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OUTRAGE

Left Freaks Out Over Obama's Plan to Cut Social Security

'A dagger into the heart of the Democratic base'

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: AP

Liberals at the Daily Kos are furious over Obama's latest fiscal cliff proposal, leaked last night. The plan makes savings from Social Security using the "chained CPI" method, which will reduce payments to seniors in the future.

"He is a Republican if this goes through and I will not lift a finger to help him ever again," pledged Angry Hopeful Liberal.

Many focused on Obama's ineptitude as a negotiator: "WTF kind of negotiation is this? ...I get the feeling that all us non-millionaires/billionaires are going to get sold out and fucked over big time...AGAIN!!!" bewailed user Demedja.

"Until Obama came along I'd never heard of anyone who wanted to be the next Chamberlain," wrote Kovie. "Worst negotiator ever," lamented Faroutman.

But for others Obama's plan didn't signal incompetence so much as intentional betrayal: "Why, oh why, does President Obama act like this?" raged The Fierce Urgency of Later. "He wins the election and then throws a dagger into the heart of the Democratic base."

"Obama's a DINO...Democrat In Name Only...a lousy president who caves at EVERY opportunity," wrote NonnyO. "It's nauseating."

"If this happens then the Dems can forget 2014!!!" promised Lucy2009.

Some regular bloggers on the site tried to stem the hysteria. "Here's the thing, Obama and Democrats have to offer something to the GOP to get them to agree to actual discussions," wrote user Kefauver.

But voices of calm were in the minority among Kossacks furious that Obama's plan would hurt seniors.

Via CNN and the Daily Kos.
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Is the left overreacting to Obama's Social Security proposal, or is it genuinely a terrible idea?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • stepped_in_it
    !
    My first thought. Knew Obama would throw everyone under a tank as soon as he could. He's re-elected. Short of impeachment, he doesn't have to EVER worry about that again. It's like 4 years of nothing but virgins! bahahahaha
  • u
    RobertJHarsh
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    I just KNEW that is what was going to get cut. They are going backcees on the elderly liberals. I guess they think they'll be DEAD in a next four years to care. But Obamacare will do a bang up job on the death panels and such. Maybe Obamacare will expect everyone to be dead by 67 so SSI becomes a wash...or a slush if the military is needed some extra cash.
  • PoliticalSpice
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    Exactly why I wNted to go over the cliff. Once that happeded left wing of the dems could have more negotiating power then they do now. Social security is not event part of the deficit program. I have little hope , but if we are lucky tea party types might jinx the whole deal...
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    You are so right!...But on this one...I suspect that he will get "taught a lesson" on negotiating with the right---from the Democratic Party---They (We) are just not going to sit idly by and let him (or anyone else) kill off our Senior Citizens.
  • u
    Nat
    !
    He is evidently giving in to the pressure so things will move forward. He's just giving in at the wrong time, the wrong place and on the wrong issue.
  • Neo_NtheMatrix
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    What do liberals want? Spend more and more money, borrow more, spend more, oh and borrow a little bit more, so we can spend tons more. Disgusting.

    D I S G U S T I N G !!!!!!

    I'd love to look at the financial situation of the average liberal. I wonder are they as reckless with their own money as they are with the money of everyone else.

    obama isn't even offering anything, and the left is about to pass out. He is just offering not to increase SS payments at as fast of a rate as liberals would like, but he's not suggesting cutting anything. If I were Boehner, I'd spit on that deal.

    Get a grip liberals, you voted in a tax and spend super liberal and he's making good on that promise.
  • Phreakwars
    !
    @Neo_NtheMatrix If he was "TAXING & SPENDING" like you want to rant on about, he wouldn't CUT Socialist Security... besides, isn't CUTS TO ENTITLEMENTS what you conservatives wanted all along? He doesn't do what you want, so you bitch, he does what you want you still bitch. What are you whining about exactly ya damn socialist.

