Now that POTUS Obama has been re-elected, he has nothing to lose. He can stand his ground without worrying about getting re-elected. However, in order to accomplish his goals, he has to work with members of the House run by the GOP. As the pundits have pointed out rather consistently, these Congressmen have to run again in 2014. THEY DO HAVE SOMETHING TO LOSE. This will be the sticking point in the negotiations.
Ok, so I haven't said anything that isn't commonly known. But I do have a point.
Back in the beginning of 2010, I warned in a diary, that if the Democratic party gave us a lousy healthcare bill, the repercussions of that would be heavy casualties in 2010 elections due to the fact that many unhappy voters would simply stay home and not vote. Some of you agreed with me at the time and others dismissed it at hand.
What happened??? We got the Affordable Health Care Bill which a lot of people hate. In fact half of the country hates it even though it may be the law of the land. As a result, a lot of Obama voters in 2008, stayed home in 2010. The rest you know.
So here is the warning again as we go into these fiscal negotiations. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT MAKE THIS DEAL ON THE BACK OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE! Because if you do, you will lose again BIG TIME in 2014 and that might affect 2016 elections just as 2010 affected 2012. This would be a good warning for the GOP as well. The people who either are currently receiving it or going to be receiving it in the coming years are perhaps the largest group of voters that do vote on a consistent basis. This is the group of people who were told in the 50's, 60's and even 70's that if you worked hard, paid your taxes, did the right thing, that when you were ready to retire, there would be X-Y-Z waiting. I guarantee you that if you mess with that now, there will be political consequences OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS that will make 2010 look like nothing.
OK, I'm not saying we don't need to address Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. But it does not and should not be addressed in these current negotiations especially when the poor and the old have already taken hits the last 2 years. It needs to be kept as a separate issue to be debated by the entire country the same way we had a Health care debate. It should be clear and transparent with the goal of gaining a consensus among all the people in the US. It should not be part of some back room deal at this time.
Now, feel free to disagree with me but it is what it is! Besides, I'm leaving for a 2 week vacation, so I won't be spending a lot of time reading nasty, pointed comments from people who think I'm nuts. I'm just hoping that this time, the politicians will listen and take heed to the warning. But If they don't then they probably deserve to lose office in 2 years anyways. It will happen though. Because these people have the time and the motivation to individually target and work against any and every Congressman irregardless of their political affiliation. And if you make a back room deal at their expense, you can bet that's exactly what they will do.