Here is just one more reason why the President's economic team is still deeply flawed, and should be fired.
The team members who remain are guilty of not making unemployment and jobs a high enough priority, which is destroying the middle class, and now they are advising him to cut Social Security benefits.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling and Sperling’s deputy, Jason Furman — leading figures in the president’s economic team — are pressing Obama to cut Social Security benefits if necessary, say sources familiar with their positions.
http://thehill.com/...
Was it not bad enough that the stimulus that Democrats worked so hard to legislate was so woefully inadequate, entirely because of the leaders of the economic team, and that they are significantly responsible for epic losses by this party in 2010, and damaging to the whole concept and policy of stimulating the economy as well?
Is it not bad enough that Geithner is seen as a friend and protecter of Wall Street? (With good reason, I should add.)
“Gene Sperling and Jason Furman and some of the Treasury people started with the posture that we’re the best people to reform Social Security — that was when the Democrats had a majority in both houses of Congress,” said a Democratic policy expert who has met Obama’s economic policy team over the past two years.
Really? Democrats are the best candidates for cutting Social Security, one of the signature and most wildly successful programs ever enacted by this party, one of the most beloved programs by Americans of all political stripes?
Now the "leading figures" on this team advocate cutting Social Security benefits? To cut the deficit?? These world renowned so called experts don't realize that Social Security doesn't even contribute to the deficit and never did? Of course they realize that. Clearly they are in lock step with others who are trying to deceive people into thinking that it does. And people who deceive and act against working families have no place in a Democratic administration.
President Obama, the changes that you made to your economic team at the beginning of this year were not significant enough, and in fact, there is a lot of evidence that from a policy perspective, there has been little change at all. Fire these incompetent and destructive advisors, and hire people who truly have the best interests of the people, all the people, the majority of the people, at heart.
What will it take for President Obama to bring together a team that works for the people?
ACTION:
Read the whole article, and weep. And then contact the White House, ASAP.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
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Update *
I strongly agree with mcjoan's analysis in her front page story:
Figures that this economic team would be more worried about keeping the bond market strong right now than beefing up revenues to the program by coming up with a jobs program that put people back to work and paying payroll taxes. As always, markets first.
This is Social Security as political football, or "a bone to Republicans and moderate Democrats," rather than as a vital program that has kept generations of Americans out of abject poverty. Yeah, that sounds about right for our political culture. Unfortunately, it's a trap Obama walked into with eyes wide open, having ceded to the deficit hysteria and creating the catfood commission. Hopefully he'll start listening to some economists outside his team, say Paul Krugman, who has a better grasp of the realities of Social Security.
After all, his team are the guys who still say HAMP is successful. Can their judgment really be trusted?
http://www.dailykos.com/...