Posted on 12/07/2012 11:11:51 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Ever since Election Day, the left has been riding high. Not only did President Obama and Democrats across the country win big on Nov. 6, the president has gratified his base with his tough talk on the fiscal cliff negotiations, and the new Congress looks to be substantially more progressive than the last.
But how long will the second honeymoon last for President Obama and the Democrats? Chances are, it won't be long until the left's hopes are dashed. Here are four possible letdowns on the horizon.
1. Entitlements: Obama has talked very tough on tax rates for income over $250,000, but you don't hear nearly as much strong rhetoric from the White House about progressives' other ironclad fiscal-cliff demand: protecting Social Security and Medicare. Back in 2011, during Obama and House Speaker John Boehner's failed attempt at a big deal on the debt ceiling, Obama was theoretically open to the kinds of changes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is now advocating, such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67 and increasing premiums for recipients with higher incomes.
If a fiscal-cliff deal gets made, chances are it'll include some concessions along those lines. Obama's opening offer to Republicans included $400 billion in deficit reduction from unspecified changes to entitlements. Suzy Khimm has a helpful rundown of what entitlement changes Democrats have signaled a willingness to consider.
Thus far, defenders of Social Security have been gratified to hear White House Press Secretary Jay Carney say changes to the program are off limits in the negotiations...
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
This is what Jack Kemp fought so had to get Republicans out of - what he called “Root Canal Economics.” It is insane to let the Democrats have the fun of spending money, and then for the Republicans to be the ones to take responsibility for balancing the budget.Basically Obama has called Jack Kemp’s bluff by simply being willing to pull our whole house down by pretending that tax rate increases are magical, and that if he makes the tax rate punitive, the whole country can live on shadenfreude.
Man does not live by bread alone . . . and certainly not by shadenfreude alone!!! But it is “the word of the ‘messiah’ that we should attempt it. Well, that and food stamps . . .
Everything beyond the author's words fell on deaf ears after that insight...
Complete bunk.
The only trimming of entitlements Barry and the Dems would go for would be means testing for the wealthy and healthcare rationing for the elderly. The former may be coming as another way boost to redistribution, and the latter is already totally baked into the Obamacare cake.
The rest is just straw-man building up to tear down claims on the rate of Democrat advancement.
only 53% of americans pay taxes right now ( the 47% )..
on jan 1, 80% will be paying taxes...
sounds good to me
on jan 1, 80% will be paying taxes...
sounds good to me
Yes, and billions will be cut from the budget..Sadly, though, we will still have a deficit next year even after going over the cliff.
The author is naive. The goal of a Marxist is to destroy the economy, and replace it.
May I disagree? I don't think Obama cares about his base any more than Mitt did, and that his real objective is to distort the separation and distribution of powers made by the Framers, to gather them up like a scene out of Tolkien, and to exercise total power as a solitary an irresistible post-republican Dictator.
He is resolutely attacking the congressional budget power and has made some progress, with the help of his Beast of Hench in the Senate, Dingy Harry.
Another thread on the site discussed the fact that Obamacare is far from out of the constitutional woods.
Its status right now is that it has passed history exams with the help of a teacher willing to turn a blind eye .... but has ditched the algebra and speech finals and can still be brought to book by some combination of the truancy officer, a passing posse of attorneys, and the assistant principal.
Obamacare remains vulnerable to a challenge on the basis of the Commerce Clause. Antonin Scalia, on Charlie Rose's show last week, opined that if Roberts hadn't steered the decision in the direction of tax law, Obamacare would have been overturned on the basis of Commerce Clause arguments.
Obamacare has passed muster as tax law, but it can still fall foul of several other Articles and Amendments.
Isn’t the “standard” SS retirement age already above 65?
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