The "Democratic" senators who want to cut your social security

[eridani]

Thankfully, my senators are not on the list, but they are going to get an earful tomorrow about mounting some active resistance to this scam. If your senator is on this list, s/he needs to be royally chewed out, and fast.

Senate bill S.2853 would set up a bipartisan commission to design and propose a new set of spending constraints, requiring Congress to consider the proposal on a fast track and vote it up or down, with no power to amend it, thus removing major budget and funding decisions from the normal congressional process and depriving the public of opportunity to impact the bill.

Democrats cosponsoring S 2853

Conrad, Kent - (D - ND)
530 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.conrad.senate.gov/webform.html

Bennet, Michael - (D - CO)
702 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.bennet.senate.gov/contact/

Bayh, Evan - (D - IN)
463 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.bayh.senate.gov/WebMail1.htm

Dorgan, Byron - (D - ND)
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
E-mail: senator {at} dorgan.senate.gov

Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)
331 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.Home

Klobuchar, Amy - (D - MN)
302 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]

McCaskill, Claire - (D - MO)
717 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.mccaskill.senate.gov/contact/

Nelson, Bill - (D - FL)
716 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Nelson, Ben - (D - NE)
720 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.bennelson.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Shaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH)
G 53 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.shaheen.senate.gov/contact/

Udall, Mark - (D - CO)
B 40E DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.markudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Warner, Mark - (D - VA)
B 40C DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Contact

Webb, Jim - (D - VA)
144 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.webb.senate.gov/contact/


And of cours Lieberfuck--
Lieberman, Joseph - (I - CT)
706 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: www.lieberman.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm?regarding=is

[Lasher]

1. S. 2853 will probably fail to get the required 60 votes.

But then Obama would create a similar but less powerful commission by executive order.

[karynnj]

15. I would hope that Obama vetoes it if it did get 60 votes.

[Lasher]

20. Obama would not veto it.

He's going along with it.

[laughingliberal]

2. This is ugly. They are just not going to stop until we're back to ...

starvation being the #1 cause of death for the elderly. Medicare, hell, we won't have to worry about getting sick if we can't eat.

[zbdent]

13. then "conservatives" will tell you to send money to the "religious organizations"

who will pray for the starving ...

[annabanana]

3. Isn't it unconstitutional for Congress to cede it's fiduciary responsibility

to some other decision making body?

[eridani]

4. It would be a congressional panel

The public would have no input, though.

[MadHound]

5. You know, I clicked on this thread, hoping not to see my Senator,

But then there she was, big as life. Fuck McCaskill, she will have a lot to answer for come 2012.

[eridani]

6. Start rattling her chain, now. n/t

[ima_sinnic]

7. Jim Webb?

He's done some things right (esp. dissing GWB more than once, and introducing legislation to prevent use of funds for military operations against Iran without Congressional approval)--and I believe I contributed $$ when he ran against Allen a few years ago--but this is bone-headed.

[eridani]

8. That was a huge surprise to me also, especially--

--since he has worked hard in raising questions that need to be asked about the prison industrial complex. Those of you who are his constituents might remind him that this would save a hell of a lot more money than impoverishing senior.

[karynnj]

14. I saw the topic and immediately figured Webb would be there and that people would express shock

I am continually amazed that people, who attack Senators far to his left, think of him as "progressive" and "for the working people". He did speak against going into Iraq before the war, but he was a Reagan Secretary of the Navy and he still thinks Vietnam was winnable. He has done some good things - his veteran's bill and the prison legislation he introduced, but there are MANY times when he is not a dependable vote.

VA is not a progressive state and he might have been the only one who could have beaten Allen.

[eridani]

53. I still think that pointing out the cost of the prison-industrial complex to to him--

--might well be a reasonable strategy for changing his mind on Social Security.

[Bluenorthwest]

43. He's a homophobic sexist pig who had a good moment or

two, but he's an old Reagan loving, right winger in my book. And now, he's back on the 'Really a Republican List' because he is.

[blindpig]

9. There is but one party...

the capitalist party.

They will piss and moan about there being no money, with the Pentagon budget right in front of their faces.

[GoCubsGo]

10. Ah, the usual suspects

Granted, I am a tad surprised a bout Klobuchar and Udall.

[closeupready]

11. WTF is Dianne Feinstein on this list??? What is her problem with social security?

Why does she keep getting sent back to the Senate, CA?

[DisgustedInMN]

12. Thanks for the heads up.

Just send a blistering email off to Senator Amy Klobuchar and will call her office this morning.

