Sen. Dick Durbin (John Gress/Reuters)
Via
David Dayen, Sen. Dick Durbin is reasserting himself as a problem in the Democratic message making process. In an appearance on Fox News Sunday with Sen. John Kyl, he
reiterated his Gang of Six talk about cutting Social Security.
On "Fox News Sunday," the talk was so cooperative that host Chris Wallace dubbed the conversation "television diplomacy." On several topics, Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, warmly agreed to meet and share ideas on everything from Medicare and tax reform to border security.
"I just listened very carefully to what Jon Kyl said. And I believe he has set the stage for us to enter into a meaningful conversation," Durbin said after Kyl announced he won't agree to raising taxes, but would consider eliminating loopholes in the business tax code that complicate calculating the bottom line.
"Democrats are prepared to talk about the future of major entitlement programs, reform that is not going to deny the basic protections, which we put in the programs, but acknowledges the fact that we have serious economic problems ahead of us if we don't have some reform in both Medicare and Social Security," Durbin said.
Dayen adds "Durbin drew the line at privatization, which is on offer in the Ryan budget, but it doesn’t exactly bolster the Democratic message and should give real concern to those who don’t want to see seniors pricing cat food."
How can the conversation be "meaningful" when Kyl and every other Republicans refuses to raise taxes? The bipartisanship pony and "grand bargain" is all well and good in theory, but Medicare and Social Security versus some "loopholes in the business tax code" is not a fair trade. And it's not something any Democrat needs to be toying with.
Here's the message we need to be hearing from every Dem, courtesy Minority Leader Pelosi:
Democrats have a plan to ensure older Americans have access to affordable, high quality care—it’s called Medicare and it currently serves more than 46 million Americans.