White House: No Change In Obama’s Position On Social Security (will NOT 'slash benefits')

[Tx4obama]

White House: No Change In Obama’s Position On Social Security

The White House is playing down a report that the President is willing to consider cuts to Social Security as part of a deal to raise the debt-ceiling and reduce the nation's long-term deficits.

White House spokesman Jay Carney several times during Wednesday's press briefing criticized a report in the Washington Post, saying the reporter "overwrote" it and questioning the motives of the story's sources.

Insisting the President has not changed his position on whether Social Security should be included in the debt-ceiling negotiations, Carney pointed to Obama's January remarks in the State of the Union that he wants to engage in a bipartisan process to strengthen Social Security in a "balanced way" that preserves the promise of the program and does not "slash benefits."

Obama wants to create a dialogue "where every participant feels that he or she can bring to the room issues that they think are important," Carney said. "That doesn't mean that the President's position has changed at all."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/the-white-house-is-playing.php?ref=fpblg

[brooklynite]

1. I posted this point 12 hours ago when Carney was speaking at the Presser...

...didn't make much difference...

[jaxx]

3. Kudos to both of you for at least trying to get the truth out there.

Unfortunately the outrage meter has stuck on 'hair on fire'.

[patrice]

16. Yep. People with Bernie Sanders avatars were posting his quote about

how any deal with, quote, ONLY, Medicare cuts in it will be unacceptable to him and they were flaming away apparently completely oblivious to what Senator Sanders meant by using the word "only" instead of "any".

:eyes:

[KittyWampus]

56. LOL! Can you give me the rest of the markers on that outrage meter?

[Joe the Revelator]

2. Don't muddy the water with facts.....

down with Obama!!!

[EFerrari]

19. Frames are not facts and that's all the OP is. n/t

[Joe the Revelator]

40. It's words from the actual white house! Who do you believe, them or the MSM?.

Give me a break.

[bemildred]

41. Neither? They all lie? It's their main job skill? nt

[EFerrari]

44. Words are not facts, either. Give me a break.

"I am not a crook" -- words from the actual White House. :wow:

[Joe the Revelator]

46. You're equating Obama with the watergate cover up? Seriously?

[kimsarah]

50. Sorry,

but is this a trick question too?

[sabrina 1]

45. What does it say? It is not a clear statement that SS has nothing

to do with the Deficit and is completely off the table regarding any discussions regarding the deficit. It sounds like a lot of words with little clarity and with lots of room to later claim something different was 'meant'.

What is so hard about simply saying 'SS is a separate fund and has zero to do with the Deficit'. In fact, the president has NOT said that, he has claimed in his own words that SS 'is not a MAJOR DRIVER of the deficit'. That is FALSE. SS has zero to do with the deficit and yet, for some reason he cannot come out and simply say that.

[SDuderstadt]

67. Please show where Obama has said that...

SS is a major driver of the deficit in any words whatsoever.

[kimsarah]

49. Is this

a trick question?

[DevonRex]

4. Don't bother. DU is a lost cause.

[Number23]

47. Yep. But it is useful as an excellent source of unintentional humor these days

:)

[DevonRex]

63. Is it funny or is it sad? I keep going back and forth between

the two. At least it is glaringly obvious now that DU isn't for Democrats and that comes as something of a relief. Except that it hijacked our name.

[SidDithers]

55. Agreed...

It's even losing it's entertainment value. It's become boringly predictable.

Sid

[DevonRex]

64. I did notice an amusing FDL one-two punch the other day.

Seems that DU exists to advertise another site these days.

[SidDithers]

65. Some think we're here to mirror whatever is posted at FDL...nt

Sid

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. Of course not. He and his U of Chicago economics team planned to do this all along.

Didn't see that coming? I tried.

[Joe the Revelator]

6. It's dumb to count recs but it's fun to watch a post base on facts....

Get completely unreeled, but the ones full of hyperbole are off to the greatest page.

[Fearless]

7. That doesn't mean he won't compromise on the issue... remember his views on gay marriage

Personally he is conflicted, but publicly he "supports" it. (RE: his press conference last week.)

[Joe the Revelator]

9. And it doesn't mean his mother didn't have a great big pair of testicles..

There are a lot of things we don't know. I choose to take his admin. At their word.

