So much for the "progressive" backstop for the sadly tattered remnants of the New Deal.
Dick Durbin:
On Friday, when President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform gathers to consider a plan to bring our national debt under control, I will be voting yes. It was not an easy decision, and I know my vote will be widely criticized, but I believe it is the right thing to do.
The simple fact is this: America needs to grow our economy and reduce our $13.8 trillion debt.
This plan is not perfect, and it is certainly not the plan I would have written. But it will help put Americans back to work and it will reduce our federal debt dramatically...
There are only two honest ways to reduce our debt: cut spending or raise revenues. This plan does both and it takes the spending cuts from the entire budget -- defense and non-defense.
He says that at least he forced the commission to add a few grains of sugar to help the bitter pill go down:
Social Security is the most important social program in America. The commission creates an actuarially sound program for an additional 75 years. It increases the minimum benefit for the lowest income Social Security recipients and adds a much needed increase in benefits for those above the age of 85. It raises the retirement age one year to 68, 40 years from now, meaning no one above the age of 28 today would be affected and the retirement age would be 69, 65 years from now. To protect those in manual labor jobs who cannot wait to retire, we create special benefit package that will still allow for early retirement.
Another provision that I worked for makes certain that the spending cuts do not start until 2013. We cannot run the risk of hitting the brakes in the midst of this recession...
I also insisted on two things to spark the economy: a payroll tax holiday that can create up to 900,000 jobs and a longer-term investment of $100 billion in infrastructure, education and research and development -- key investments for long-term economic growth.
How about if you'd just said no to spending cuts and instead forced your fellow commission members to add tax increases for the rich to fix the budget deficit and provide for long-term investment in infrastructure, R&D, and education? You know, like Democrats used to understand was the basis for building broad-based, shared economic prosperity?
Oh well. At least I expect Jan Schakowsky to hold the line, unless they've replaced her with a pod person too.