House Fax: WH FAX # 202-456-2461
For those who are questioning whether President Obama wants to cut entitlement programs, you can see what President Obama himself said in the transcript in the comment linked to here.