[Fearless]

12. Why? The House leadership is flipping out because of this "rumor"...

You'd think that maybe they know what they're talking about?

[Liberal Veteran]

15. Stating one's position = Flipping out

[Fearless]

17. To officially denounce the potential action of a seated president of one's party IS pretty damn big.

[Liberal Veteran]

21. Not really and it is kind of a fun house mirror version of current events.

....stretched more than a bit out of proportion.

[Fearless]

33. Ok if you say so. I will PM you a told you so if he does. Good day.

[patrice]

22. Everything is over-stated and over-simplified around here now. Rather familiar

rhetorical pattern that.

[Fearless]

32. As is gross generalizations without evidence or even point.

[patrice]

36. K, not "Everything", but a significant amount anyway.

:hi:

[Kahuna]

53. Since when? Months ago Bernie Sander's hair was on fire about I

can't even remember what rumour. None of these people have any idea what's on the president's mind, because the president wisely keeps his strategy close to his chest. People should know that by now.

[whosinpower]

8. Well - I want a pony too

He WANTS to strengthen social security - by reducing the increases allowed in cola. Oops - that is a cut.....except we don't like the word slash.

What is the word for not increasing cost of living allowance as per inflation, or cost of goods, medicine, food.....IT IS A CUT.

[Logical]

10. Define "slash", that might be your answer!

[Fearless]

13. +1

[tishaLA]

31. that is the question

does restructuring and cutting = slashing or not? Is a plan to "cut" but not, by their terms, a "slash"? And who gets do define what is a cut vs what is a slash?

Of course, if there is no cutting, all those questions are moot.

[eomer]

51. Exactly. Nothing stopping him from clarifying that does not "slash benefits" means

does not cut benefits.

But he has chosen to stick with the original language. Clearly that leaves cuts that don't reach the level of "slash" on the table.

[Brickbat]

58. Yup.

[supraTruth]

11. Every1 needs to tell the President through Twitter or in ANY other way to tell boehner&cantor that

CONgressional paychecks WILL BE the 1st CUTS if the Aug. DEADline is missed, AND that the ONLY change that will be allowed to Medicare & S.S. is to raise OR ELIMINATE the payroll income cap!

GAME OVER!

[ChoppinBroccoli]

14. I Heard Someone Make This Point Earlier Today

Is it possible that Obama has mentioned the possibility of cutting Social Security and Medicare JUST to get the Republicans to the table? I mean, just because he says that he'd be willing to consider it doesn't mean he's going to offer it up. Think of it this way: if you were the owner of the Colts, and you REALLY wanted to get the owner of another team to come to the bargaining table, wouldn't you happen to mention, "Oh, by the way, there's a POSSIBILITY that I might consider trading you Peyton Manning," even if you had no intention of doing it? Just because you said you'd consider it doesn't mean you're going to do it. It could very well just be a tactic to get them to the table. This is all gamesmanship, and nothing is set in stone until it's set in stone. I'm beginning to believe that the only way Obama could get the Republicans to even have a sit-down is to say, "Oh yeah, if you come meet with me, maybe I'll consider making those cuts you want."

[0rganism]

27. That would be nice, but also unprecedented

Assuming such a thing would require a degree of confidence President Obama has so far failed to earn, AFAICT.

The REAL master stroke would be to float it initially to get the Republicans to put it on the table themselves, in private negotiations, then publicize their proposals and use it to show how corrupt they are. Looks like the WH may have been trying to do this, but got ninja'd by Boehner & co and their friends in the press.

[supraTruth]

29. There IS an EASIER way; tell them that CONgressional pay WILL be the 1st CUTS if DEADline is missed.

Hit the CONS in their pocketbook if U want their attention.

http://supratruth.newsvine.com/

[patrice]

35. EVERYTHING is about what you describe there. He wants to get THEM to call the hand.

So he keeps raising the bid. Meanwhile, they have constituencies who are sitting on the sidelines watching their own highest priority issues get thrown into the pot as the Republicans wait for Obama to put his whole bank in, i.e. keep Bush's Tax cuts and no new revenues.

