By all of us I was singaling out bloggers, activists, organizers and any other concerned citizen that wants to improve the current condition our civic life is in. We have a duty articulately expressed in the Federalist Papers to seek accurate information about our political leaders and the ideas that they propose, without all of us carrying out this duty democracy ceases to exist, and the whole concept of self-government becomes nothing but an empty slogan, while the poor become poorer and the people the government work for becomes an ever shrinking wealthy minority.
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joets says
is that the aggregate costs of SS, medicare and medicaid are so great that the only true and meaningful reduction in spending will come from going after those three.
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p>Arguing over everything else while leaving those three alone is effectively throwing beans at one another.
david says
Social Security is self-financed by a dedicated source of tax revenue. So, that shouldn’t really be part of the discussion.
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p>As for Medicare and Medicaid, read Robert Reich. He is actually right about this.
nickp says
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p>SS has until very recently been a significant provider to the general treasury, so to the extent that the general treasury has no need to pay it back, then yes, SS should absolutely be part of the discussion, and whether SS has a “dedicate source of tax revenue” is irrelevant. Think fungibly.
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p>Reich’s take is dated recently, but it’s the same hackned synopsis that been rumbling around for years. Not to opine whether he’s right or not, he’s irrelevant. We’re on the road with Obamacare and it’s hard to imagine the political shift that would actually have to occur to follow Reich’s, et al vision to a utopian, single payer, smart Medicare for all.
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p>What’s to cut or tax, was published in this NYTimes interactive in 2008. The timeline is off however, because the $1 trillion deficit was forcast for 2030, not for 2011.
jnagarya says
The largest part of the budget is defense. Why do “conservatives” get bogged down in cutting the insignificant percentage of the budget that affects the poor?
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p>And you’re wrong about Social Security. It is a stand-alone budget. It only needs to be “fixed” according to those who want to eliminate it.
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p>The Federalist Society has made no secret about its goal:
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p>”How to Repeal the New Deal”.
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p>Stop blaming Social Security, and the poor.