Thursday, April 11, 2013

Comment Of The Day: SS Cat Food Edition

Rachel Maddow Shreds David Axlerod - Very Depressing Television - Esquire
Charley James · Top Commenter
When I watched David Axelrod last night, the only thing that kept me from suffering an uncontrollable bout of dry heaves was Rachel Maddow stopping him cold every time he tried wandering into some third dimension.

For one thing, Social Security is not in trouble now or in the immediate future. And as everyone from Paul Krugman to Dean Baker to everyone else who knows what they're talking about has said repeatedly, all that the program needs to be solvent forever (as opposed to being solvent until sometime late in the 2020s) is to raise the cap on earnings. What's magical about $113,000; why not include all income from all sources in the Social Security premium.



Medicare has nothing to do with Social Security. It's paid for separately, it's run differently, and the only thing it has in common is that it is an earned benefit (not an entitlement) for seniors. That's it; age only. Medicare will be made healthier by Obamacare, not only because there are provisions to stop things such as double billing but also require the medico-industrial complex to justify why a more expensive new treatment is better than the one it was designed to replace.

In any event, Republicans will grab onto cuts in programs designed to help grandpa endure his not-so-golden -years but not vote for anything else in the budget submitted by the White House. Universal pre-K? Won't happen. Cuts to the military? Forget about it.

This is dismal, coming from a supposedly progressive president.

No comments: