Lakhota
Diamond Member
By Richard Eskow
Of course its a benefit cut. Of course its a tax hike, for everyone but the wealthy.
The chained CPI proposal in President Obamas budget continues to draw much-deserved fire, which is only likely to increase as more information about it becomes known.
Here are ten embarrassing facts about the chained CPI which the White House and its defenders would prefer to see overlooked:
1. Of course its a benefit cut.
2. Of course its a tax hike.
3. And its a tax hike for everybody but the wealthy.
4. You could save much more money in other, better ways.
5. The White Houses proposed bump disproves its own argument.
6. Its political suicide for Democrats.
7. The Social Security cut doesnt reduce the deficit.
8. That tax hike on everybody except the wealthy will help a little. But
9. The deficits already shrinking rapidly.
10. It doesnt matter if the GOP asked you to do this.
It doesnt matter if the GOP asked the White House to call for this benefit cut and middle-class tax hike, as White House Press Secretary Jay Carney is now saying. The Presidents been floating the idea for years. He and his appointees have defended it publicly.
And now the President has officially included it in his budget.
The Republican budget did not include it.
And now theyre using it against the President and his Party. That should surprise no one. To paraphrase the question asked by generations of American mothers: If the Republicans asked you to jump off a bridge ?
The chained CPI is the wrong answer to the wrong problem at the wrong time. Its time for the White House to recognize that, cut its losses, and ditch this turkey of an idea. In the meantime Democrats need to walk away from it fast, before they pay a high price for it at the polls.
DETAILS: 10 Facts Obama Doesn't Want You to Know About His Social Security Slashing Budget Plan