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In the White House press conference yesterday, we again got the word that Obama's going for Social Security cuts, but backing off on raising the Medicare age. I guess that makes him "reasonable" in the eyes of the Very Serious People:
Q Jay, yes, can you just clarify for me very clearly -- is the President open to raising the eligibility age for Medicare?
MR. CARNEY: No.
Q Absolutely not?
MR. CARNEY: The President has made clear that we don’t believe that that’s the right policy to take. The President has made clear in the proposals he put forward to John Boehner, that John Boehner walked away from late last year, that he’s willing to make tough choices with regards to entitlement reform.
Q But not that choice?
MR. CARNEY: That’s correct.
Q [Johnathan Karl, ABC] What about reducing the annual cost of living increases for Social Security recipients?
MR. CARNEY: Again, as part of a big deal, part of a comprehensive package that reduces our deficit and achieves that $4-trillion goal that was set out by so many people in and outside of government a number of years ago, he would consider that the hard choice that includes the so-called chain CPI, in fact, he put that on the table in his proposal, but not in a cherry-picked or piecemeal way. That’s got to be part of a comprehensive package that asks that the burden be shared; that we don’t, as some in Congress want, ask seniors to bear the burden of further deficit reduction alone, or middle-class families who are struggling to send their kids to college, or parents of children who are disabled who rely on programs to help them get through….
As I've pointed out, again and again and again, WE have already sacrificed enough in this economic depression. Get it from the bailout crowd, we're not buying it.
Q But I just want to be clear what you said at the beginning of that answer, which is the President….as part of an overall balanced approach, he does not rule out effectively reducing benefits for Social Security recipients?
MR. CARNEY: He has put forward a technical change as part of a big deal — and it’s on the table — that he put forward to the Speaker of the House. The Speaker of the House, by the way, walked away from that deal even though it met the Republicans halfway on revenues and halfway on spending cuts and included some tough decisions by the President on entitlements. The Speaker walked away from that deal.
But as part of that deal, the technical change in the so-called CPI is possible in his own offer as part of a big deal.
How is it "balanced" when we've already lost our jobs and our economic security, and the people at the very top are doing better than ever? This is just plain bullshit, "an economic and moral disaster," Bernie Sanders calls it.
Don't bother us with your Pete Peterson-inspired Wall Street wet dreams, Mr. Obama. We have nothing left to give.
