First was McCarthy's statement giving Hillary huge cover for her economic espionage+
Then McConnell coming out attacking Social Security and Medicare entitlements. Painting conservatives with a broad stroke of callousness during a time of economic insecurity and choking economy -- a time when the focus should be on improving jobs, improving economy and making America great again.
Going on an entitlement rampage is going to distract from the 2016 elections and is a strategy worse then the government shutdowns they've been fearing.
Why Social Security? Why not TANF and SSDI? Why do we pay people for being drug addicts or baby machines?
The GOPe is incredibly stupid.
Social Security and Medicare entitlements should be attacked.
(Nevertheless, Mitch McConnell should be sent packing.)
I watched an interview McConnell gave a few weeks ago and I was thinking ,Alzheimer patient
Mitt Romney was a mushy moderate like Mitch the Turtle, but he did get at least one thing right: the best short term way to extend the solvency of these programs is to make sure we have a far higher ratio of people working and paying into these programs than those collecting from them.
But he couldn’t defund planned parenthood because it was “bound to lose?”. We now see what Mitch really considers worth fighting for and it’s not the lives of innocent babies.
This is stupid. Mcconnell will be poisoning the well if he takes this stand.
Your analysis seems spot on.
The levels of stupidity displayed by this person are just too much for me to even shake my head at. Trump is our only hope.
Suddenly he pretends to want to play hard ball?
Show me, Mitch. I’ll be a Missourian today.
REPUBLICANS - Doing The Dirty Work So Democrats Won’t Have To
We are al;ways told scary tales of Social Security and Medicare being ready to go broke
And those are always the first programs attacked when a politician wants to act like he is budget conscious.
But there is rarely talk about a shortage of money to pay for more welfare, government housing, EBT payments, EITC payments, Obama-Phones, Obamacare, sex changes for prisoners, stupid research grants, habndouts to foreighn countries, and free medical and other free stuff for illegals and legal immigrants.
Now every call for responsible spending will be tainted and McConnell can get the big debt and spending he and the Dems want.
This is another dog and pony show for the conservative masses to give them the appearance the old GOPe RINO’s tried to do something and then cave on the debt ceiling being raised again!
The fight has already been lost since McConnell and ilk have already started they will not shut down the government under any circumstance. The only way McConnell and ilk could possibly win this game is if the Obama administration believed McConnell would actually shut down the government if Obama and company refused to give him what he wanted. But, because McConnell has already told Obama he will not shut the government down, Obama does not have to give McConnell a damn thing!
Yes Sir, this is a “Dog and Pony” show for the conservatives and the American people. Let's watch and see how many fall for it?
Raising the Medicare retirement age is pretty pointless.
If people age 65 aren’t getting Medicare, they’ll mainly be getting Medicaid or heavily subsidized PPACA coverage.
I think the main things that can be done for Medicare is with the drug program (Part D) and barring supplemental coverage for outpatient physical therapy and devices such as fancy wheelchairs. I would also move many drugs to OTC status.
As for Social Security, there is a relatively minor problem that needs about a 6% correction. This will have to be dealt with, but we shouldn’t lose an election over an eventually unavoidable issue.
The big problem is with Social Security disability. The disability trust funds is just about broke. However, there will be automatic benefit cuts, so it really is up to the Democrats to propose SS disability solutions.
What I would like to see for SS disability is employer hiring incentives based on VA style disability ratings along with benefit cuts starting May 1,2017 of 10% (or less if enough people are removed from the rolls). There would be no benefit cuts if you are:
1. drug offense free and
2. physically unable to operate an automobile or are legally incompetent
I would also like to see financial institutions barred from taking more than $10 in fees and other charges from a SS disability account in a calendar or statement month.
JMHO, I hate seeing SS & MC lumped in with the freeloading funds.
I think the cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security has been zero for the last couple of years. How much more of a reduction is he proposing?
If you blame Mitch, you are spinning your wheels. It is not his fault. he is what he is. The fault lies with the good citizens that put him in office. Blame them.
The only “idea” anyone should entertain from Mitch is, at the very least, his resignation from leadership. More properly he should resign his seat and disappear in abject shame.
Headline says ‘floats’ and I call this BS. McConnell doesn’t have any desire to fight the President on these issues and Obamas knows it. He also knows McConnell will not back up a fight with closing the government.
BS all the way.