[lbo-talk] Social security on the chopping bloc?

Billy O'Connor billyoc at gmail.com
Wed Apr 10 11:57:05 PDT 2013


Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> writes:


> WASHINGTON — In his fifth annual budget proposal to Congress on Wednesday,
> President Obama once again put forward a fiscal mix of investments in
> infrastructure, education and research with further deficit reduction
> through tax increases and spending cuts.
>
> But for the first time he included changes to Medicare and Social Security
> intended to entice Republicans back to the bargaining table. The
> concessions, however, showed little sign of winning them over.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/us/politics/obama-budget-seeks-deal-in-mix-of-cuts-and-spending.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
>
> [WS:] I do not quite understand what O is trying to accomplish. There is no
> way he can win Repug support as long as he remains in the White House.

He's not looking for support from Republicans, he's engaged in a bidding war for donations from their financial backers. A "smart austerity, smart imperialism" program is easier to foist on the hoi polloi, and the financial backers of the Republican party can see this. This is a brilliant tactic on the part of the Obama administration and the larger Democratic party, which, sad to say, has every chance of succeeding.



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