John Kerry Pushes Supercommittee Alarmist Stance...Says We Must Cut a Deal

jtown1123

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Tue Nov-08-11 12:29 PM
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John Kerry Pushes Supercommittee Alarmist Stance...Says We Must Cut a Deal

Pretty disappointing from Senator Kerry... thinks we should strike a deal with the GOP to avoid the trigger, which to Democrats is definitely the lesser of two evils since it spares the big 3 (SS, Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid).

From the Boston Globe:

Senator John F. Kerry warned yesterday that the country could face an economic calamity with rising unemployment rates, escalating interest costs, and deep cuts to social programs if the so-called supercommittee cannot meet a Nov. 23 deadline to fashion a deficit-reduction deal.

The failure to reach an agreement would send a very dangerous signal to global markets that Congress is incapable of handling the nation�s financial problems, he said. In addition, he said, the automatically triggered cuts would gut programs for the poor.

LINK: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2011/11/08/kerry-warns-liberals-that-deficit-committee-failure-will-cut-safety-net-programs/jvS4AAZPNPME6iivl30zmN/story.html

This trying to appease global and bond markets meme is ridiculous. They couldn't give a shit about this entitlement cutting commission a.k.a. the deficit "supercommittee."

From R.J. Eskow:

Economic Y2K

Every month it seems as if there's another "bipartisan" process designed to impose austerity on the American people. And every month we're told there will be terrible consequences in the world's markets if it doesn't succeed. These predictions are the economic equivalent of "Y2K" -- always apocalyptic, never true, and all too frequently believed.

Democratic officials and staffers are being bombarded by these predictions, delivered by think-tank operatives from their own party who have been steeped in the cult of austerity. It doesn't matter how many times they're refuted by impeccably constructed papers, or by the observations of Nobel Prize winners. And it doesn't matter how many times these predictions are proven wrong.

Some of the experts warning of doom if the "Super Committee" fails said the same thing about last year's Deficit Commission, too. What happened when that "bipartisan" body deadlocked, and the private plan put forward by its co-chairs went nowhere?

Nothing.

Now the same players are telling us the stock market will plummet without a Super Committee plan. They're saying there will be more downgrades of the US government by credit rating "agencies," and that this will bring disastrous consequences. And they're saying that international markets will lose confidence in Treasury bonds.

But recent history teaches us that the exact opposite is likely to happen. Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/a-super-committee-failure_b_1081095.html

Let's be clear, striking a "deal" with the GOP is going to require harmful cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid...the people who have already sacrificed all they have are being asked to sacrifice more and are admonished that they are being "obstructionist" and unreasonable and need to share in this debt burden.

It sucks, but the trigger is certainly less harmful across the board than any deal the supercommittee will come up with. Especially since this is not a serious group. You cannot fix our deficit without allowing Bush Tax cuts to expire and reining in the absurd skyrocketing health care costs. If you don't address these two major drivers, we're just going to end up with painful cuts from those who can afford it the least.

On Wednesday, a bunch of seniors and progressive groups are rallying in Boston against cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Hope some of you can stop by! http://bluemassgroup.com/2011/11/stop-the-cuts-to-social-security-medicare-and-medicaid-boston-event-expected-to-draw-thousands-wednesday/