GODDAMN DINOs.

[BlueJac]

16. none of this crap surprises me at all!

They can't sell out the American people fast enough!!!

[TexasObserver]

17. Recommend

[peekaloo]

18. The Nelson "brothers"...no surprise.

:eyes:

[clear eye]

19. Very odd that Dorgan's on this list. Was he forced to retire?

It seems completely inconsistent that a guy who has so much compassion for the struggling elderly that he went out on a limb to support pharmaceutical reimportation, would sponsor the shrinking of Social Security. At a time of a devaluing dollar, it's so wrong to further decrease a fixed income that people paid for all their working lives. It's so out of character that I'm forced to consider if some sort of blackmail isn't involved that forced him both to step down and to promote this inhumane legislation.

[eridani]

54. I was surprised at that as well

He has been a real soldier in the fight against outsourcing and "free" trade.

[tango-tee]

58. Same here!

It was one of these :wtf: moments.

[Lasher]

21. OK, I just contacted the offices of Senators Byrd & Rockefeller.

Neither is on the list but I wanted to encourage them to cast nay votes. Couldn't get through to Jay's office due to heavy calling volume, so I sent an email.

[KamaAina]

22. Klobuchar and Shaheen?

And no Landrieu or Lincoln? :shrug:

Otherwise, the ususal DINO roster. :eyes:

[geardaddy]

42. Absolutely Klobuchar

She's a blue mutt.

edited to add :puke:

[dflprincess]

64. She stays on the downlow with that

knowing that it wouldn't go over real well with the activists in the DFL - though more people are starting to wake up to what a mistake she was.

[Jackpine Radical]

23. Add the 14 on that roster of infamy to 40 Republicans, and...

And you can bet that the remaining Dems will do nothing to stop it.

[DelPotro]

24. Thanks for your diligence

K&R

[MISSDem]

25. What does this mean? Will there be means testing?

I think that there should be. It is ridiculous for wealthy people to be drawing social security and be on medicare.

[eridani]

55. No, it is not. They pay taxes on that income.

Means test it and social security becomes "welfare" for disposable human garbage instead of something that you have a right to because you paid into it.

[jpak]

26. Link! Link! Give us a link to the Social Security cutting! We wanna see it!!11

becasue we think that this is a fib

:evilgrin:

[blues90]

28. here is one link I found of the full text.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-2853

also a PDF that is 31 pages long here

http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/documents/2009/FiscalTaskForceLegLang.pdf

[MISSDem]

31. I don't see that they have decided to cut SS but that

they are looking into the shortfall and what to do about it. And well they should do that.

[blues90]

38. I know , I read the entire bill and did not see specifics on cutting

SS . Not that I fully understand what this bill really means.

[eridani]

56. Bullshit. It is about unquestioning support of the military indusctial complex--

--at the expense of seniors.

[jpak]

32. THIS IS BULLSHIT - ALL THIS BILL DOES IS ESTABLISH A FUCKING TASK FORCE

ALL CAPS AND SHIT...

This is the only place where SS is mentioned - THE BILL SAYS NOTHING ABOUT CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY

<snip>

Task Force shall have authority to access assistance, materials, resources, statistical data, and other information the Task Force determines to be necessary to carry out its duties directly from an officer or employee of any executive department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality of the Government, including the Library of Congress, the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Congressional Budget Office, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Management and Budget, the Government Accountability Office, and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Each agency or instrumentality shall, to the extent permitted by law, furnish such information to the Task Force upon written request of the Co-Chairs.

<snip>

FUCKING ANTI-DEMOCRATIC PARTY FUCKING BULLSHIT

:thumbsdown:

:puke:

[jpak]

33. kicking to expose the bullshit

n/t

[blues90]

44. I have seen this topic crop up a few times here .

I read the entire bill , not that I fully understand it by a long shot.

I checked a bit further and found this.

http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2010/01/callinday-to-oppose-the-conradgregg-commission.html

I get the impression this is some sort of back door way of getting at SS. If there is any actual truth to it I cannot say.

[jpak]

46. you've been had

n/t

[blues90]

47. Like I said , I read the bill and don't find anything pointing at SS cuts

Others have posted on this too. My only issue is I have a very difficult time trusting politicians.

I do feel if they try to do any cuts to SS then who ever tried it would bring on quite a lot of outrage. Lots of people depend on SS for many reasons.