Everything that's going on on our side is going on on there's too, with different issues in different rank orders of priority; they just don't allow anyone to show it. There are Republicans who will be plenty pissed if THEIR stuff gets sacrificed for naught because of the Revenue issues, especially if the Republicans lose on that one. In high stakes negotiations, you telegraph to those folks too. If that IS what is going on, it makes some sense to me because the Derivative Crash of '08 HAD TO have made them a house divided against itself and there are parts of that house that are going to fall into the economic pit, because of the Crash, if they don't find a way out soon. Obama's problem is that what he needs to know about that is all tied up in private business contracts, so he has to do other stuff and watch/listen for what happens. This also explains some of his appointments.

[markpkessinger]

18. Remember the phrase, "I still support a public option . . .?"

in effect, he was saying his position on that hadn't changed either, and continued to say it AFTER he had given it away at the bargaining table (in exchange for nothing).

[patrice]

26. He didn't do that. The Senate did after the House gave them a bill with a door into a public option

in it.

You DO know how legislation is made, right?

[Liberal Veteran]

28. Legislation is made by Presidential decree, is it not?

:rofl:

[markpkessinger]

34. He represented it as a real option when he knew it was not n/t

[patrice]

39. Link, please. We need to look at context, because we all hear what we want to hear.nt

[ChoppinBroccoli]

20. Maybe Obama Is Luring The Republicans In So He Can Have A "Michael Corleone Moment"

"My final offer to you is this..............NOTHING."

[Hydra]

24. Sure, like he did the last 15 times?

The public option one was great- "I never said I supported the public option!"

[patrice]

38. And they're HELPING him do that in full public view, by rejecting EVERY offer to negotiate. nt

[0rganism]

23. "bipartisan process to strengthen X" is euphimese for "caving in to defund X"

> he wants to engage in a bipartisan process to strengthen Social Security in
> a "balanced way" that preserves the promise of the program and does not "slash benefits."

He may also wish for dancing elves, leprechaun rainbows, and pink unicorns. These things exist in the same way that "a bipartisan process to strengthen Social Security" exists.

keywords for weasels:
bipartisan process
strengthen Social Security
"balanced way"
preserve the promise
does not "slash benefits."

The last is particularly pernicious, as it is entirely unclear what that might mean. Does it mean he'll be open to a gradual reduction of benefits over 20 years, but not to immediate program destruction? Sounds catchy, but it means NOTHING.

People are right to be skeptical of any plans to work with the GOP to modify entitlement programs in a "balanced way." That almost by definition includes gutting benefits and privatizing the SSI trust.

[Hydra]

25. George Carlin had a great saying for this:

“The word bipartisan means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out”

[erodriguez]

30. No worries. I got This!

[Safetykitten]

37. Not a "slash", it's a cut you see.

[Liberal Veteran]

42. Cool! Give us a blow by blow of how the meetings went in WH today!

Not all of us were invited to sit in on the meeting (I'm sure my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail).

[EFerrari]

43. Good point. Why is this administration so secretive?

You'd think the Democratic choice would be clear and would be proudly announced. :)

[RaleighNCDUer]

48. Doesn't need to 'slash' it.

A snip here, a snip there, and suddenly, before we quite notice it, it has no balls.

[WinkyDink]

52. These are all lawyers; PRECISE WORDS MATTER. And the key word HERE? "SLASH."

[Shandris]

54. This is correct.

In Legalese, the difference between 'slashing benefits' (an intentionally vague collection of words with no definable meaning) and 'adjusting the inflation calculation to the Chained CPI' are two entirely different things. Furthermore, by the clearest definition of the word, CPI is not a 'benefit'.

He can most assuredly 'not slash benefits' and still fuck everyone over with the Chained CPI and not have broken his 'promise'. The truth you're hearing is NOT the truth you THINK you're hearing, imo.

[WinkyDink]

57. Exactly.

[joeybee12]

59. Gotta hand it to Carney...he lies like a Repuke...

and far too many people buy his lies.

[meow mix]

60. slash "tis but a minor flesh wound"

:scared:

[Bonobo]

61. Sounds like maybe Obama dipped his toe in the water and found it too cold.

Cowardly balloon floating, toe-dipping and sticking the finger in the wind.

Not a lot of guts on display.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

62. There are other ways to tamper with Social Security

For example, the "tax holiday" hastens the day when the fund is drained.

[Edweird]

66. No denial but lots of weasel worded double talk.

[divvy]

68. Oops I stepped in it. Now I better find a spot to wipe my shoe.