When I first read this story on Alternet I thought I should post it, but hesitated since its so soon after the election etc etc -- not. You see my 82 year old mother depends on Social Security and Medicare, and her five kids and grandkids want it around if they are lucky enough to live to that age. (My father was not, died at 52.)
Via Altenet
Naked Capitalism / By Yves Smith
Obama Sends Up Trial Balloon on Social Security Cuts Through Lying Citigroup Bankster
Peter Orszag, Obama-Admin-Veteran-Turned-Bank-Exec, is selling catfood futures hard.
Damn, that's harshing to our Obama high, no? !
Less harsh but still hard -- digby
Pimping Social Security cuts again
by digby
SNIP
Like I said, watch your wallet kids. Guys like Orszag think they can sneak this through because nobody will be "affected" until years later and then, so what? But what will happen to you is what's happening to me: you get older and you realize that the system is insecure, that the wingnuts are carving it away little by little, and that even though you made the sacrifice to pay more and reitre later, you still stand to have necessary benefits disappearing gradually after you are too old to work. Don't buy it. This is a rich country that's creating billionaires by the bucketful and running history's most expensive military empire. We can afford for our elderly, disabled and sick to be decently taken care of. It's just a matter of priorities.
Go read both if you still think there's nothing to see here, move along, there are no plans by our Dem leaders to touch SS, will not be cut, oops, reformed. Yeah. Right.
AFL-CIO thinks this is serious. HT to David Mizer comment on a different post earlier today:
Labor is doing anti-Catfood organizing (43+ / 0-)
And the even more interesting by-product of this is that labor has immediately turned around and announced a campaign to fight the prevailing trend in Washington toward a grand bargain that would cut social insurance programs.
“Look, we’ve laid some markers down,” (AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka) says. “No tax cuts for the rich, not an extension of those tax cuts, not one minute. Two, no cuts in benefits for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And we’ll fight for those things. We’ll fight no matter who proposes them. If a Democrat proposes them, we’ll go after them as well.”
But can labor credibly threaten the Democrats, given that they have nowhere else to go? “Of course we have an option,” Trumka says. “It’s real simple. There’s things called primaries.” He pauses to let this threat sink in.
We’ve heard a lot of this before, but labor is actually backing this up with action. They never dismantled their field campaign from the election. They plan 100 events across the country over the next few weeks, based on ending the high-end Bush tax cuts and protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The same volunteers who leafleted for candidates at work sites before Election Day leafleted against the grand bargain at the same work sites on Wednesday, focused on making calls to Congress. Phone banks are pushing constituents to call Congress. Online ads, including on this site, are up and running. This is part of the permanent infrastructure, ironically ushered in by Citizens United, that organized labor plans to keep up.
by david mizner on Thu Nov 08, 2012 at 10:18:45 AM MST
[ Reply to This | Recommend Hide ]
kossacks can get on board and support these events or start our own. We should not leave this to chance. My mom and here aging 5 kids are depending on us.... :)