[nightrain]

45. another link for information--related to indep Medicare oversight board

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/blog/09/07/17/IMACUBend/


It's no joke.

[dajoki]

27. Don't forget...

this was the first year in history when there was no COLA for SS recipients.

[MISSDem]

29. The cost of living did not increase.

[Forkboy]

30. LOL

Good one.

[MISSDem]

34. At the time, that was the official word: no cost of living

increase because the cost of living had not increased. I was not joking. And besides the SS recipients had already gotten a 4 or 5% increase earlier. I didn 't get a raise at all last year; actually we got a 5% cut in pay. Every one should pull their own weight.

[Forkboy]

35. Yeah, I know the official word.

What to believe, a government letter or my grocery bill?

[MISSDem]

36. I haven't noticed my grocery bill being higher this year and

gas for the car is much cheaper. I along with everyone else I know have been cutting back, so why can't the SS beneficiaries do the same? The country is having a "cash flow problem" and we all should try to help. Why always demand "what is owned you"?

[Forkboy]

41. You sound like Reagan.

Tell me, how much do you make a month and how much would 5% less hurt you? I get $704/month and don't eat for the last couple days of each one. My grocery bill is almost 60% higher than it was last January. Save the shit for those dumb enough to take it. If I wanted to hear Reagan talking points I wouldn't be on DU.

[MISSDem]

50. I see that you still have internet access. If I was going without food

I believe that I would forgo the internet and spend that on groceries. I'll bet you have a cell phone too. Would you rather the politicians not try and rein in the SS costs or continue the way we are until there is no Social Security at all? And by the way, it is not for you to decide if a 5% cut in pay will hurt me or not.

[dajoki]

61. You sound like the Heritage Foundation...

if you have a TV you can't be poor. Right wing whackos!!

[Forkboy]

63. Fucking right out of their playbook.

[Forkboy]

62. The internet is included in my rent.

My cell phone is free from Safelink.com, which they give to people who can't afford one (I'm betting YOU can, though). It has 80 minutes per month on it.

Next Reagan like talking point? Oh wait, here it is in your next line...

Would you rather the politicians not try and rein in the SS costs or continue the way we are until there is no Social Security at all?

RW talking point #371, SS is in danger and we must rein it in. We're only doing it because we care.

And by the way, it is not for you to decide if a 5% cut in pay will hurt me or not.

That's not stopping you from deciding that a 5% cut wouldn't hurt me. Hypocrite.

[SammyWinstonJack]

51. Everyone should pull their own weight? How very republican of you.

:eyes: Too bad the Wall Street Banksters won't/aren't made to pull their own weight. You okay with that, too, or just SS recipients?

[MISSDem]

52. So you don't agree that everyone should pull their own weight?

Then who decides who pulls and who rides? And don't give me that "sounds like Reagan" stuff. I've been a Democrat all of my life.

[Bluenorthwest]

37. Except this week they declared that in 09 inflation was mild

at 2.7%, which is certainly not 'no increase' now is it? The figures they use are lies.

[anonymous171]

39. Yet another reason to hate Feinstein.

[Bluenorthwest]

40. DINOS from ConservaStates that probably adore their

elected semi Dems.

[NorthCarolina]

48. Can you identify the commonality among all these Senators?

If you look hard enough, it should be possible to figure it out....good luck!

_____________________________________________________________________________


Conrad, Kent - (D - ND) DLC

Bennet, Michael - (D - CO) DLC

Bayh, Evan - (D - IN) DLC

Dorgan, Byron - (D - ND) DLC

Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA) DLC

Klobuchar, Amy - (D - MN) DLC

McCaskill, Claire - (D - MO) Blue Dog, effectively DLC

Nelson, Bill - (D - FL) DLC

Shaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH) DLC

Udall, Mark - (D - CO) DLC New Dem of the week, April 13, 2006

Lieberman, Joseph - (I - CT) DLC Chair for 6 years in the 90s

Webb, Jim - (D - VA) DLC New Dem of the week, May 7, 2008

Warner, Mark - (D - VA) DLC

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Peas in a pod......

[blues90]

49. I checked Feinsteins web site and found this. Seems like calling

would not help unless it was a mass amount of calls . They seem to have their minds made up. I just hope it get voted down. They make it all sound like they are helping but I can't say I trust that.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, January 16, 2009

Senators Feinstein and Cornyn Introduce Legislation to Address Looming Shortfalls in Social Security & Medicare


-Legislation would establish permanent, bipartisan Entitlement Commission-


Washington – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) today introduced legislation that would create a permanent, bipartisan entitlement commission to guarantee the long-term financial stability of Social Security and Medicare.

