Credit to Sam Seder and his new show at http://majorityreport.fm for bringing this story to my attention on Friday. This is an interview with Steve Inskeep on NPR on December 10, 2010, titled "Obama On Taxes, Economy And START". The relevant quote is below the fold. It really lays bare his economic philosophy. Follow me over the jump.
http://www.npr.org/...
INSKEEP: Won't Republicans argue — and, in fact, won't reality argue that any cuts will have to be even deeper because this package that you're pushing for now will mean there's even less government revenue?
OBAMA: Actually, I think that if you talk to economists, both conservative and liberal, what they'll say is the problem is not next year. The problem is, how are we dealing with our medium-term debt and deficit, and how are we dealing with our long-term debt and deficit? And most of that has to do with entitlements, particularly Social Security and Medicaid.
Okay, so besides the fact that this shatters the claim that I just battled in another diary in which it was stated that Obama has not referred to SS as an "entitlement" before, does this not clearly show where the man is coming from on the economy?
It was my understanding (though I'm by no means an economic expert) that SS is deficit neutral and is solvent for at least the next 30 years. So why is it that he is bringing it up as the problem, or potential solution to, the deficit crisis? It seems quite clear that there is a buy-in to the fact that Medicaid and SS are creating the deficit, and the tax breaks for the wealthy can be virtually ignored as being an eventual causal factor. They almost seem irrelevant in his response.
Yes, it's true that both conservative and liberal economists express concern about the deficit, to varying degrees. But there is an implication that both conservative and liberal economists agree that so-called "entitlements" are the causal factor, and this is intellectually dishonest. It is the claim of Obama himself, and it is indeed a right wing claim.
This leaves no doubt in my mind that Obama views the solution to the debt and deficit as taking apart (looting) the social safety net. He has de-linked the deficit and the tax breaks for the wealthy by completely avoiding Inskeep's question.
Have at it.