A "Tell"

Give this idea another look. (0.00 / 0)

Kent Conrad is chair of the Senate Budget committee. We all know who Judd Gregg is. It is ironic, if that is not too weak a word, that Judd has finally gotten religion on budget deficits. I guess it's because he thinks Democratic deficits are evil, Republican ones are good

Their proposal is not about the size of the stimulus package to get the economy going, but how to deal with our long-term budget problems. These guys are reacting to the fact that we have long term structural deficits, due in large part to growing entitlements tied to an aging economy that are going to kill our economy. These are facts, not partisan talking points. The longer we wait to deal with them, the smaller our abulity to do so. Under Bush, these problems were ignored or used for partisan purposes, but they are very, very real. For background, check out what the Pete Peterson Foundation or the Concord Coalition have been saying.

The idea is to create am independent group to come up with proposals and present them for a vote. They propose an up or down vote because they both know that the alternative is an enormous lobby-fest with hundreds if not thousands of special interest exceptions and exemptions. My guess is this gets traction- it is the kind of results-oriented solution that will appeal to Dems who actually want to solve some of our nation's problems.

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by: Michael Marsh @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 06:38:06 AM CST

Strongly disagree (4.00 / 2)

The Republican Party remains committed to the elimination of Social Security. They continue to lie about the size and nature of the "problem." We should not allow them anywhere near these issues.

A few facts to keep in mind:

1. The Social Security trustees provide three projections each year and then base their description of the program's health on the middle one. But it has proven too pessimistic year after year.
2. By that pessimistic middle projection, in about 2042 the "Trust Fund" is fully drawn down. At that point Social Security can use 2042 FICA payments to pay out 2042 Social Security benefits at about 75% of current planned levels. Bush and others call that "bankrupt." It is more like taking a pay cut.
3. However, there IS a big and short-term problem with Medicare funding. But...
4. The way to fix that is by completely overhauling the US health care system. And once again, we can't afford to let Republicans anywhere near that effort. The last time they got involved their contribution was: Make sure the government cannot negotiate a bulk price with Big Pharma.

Finally: in my opinion the Concord Coalition has proven to be a right-wing organization that resurfaces as a scold  only when Democrats have power. They hibernate whenever Republicans spend trillions on wars we cannot afford.

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by: elwood @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 07:15:03 AM CST

[ Parent ]

This is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue (0.00 / 0)

I don't know about the Concord Coalition resurfacing just as the Democrats come to power. They have been warning about the long term (and short term) consequences of Bush's fiscal mismanagement. They opposed Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and again in 2003.  They supported Congressional Democrat's pay-go policy. They were opposed to the Iraq war and particularly the phony accounting to pay for it.

Dick Cheney was wrong- long term deficits actually matter quite a lot. Unless we get our long-term deficit situation under control, we are going to ruin our economy. This has been driven by three factors: Medicare, tax cuts, and to a much lesser extent, Social Security. Medicare is the biggest factor. Because of the growth in the cost of medical care and the aging of our population, as well as the poorly conceived Medicare Part D program, the current estimate is we face an unfunded liability of more than $32 trillion in this account over the next 75 years. This is roughly 3 times our national debt, and more than double the size of our economy.

The next big cause of the deficits is the tax giveaways to the rich of the Bush years. If Obama doesn't roll these back, they will add another $14 trillion or so to our debt. Comparatively speaking, social security is a non-issue, as it faces less than $4 trillion in long term unfunded liability.

Any reality-based president, particularly one who wants to make the economy stronger so the middle class will benefit, has to deal with this. For the past 8 years, we have had a team in place who think deficits don't matter, and all you have to do is cut taxes. That means we have wasted 8 years, and instead of working to solve this problem, it has gotten worse. Unless we fix it soon, people will really suffer in the not-so-distant future.

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by: Michael Marsh @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 09:22:35 AM CST

[ Parent ]

In theory, yes (4.00 / 1)

This is not a Democrat vs. Republican issue

In reality, no. There is no middle ground; we want to preserve and strengthen Social Security, they want it to wither away. The moderates in the GOP want a relatively painless death for Social Security.

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by: JimC @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 09:32:53 AM CST

[ Parent ]

This is EXACTLY a Democrat v. Republican issue (4.00 / 1)

Your comment makes that clear. The eight years we wasted were wasted because Republican ideology and strategy demands tax cuts and gutting social programs.

My opinion on the Concord Coalition is perhaps off-topic - but whether it is because of how many press releases they issue or because of how the press covers them, I stand by it.

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by: elwood @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 09:33:47 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I am so sick (4.00 / 5)

of there being public money available for war, torture chambers, bridges to nowhere, whores, parties, travel, restaurants and other perks, lifetime health insurance for members of Congress, etc. but then when there may be talk of something for the rest of us--uh-oh, there's a deficit.

It's so transparent.

The fact that we accept this makes me really wonder what has happened to our thought processes and values. Maybe they were a bit off to begin with, or we would have a social system more akin to western Europe's.

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by: Jennifer Daler @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 06:52:39 AM CST

"a commission to make the tough choices about future benefits and taxes" (4.00 / 3)

Good idea.  We'll bring in people from all over the country who have the support of their communities to make tough decisions about the future of our country.

We can call it... The Congress of the United States

--
Hope 2012

@DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 09:41:06 AM CST

Its like the Base Relocation and Closure (BRAC) committee (0.00 / 0)

The proposal is they will make a set of recommendations and the Congress will vote it up or down. No lobbyists getting in to push their agenda. Just up or down.  

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by: Michael Marsh @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 16:25:50 PM CST

[ Parent ]

"Lobbyists" (0.00 / 0)

Like the AARP.

Protecting Congress from those nasty voters.

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by: elwood @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 16:29:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Doug, sometimes you come out with some funny lines. (0.00 / 0)

That was one.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 17:31:11 PM CST

[ Parent ]