  • View all 11 replies >

  • Jeff_Woehrle
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    @Cheenoguy Lately, that sure is true. The left is foaming at the mouth over the gun issue and the liberal founder of Westboro is wailing to God about something or another. Busy time for liberals!
  • u
    Cheenoguy
    !
    @Jeff_Woehrle
    The "liberal" founder who thinks Obama is the anti-Christ and wants to see gay people executed? I guarandamndtee you that you will find waaaayyyy more Republicans who agree with this guy and his politics.
    Doubt me? Go look at the threads about them and Rick Warren (who is teaching the same exact thing just not at children's funeral). Look at the people who agree on at least some level with this asshat. Check out their profile and without exception you will see a little red R under their profile picture.
    There are assholes on the left but this asshole agrees with a lot of Tea Party types.
  • Jeff_Woehrle
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    @Cheenoguy Hey, don't shoot the messenger! I didn't tell Westboro's founder how to align himself politically. The fact that he's a democrat may be inconvenient to many on the left, but fact it is.
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    We "lefties" don't elect "gods" i.,e., as the "righties" do ala "Ronald Reagan"....So anyone, and that includes this or any other president who thinks they can just kill off a needed program---that keeps millions of our elderly alive each year...is going to have to learn that this is indeed, anything but "manufactured outrage"..."Faith " is for church---this is about politics & survival....
  • Bobolinsky
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    @Sonny-- On the contrary Sonyy. The folks over at the Daily Kos and CPUSA know darn well that President Obama is doing more for socialism than he is letting on to the public.And they know darn well that their part in this charade of a negotiation is to make the Obama Administration look moderate in comparison.

    White House Rejects Boehner's Backup Plan
    http://www.cnbc.com/id/100323798
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    Sonny
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    @Bobolinsky I'm not really interested in those "socialist conspiracy theories" out there...Seriously I'm not trying to be combative, or provocative...I am only concerned, at this time, with protecting social security...for our elderly.
  • Bobolinsky
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    @Sonny-- Really? Where were you when they cut the payroll tax? You know, the tax that is supposed to fund social security... you know... the money that's supposed to go into Al Gore's "lock box."

    Where were you when Paul Ryan was being accused of wanting to throw grandma over the cliff when his proposal didn't cut benefits for the current and soon to be senior citizens but Obamacare does?

    Your compassion for the elderly seems as manufactured as the Daily Kos' outrage at Obama.

  • View all 35 replies >

  • PNWest
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    Here's what I think is going to happen. Obama puts out something like this and looks reasonable. Boehner can't keep the baggers in line. Over the financial cliff we go. Obama's position is infinitely stronger. Taxes rise on the ultra-rich, a few spending cuts, the GOP looks even more extreme and 2014 looks even brighter.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    Let me cut to the chase here. Seniors are the largest voting block in the country BY FAR because they actually vote. You don't have to "get out the vote" with them. They vote regardless. They can control every election from President to dogcatcher. I almost hope he does sell the seniors out. Because every single person who votes for that to happen will lose their cushy job in Washington except Obama. And Obama will give back the gains the Dems have made over the past four years. You want a revolution? Cut the seniors limited money and they'll revolt. This could turn out to be a good thing.
  • justapirate
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    It's not 'free' money to me. I've paid into that for over 40 years, started working full-time when I was 15. That's MY money.
  • HPthinker
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    i been working since i was 14 - thats fine, how ever, millions out there have never lifted a fingernail and want everything free, can't afford it.
  • sevenSecrets
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    @justapirate and it still is your money. Look I workked at a produce stand when I was fifteen, hardest job I've ever been at because I was the only white guy trying to keep up with the mexicans lol. No I read through much of this...I think the idea is that as you get older your living needs and costs go down and more keeps getting funded by medicare.
  • HPthinker
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    @sevenSecrets i worked at as a gardner and the mexicans ran me ragged, whats your point? I think the idea is you take care of your own family like they do in other countrys.
  • sevenSecrets
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    @HPthinker point. Vast majority of people work hard. A concept which has been lost. So what about scripts, various other medicines, and daily needs of the elderly that the family may not be readily able to do?
  • o
    Sonny
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    That's a crock...This program is "viable" so long as the congress stops stealing from it....Soc. Security does NOT contribute to the deficit. It is paid for...
  • Vance1
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    @justapirate
    Yes you do, Because most people that know the country in going to be a bankrupted GREECE soon, Want everything cut.
  • justapirate
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    @Vance1 No, no you don't have to be on the left to be upset about this. Take some of the time you use to listen to propaganda and invest it in studying what is really happening to SS funds. It's called a political screwjob.
  • Vance1
    !
    @justapirate
    well SS shouldnt have ever been started in the first place.
    people should be smart enough, an self reliant enough to take care of themselves.
    Senators cant be trusted to run anything.
    America shouldnt have entitlement programs period

  • View all 8 replies >

  • bsking
    !
    I'm still laughing about the first guy hopeful liberal who is actually stupid enough to say I'm never going to lift a finger helpful Bama again... I guess the joke's on him Obama knew that the day after the election
  • u
    CaryNickel
    !
    Mitt Romney was telling the truth about the need for entitlement reform, and Barack Obama lied about it to get re-elected. There is the difference between an honorable man, and President Obama. What's more, the slim majority voted for the liar, which just goes to show that the same slim majority desperately wants to believe in fairy tales, while reality will always come back to bite them on the arse.

