To that end President Obama has for years now been proposing a change to "Chained CPI" benefits of social security.
To put that in plain English, Obama's plan would change the way social security funds are calculated, specifically by making them pay less.
And here's the thing, turns out people HATE that. As in EVERYONE, republican, democrat, liberal, conservative, and especially the elderly.
Yet despite that, the Obama administration has been floating the idea since AT LEAST July of 2011.
Basically here's how the history plays out.
in 2011, Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Obama offers "Grand Bargain with CPI cuts. Liberals raise holy hell over the CPI cuts. Liberals rendered moot when House Republicans reject the plan.
Then Congress forms supercommittee in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Obama offers "Grand Bargain with CPI cuts as solution supercommittee. Supercommittee rejects the plan and fails to produce anything.
In 2012 Due to Supercommittee failure, massive budget cuts and tax hikes, (called the fiscal clifft) set to kick in. Obama offers "Grand Bargain" with CPI cuts as "replacement". . Liberals raise holy hell over the CPI cuts. Liberals rendered moot when House Republicans reject the plan.
in 2013 Fiscal cliff partly averted by kicking the cuts part down the road a few months (AKA the sequester). In an attempt to stave off the cuts congress wants to replace sequester with other cuts. So Obama offers "Grand Bargain with CPI cuts. . Liberals raise holy hell over the CPI cuts. Liberals rendered moot when House Republicans reject the plan.
Sequester goes into effect. However due to staggered effect, it is still possible to stave off some of the cuts. So (you all can guess this next part) Obama offers "Grand Bargain with CPI cuts. . Liberals raise holy hell over the CPI cuts. Liberals rendered moot when House Republicans reject the plan.
BUT THEN: Republicans announce their intention to run against the Chained CPI cuts in the 2014 election and to paint themselves as the defenders of entitlements. At the same time Reporter gets bright idea to ask administration why they keep proposing this idea everyone seems to hate. The reply, per press secretary Jay Carney is that the insertion of the Chained CPI "comes at the specific request of behest of Republican leaders."
Seriously? WTF? that is the biggest and/or dumbest fucking excuse you guys could have come up with.
1)Do you know how negotiations work? You tell the other side what you want ideally, they tell you what they want ideally, and you go from there. You dont go "how about I tell you what I want, unless you dont want it, in which case I'll replace it with what you want". This is doubly true in lawmaking where the final bill NEVER resembles the first draft, so why give up something this early anyways?
2) If it was at their request, why didnt you force them to actually formally REQUEST IT? I mean did you not realize it was super unpopular? they sure as hell did, which is why they wanted you to bring it up....so you'd look like the bad guy.
3) building from that, even assuming it was at their request (which just to be clear I dont think it was), ok that explains the first offer.....but after they shot you down and attacked you for it, you included it again? You know what that reminds me of?
It's fitting as well that thing is on an endless loop. See most people learn after the first couple of time, Lucy is gonna move the god damn football. So if the GOP really did make this request and you STILL have figured out they are gonna move the football your a fucking retard.
4) Again, given that I dont actually think the GOP made this request.......seriously? How stupid do you think the rest of us are? For anyone paying attention its a well known fact Obama is a fiscal conservative (in modern terms anyways), despite what the right wing would tell you. He's been on a crusade since day 1 to "fix the debt crisis" and prove how serious he is about it.
Oh and by the way, again for those of us paying attention, as pointed out before WE HEARD YOU PITCH THE SAME THING BEFORE.
I guess we should just be glad you didnt cut and run this blatantly on HealthCare (well except for the running from the single payer idea), Gun Control and Immigration......
Oh but to be fair the insanity is just getting started.
Remember how I said every time Obama pitched this idea, the GOP rejected it out of hand? Well that was all the handiwork of Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Now after their most recent rejection of this idea, Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor had this to say:
"While the president has backtracked on some of his entitlement reforms that were in conversations that we had a year and a half ago, he does deserve some credit for some incremental entitlement reforms that he has outlined in his budget." (Boehner)
and
"If the President believes, as we do, that programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are on the path to bankruptcy, and that we actually can do some things to put them back on the right course and save them to protect the beneficiaries of these programs, we ought to do so." (Cantor)
That's right, after rejecting the idea out of hand for the last 18 months, Boehner and Cantor suddenly decided to come out in support of the idea.
Now on the one hand, this does lend some credibility to the presidents claim the GOP did request this, but if thats true WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING NO? Also more the the point, how can you reject the proposal (again) while also being in favor of it?
Also I should point out this isnt a universal shift. See Rep Greg Walden runs the NRCC, basically the group in charge of all the republican house elections in 2014. And he had this to say on behalf of the NRCC:
"I’ll tell you when you’re going after seniors the way he’s already done on Obamacare, taken $700 billion out of Medicare to put into Obamacare and now coming back at seniors again, I think you’re crossing that line very quickly here in terms of denying access to seniors for health care in districts like mine certainly and around the country,”
So he is clearly against it, and wants to use it as a central issue to run ALL republicans in the House or prospective candidates against it, and blame the democrats for it.
That being the same issue his own leadership JUST endorsed, actually just a few hours before he came out against it.
And heres the final insane twist. Walden was appointed to head the NRCC by Speaker Boehner, and could be removed by the same. Now Boehner disagrees with Walden on the GOP's stand as a party on this issue. But still hasnt replaced Walden for undercutting the message Boehner wants the party to take.
So to sum up as far as Chained CPI goes:
On the one side, we have the Obama Administration who have made this a top priority/suggestion for almost 2 years, and have always been in favor.... EXCEPT its a republican idea they dont support and only brought up as a favor to the GOP....
On the other, we have a republican party that rejected this idea out of hand for almost the last 2 years......EXCEPT actually support it, BUT still want to run against it and use it against the Democrats (Who by the way, with a few exceptions have always opposed it) claiming its a horrible idea and an attack on seniors, that they themselves support.
Seriously if anybody can make any sense out of ANY of this.....other than both sides have totally tripped over their own feet and have no fucking clue what they are doing on this issue, please go right ahead, that's what the comment section is for, because I QUIT.
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