“Social Security and Medicare today account for roughly half of all federal spending. Within a decade they will grow to more than 60 percent. If this continues, these vital programs will become an unsustainable burden on our economy and the American people,” Senator Feinstein said.

“This is the third rail of American politics. Past Congresses and Presidents have failed to take the steps needed to ensure the long-term health of Social Security and Medicare. There is time, but we must take steps now: Social Security will start running out of money in 2041, and Medicare will start to run out of cash by 2019. This legislation will offer a practical way forward.”

“At a time when the federal government is spending unprecedented amounts of taxpayer dollars and the federal deficit is at record levels, addressing out of control entitlement spending has never been more important,” Senator Cornyn said.

“Millions of Americans depend on Social Security and Medicare, and we must work together in a bipartisan fashion to reform these critical programs and help ensure their long-term financial stability. Continued inaction is irresponsible and only passes the burden on to our children and grandchildren. These programs can no longer be left unchecked, and creating a commission to oversee our entitlement spending is a crucial step in working to save Social Security and Medicare.”

Background:

Social Security is projected by its trustees to start running out of money by 2041.
Medicare is projected by its trustees to be exhausted by 2019.

The Social Security funding shortfall has ballooned to roughly $4.3 trillion, while the Medicare shortfall needs $8.7 trillion to remain solvent. A combination of a 122 percent increase in payroll taxes and a 51 percent reduction in program outlays will be needed for the Medicare program to balance its budget.

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office announced that the fiscal year 2009 budget deficit is expected to be an unprecedented $1.2 trillion. Among other increases, entitlement programs are expected to grow by at least 8 percent this year.

Summary of the Social Security and Medicare Solvency Commission Act of 2009:

The legislation would create a permanent, bipartisan Entitlement Commission consisting of 15 members selected for their financial expertise.

Of these members, seven would be selected from the majority party, seven from the minority party and one from an independent, non-affiliated party;

The Entitlement Commission would make recommendations only when two-thirds of its members are in agreement;

Would require Congress to vote on Commission recommendatwould be required to act quickly on Commission recommendations -- acted on quickly— Congress must vote within 120 days of receiving commission reports.

###

[Sebastian Doyle]

57. All the usual false "Democratic" suspects, I see

Fuck these cowards. Useless corporatist swine.

[eridani]

59. Take this you your local Dem party organizations. Mine just passed a resolution against this

Resolution to Defend Social Security Against Possible Future Attacks on This Essential Program

WHEREAS Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson has recently hooked up with the Washington Post, which has agreed to host his “news Network” intended to “jointly produce content focusing on the budget and fiscal issues,” which amounts to writing editorials and attempting to pass them off as news; and

WHEREAS in his first “news” dispatch Peterson has proposed that Congress create a special commission of eighteen senators and representatives empowered to make the “tough” budget decisions politicians do not want to make about slashing Social Security benefits, raising payroll taxes or both; and

WHEREAS Obama's budget director Peter Orszag once co-authored a “reform” plan that would raise the payroll tax on young workers and cut benefits for older people near retirement; and

WHEREAS Senate bill S.2853 would set up a bipartisan commission to design and propose a new set of spending constraints, requiring Congress to consider the proposal on a fast track and vote it up or down, with no power to amend it, thus removing major budget and funding decisions from the normal congressional process and depriving the public of opportunity to impact the bill; and

WHEREAS it has been rumored (so far without substantiation) that Senator Reid and Representative Pelosi are prepared to go along with this ploy;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 11th LD Democrats demand that Senator Reid and Representative Pelosi publicly clarify their positions on this issue; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we demand that President Obama and our Washington State Democratic delegation take a public stand against this proposed unelected “commission”; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we reinstate taxes on the wealthy and institute taxes on short term financial transactions in order to deal with our budget shortfall; and

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that since all Democrats, even the most conservative Blue Dogs, remained united in their defense of Social Security against the Bush administration in 2005, all Democrats should maintain that unity against a similar potential attack under a Democratic administration now and in the future.

Submitted to the 11th Legislative District Democrats for endorsement at its meeting of January 19, 2010.

Disposition: Passed unanimously

Reference
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100111/greider

[inna]

60. this is just evil.

looks like they're going to get 60 votes, since this is is a republican wet dream, and all pukes will vote for this, in addition to DINOs listed in the OP.

disgusting, beyond disgusting.