Don't buy the Hype. Obama will not announce cuts to Social Security or Medicare.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

Once again this phantom has been blown up into a major shitstorm by those who oppose Obama on the Right and the Left.
Once again it will fail to materialize.

When the dust settles, Obama will have only reiterated what he has said before regarding looking for any potential savings and waste in Medicare and doing everything he can to strengthen Social Security for the long-term.

Paul Ryan and the rest of Obama's detractors will be extremely disappointed.

No big scary cuts after all.
Just another false alarm.

[atreides1]

1. I'll wait until Wednesday

And hear what he says in his speech!

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

2. You're one of the few who is waiting and I commend you for it.

[hatrack]

15. Then why aren't you waiting? Kind of contradicts your OP, don't you think?

:silly:

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

23. my OP is based on what David Plouffe said recently and what Obama has consistently said

[daa]

3. Don't buy the hype Obama will not give the tea party 80% of

what they asked, oops too late.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

8. the Tea Party's main campaign promise was to defund Obamacare. Did they do it?

No. They failed.

What will they say to the Tea-masses?

[librechik]

18. not yet. They could still do it

if the curren deal doesn't hold--defunding ACA was in the Bullshit I mean the Republican plan.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

22. they said they were going to do it in this budget. Obama and the Democrats stopped them.

[JitterbugPerfume]

4. it would be political suicide

and besides , I do not believe that is where his heart is.

[enlightenment]

5. I'll wait and see - unlike you, I don't have a magical ability

to see into the future.

If you actually know this to be true, please cite the source of your information. Your strongly felt belief is touching in its innocence, but hardly something worthy of accepting as gospel.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

6. my position is based on what David Plouffe actually said in his recent interview.

[enlightenment]

24. So, still just your opinion.

Can you cite where Plouffe actually stated that things were going to come to pass precisely as you unequivocally state in your OP?

I don't think you can - you can quote him, but what he said is not so clear-cut. In fact, if you want to start parsing, it could be said that Plouffe suggests Obama is considering cuts where none currently exist. To wit (and I have to use the Fox source, since that's where Plouffe was talking);

PLOUFFE: So, as I said, we've already -- on health care, over $1 trillion. Actually, the congressional Republican plan actually preserves the Medicare spending. So, the president says we have to do more. He's going to lay out his cuts about that. On Social Security, there wasn't anything really in the congressional plan on that. What the president is going to say is he does not think Social Security is a chief contributor our deficit situation in the short-term. But as we're having these debates, as we're looking at the federal budget and all these programs, if there's a way to preserve Social Security, we should really strive to do that. So, I think there's going to be discussions about the Social Security in a way that doesn't slash benefit.

WALLACE: But specifically on the entitlement, he is going to address Medicare and Medicaid?

PLOUFFE: Yes.

*emphasis mine - source: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/david-plouffe-new-obama-deficit-plan-rep-eric-cantor-budget-battle

Or, if you prefer to use the MTP interview:

MR. GREGORY: Will the president take on entitlements when he speaks this week? Will he lay out a plan to reform entitlements? Medicare, Social Security, the biggest drivers of our debt.

MR. PLOUFFE: Well, I'll let the president speak for himself later in the week, but I will say this...

MR. GREGORY: Why is this a secret? We know that these are huge issues.

MR. PLOUFFE: Well, he has...

MR. GREGORY: If you're serious about debt--tackling the debt, don't you have to do that?

MR. PLOUFFE: Well, in terms of specifics, let me say this, he has said--he said this in the State of the Union, even though his healthcare reform plan which, by the way, many Congressional Republicans want to repeal, so they'll have to explain how they're going to make up the trillion dollars in deficit reduction. So we've had a lot of savings in health care, we have to do more. So you're going to have to look at Medicare and Medicaid and see what kind of savings you can get. First, squeezing them out of the system before you squeeze seniors. Secondly, on Social Security, what he said is that is not a driver right now of significant costs, but in the process of sitting down and talking about our spending and our programs, if there can be a discussion about how to strengthen Social Security in the future, he's eager to have that discussion.

*emphasis mine - source - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42498976/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/


You see? I can read the same material you are reading and see something quite different. I see someone who is strongly suggesting that Medicare and Medicaid are definitely on the table for cuts and Social Security is up for 'discussion'. That's my opinion - and I don't call it anything but that.

Your interpretation of what Plouffe said is just your opinion. You're absolutely entitled to have one, but you should consider dropping the barely veiled accusations that anyone who disagrees with you is not a Democrat - or hates Obama. That goes quite a bit beyond expressing your opinion - and it's very juvenile, to boot.

[rurallib]

7. I remember when my senator Tom Harkin went all over the media

proclaiming that a strong public option would be part of the health care bill. The president had promised him.
Then one day there was no more promise.
Based on Obama's track record, I would guess he may not announce his cave in until it is complete and irreversible.
I can only hope Harry Reid can find enough democrats in the Senate to stop it.

[gratuitous]

9. The table has been carefully set

The invitations have been sent. Responses have been mailed and received. The cooks have been working their magic in the kitchen. The sounds and smells from there are unmistakable. The guests are in their seats. The staff have been busy about their tasks. But there will be no feast.