    Merry Christmas!
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    Everyone knows that social security is NOT contributing to the deficit problem facing America today. This is one of those rare programs that is paid for, and the people who get it...have put their lives work into it and deserve to receive those benefits as they get older. The one thing that does need to happen with SS is that a law needs to be passed to STOP the congress from continuously stealing from it from time to time...But if Obama thinks that the Democratic Party is going to let him give social security away...Then I suspect that he will be in for a very rude awakening!---
  • Thunderchicken
    !
    2nd paragraph of the following link.
    .
    "The long-run actuarial deficits of the Social Security and Medicare programs worsened in 2012, though in each case for different reasons. The actuarial deficit in the Medicare Hospital Insurance program increased primarily because the Trustees incorporated recommendations of the 2010-11 Medicare Technical Panel that long-run health cost growth rate assumptions be somewhat increased. The actuarial deficit in Social Security increased largely because of the incorporation of updated economic data and assumptions. Both Medicare and Social Security cannot sustain projected long-run program costs under currently scheduled financing, and legislative modifications are necessary to avoid disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers. "

    http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/index.html
  • o
    Sonny
    !
    @Thunderchicken You have to separate the two programs. Soc. Security pays for its self. It has "problems" because the gov. keeps stealing from it, from time to time---and never puts the funds back...That is a fact.
  • Thunderchicken
    !
    @Sonny

    It all comes out of the same pool. It SSI were shored up, there'd be a bigger deficit somewhere else. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul till Peter runs out of money.
  • u
    IMAQT
    !
    The time to stop stealing from SS and medicare was in the 1960's when they first started the theft. Now we payout more in benefits than what it receives in tax revenues. And everyone is afraid to call it what it really is...a ponzi pyramid scheme. A plan you, I or Madoff would be arrested for, but since it is the government it is OK.

  • View all 12 replies >

  • Post Removed by Moderators
  •
    Thegrif
    !
    Tried to tell you people a million times.
    Obama does not negotiate period. He never gave republicans an inch, either we go along with tax increase or we go over the cliff, that was Obamas plan, just like he planned all along to go after SS. Bring America down to size is his whole plan.
    Fundamentally change America

    That's the Plan.
  • methinks
    !
    Tell that to people who can no longer work due to medical conditions. I think they'd disagree with you. This is why SS was created; to take care of people who can no longer care for themselves through no fault of their own. The problem is that too many people defraud the system and the government, starting with LBJ, has been using the SS trust fund as an unlimited piggy bank to balance the federal budget.

    I really feel for seniors that have only SS as their income but still have to pay ever increasing school taxes to fund bloated teacher salaries and pensions. Speaking of which, here in PA, we are going to have to pay the piper next year to fund the 25% increase in teacher pensions on the backs of seniors who will no longer get a COLA increase. A teacher retiring with 30 years with a final salary of $100k will get $80k for the rest of their life. How does that grab you?
  • u
    Buckfan4life2
    !
    Hows that Danny Divito? I paid every penny in to that small little SSI check I get from years of hard work. No at the time I would have rather had the money but now that Iam a senior I thank God that I have it comeing every month. Its easy for you people thats not getting one to bitch about it but THATS MY MONEY,not yours or the presidents or all the thieving bastard politicans that has stole out of it for years. I can see a 2 million wheelchair march coming to D.C. soon and I bet these ol farts are packing some heavy arsnel.
  • TheJimmy
    !
    Younger people with severe physical or mental disabilities should be put up for private adoption to individuals with the resources to take care of them instead of having da Gubmint foot the bill.
  • u
    AceLuby
    !
    @TheJimmy So what's the plan when nobody 'adopts' them? Even if everyone who 'could' afford it did adopt someone, there would still be millions of people left over? Is your plan to just let them die in the streets?
  • TheJimmy
    !
    @AceLuby
    There are more than enough of these compassionate Conservatives and patronizing Liberals to take care of these folks. A large % are frauds anyhow and would get exposed as such in the process so no legitimate disabled person would be left out in the cold.

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