Orszag's Drive to Cut Social Security

[NorthCarolina]

Source: FDL

Peter Orszag, President Obama’s former budget director, seems determined to cut Social Security. Like most people involved in this quest he is prepared to leave the facts behind and is quick to resort to name calling.

<---snip--->

Orszag goes on to tell readers that progressives should be happy to see Social Security reform on the agenda since:

“the key issue progressives had been concerned about — individual accounts within Social Security — has been definitively won in their favor (for now).”

It might have been helpful if Orszag had used names, since I don’t know any progressives who have this as their “key issue.”

<---snip--->

Orszag’s list of reasons for early cuts is:

“acting now would allow changes to take effect more gradually, cushioning the blow.”

Link: http://my.firedoglake.com/deanbaker/2010/11/04/peter-orszag-and-the-drive-to-cut-social-security/

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I guess many of us can expect to kiss Social Security goodbye. The House, previously a road block for SS reform, has been taken over by the GOP. Luckily, the majority of the Progressive Caucus members in the House did retain their seats. Will that be enough to hold back the coming attack on SS from the GOP/DLC? I hope so.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Orzag works for Obama?????????????

[Oceansaway]

2. fug Orszag, he's an asshole...nt

[still_one]

3. They do that, then it will be time to challenge Obama in 2012 /nt

[NorthCarolina]

5. I'm already there

I want a true Progressive in the WH, not a faux Progressive.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. I agree completely.

I fear that O is gong to use the excuse of a GOPer House to take out SS as we know it. :mad: If he heads that route, then it is all out war as far as I am concerned, Party be damned. And piss on anyone who would back him in his attempt. :puke:

[alarimer]

8. It always takes a Democrat to pass Republican policies.

Like welfare reform, which was a complete betrayal of the poor by Clinton and other Democrats.

If this happens, Obama will most certainly not get my vote next time. As it stands now, I am on the fence. But if he guts SS, I will actively be working against him.

[Citizen Worker]

9. Clinton also rammed through NAFTA, WTO, Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,

Telecommunications Modernization Act, and was negotiating the privatization of Social Security when the Lewinsky scandal broke. Thank you Monica!

If anything, we should have learned that the last two "democratic" presidents were bought and paid for by their corporate benefactors and they will carry out their instructions.

Edit: correct spelling

[Citizen Worker]

10. "They do that..." and it's a done deal. We dare not wait to respond after the fact. We should be

mobilizing now to stop privatization from even being considered. It will be easier to stop than reverse one it's done. And believe me it is a fait accompli unless we raise hell.

[Enthusiast]

4. This is no different than Bush's

proposal to privatize social security. The deficit commission was intentionally stacked with anti-New Deal zealots. Why is that?

[JDPriestly]

7. Peter Orszag was another of Obama's bankers in residence.

I don't care whether he ever worked for a bank or even knows how one works. All of his theories help banks, not people.

What Obama did not understand is that the banks are the enemies of ordinary borrowers, depositors, their own employees and society in general. The banks are parasites. They make their money by taking a cut from the productive activity of the rest of society. They justify their cut on the ground that somebody has to keep score and make sure that promises are kept and money repaid.

Maybe at some point in history banks really did just keep score and make sure that promises were kept and money repaid. But today, their main function appears to be to hold the rest of society at ransom.

That's what the medieval robber barons used to do -- hold the people and places for ransom until the barons were paid off. The banks of today have added a new twist: they tease your money out of you, promising to keep it safely for you or promising to lend money to you at an affordable rate so that you can make your money grow -- and then they shut down the economy, refuse to lend to your employer so that he can continue to pay you -- and grab your deposits for themselves.

The banks are the robber barons of our day. Support your local credit union or community bank. The big banks will just hold you up for ransom. Your local credit union or community bank has to answer to you and others in your community.