Sure. Whatever you say.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

10. isn't it a little sad that you will be upset when Obama doesn't announce cuts to SS?

you have to ask yourself when you stepped through the looking glass.

[gratuitous]

14. And isn't it a little sad

That even with a weatherman you can't discern which way the wind is blowing?

But let's go back to your post, and it's careful wording: "Obama will have only reiterated what he has said before regarding looking for any potential savings and waste in Medicare and doing everything he can to strengthen Social Security for the long-term."

Where do you suppose "potential savings and waste" might be found in Medicare? And what do you suppose might be involved in "doing everying he can to strengthen Social Security for the long-term"? The greatest savings to be realized in our system of health care delivery would be to cut out basic health insurance services and convert to single payer, but that was taken out of the negotiations by the administration before they even sat down at the table.

As for the long-term stability of Social Security, it's fully funded for the next 28 years at least. It would be hard to imagine a stronger or more stable system, but the fixer elves have been out for more than a year. The so-called Deficit Reduction Commission failed to come to an agreement on anything, and failed to file its final report on time. Yet the preliminary findings of a few of the members, predictable and long-term opponents of Social Security such as commission co-chairman Alan Simpson, have become enshrined in Beltway Conventional Wisdom as the official findings of the commission. I submit there's a reason for that. Spokespeople for the administration have likewise made comments that approve of the commission's non-findings and non-recommendations. I believe there's a reason for that, too.

As I said, not even Paul Ryan's stupid enough to suggest cutting benefits for current recipients. But he certainly floated the case for screwing over people under the age of 55, and I didn't see the administration coming out foursquare against that notion. Indeed, the Conventional Wisdom has embraced the notion of unsustainable benefits, and that certain "belt-tightening" measures must be applied. So far, I haven't seen anyone in the administration suggest that those measures might apply to the wealthy. That sort of leaves the non-wealthy, doesn't it?

But keep your eyes securely closed and your fingers firmly in your ears. Be sure to work on your "surprised" face, so you can pretend that all of this somehow wasn't signaled for the last 18 months to anyone with eyes to see or ears to hear. At least some of us will get a wry chuckle out of that, since there will be nothing else to be happy about.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

17. were you one of those saying this exact thing a few months back?

you were wrong then. you're wrong now.

[jaxx]

11. Finally a common sense post on this subject.

I rec'd this, but....

[treestar]

12. DU has been going on about this since 2009.

Along with various other horrors that never came to pass.

[polichick]

13. Yeah, there's a whole bunch of things he'd never do...

Until he does.

[Thunderstruck]

16. Why the fuck does Social Security need to be strengthened? There's

nothing wrong with SS and it is currently at a surplus capable of paying out full benefits until the year 2037 or so, and then it can still pay out 80%. But by 2027 it will have accumulated another 36 years of solvency. That is if the Regressives don't manage to completely eliminate it before then.

[L0oniX]

19. Even if he does ...some people here will crawl through broken glass to vote for him.

[JoePhilly]

20. As predicted here on DU, Obama announced massive cuts to Social Security and medicare ...

during the State of the Union.

Oh wait, that prediction was wrong.

Never mind.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

25. they had no doubts then. they have no doubts now. they never learn.

[Marr]

21. I don't expect him to go there until after the election.

[WinkyDink]

26. Fifty bucks says you are way wrong.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/8441448/Barack-Obama-to-propose-health-care-cuts.html

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

27. how about a $50 DU donation?

[JuniperLea]

28. Will... plans on... intends to...

This is exactly what the OP is talking about... that article says nothing. It only predicts... and it's not near as good at it as Doralidina!

Good morning! I say what a joy it is to look ahead and show you the signs of your future. So much happiness is in store for you the most brilliantly lighted stars are put to shame by the brightness of your light! Oh, happiness what an elusive thing you are, but thank GOD you were born beneath this star!

Drop another coin in the slot and I will tell you more!

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

29. it's funny how Obama's critics always know exactly what he's going to do next.

[enlightenment]

32. Oh, that's rich.

Pot meet kettle.

[Zenlitened]

30. .

[Tx4obama]

31. Obama To Draw Sharp Distinction From Republicans On Budget

President Obama on Wednesday plans to announce budget plans very different than what we’re hearing from Republicans.

He will call for shrinking the nation’s long-term deficits by raising taxes on wealthier Americans and requiring them to pay more into Social Security, drawing a barbed contrast with a Republican plan to save money by deeply slashing Medicare, Medicaid and other domestic spending.

Obama will offer some spending cuts, including trims to the Pentagon’s budget, but his speech Wednesday is likely to provide Americans with a vivid choice between higher taxes or fewer benefits, issues that will color the national debate straight through the 2012 election…

Obama would end tax breaks for households earning more than $250,000 a year, trim Pentagon spending, lift a cap on the amount of income that is assessed for Social Security, and save on Medicare and Medicaid through alterations to healthcare delivery, administration officials said. He will speak about 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on the campus of George Washington University.

http://www.alan.com/2011/04/12/obama-to-draw-sharp-distinction-from-republicans-on-budget/