Reply #24: He made deals he thought needed to get it passed without shoving it down the opposition's throat.

[Hoyt]

I agree with that. Now, we can adopt the Catfood Commission recommendation to offer a public option. Right or wrong, we can forget single payer for awhile. And even if we got it, the cost would still be high for most unsubsidized people.

But, how does all of have anything to do with SS?

BTW-- I'm close to SS and will need it, but I'm perfectly happy with discussing the options. If they raised SS benefits for the lowest group, and say tweaked Medicare a little, got jobs for millions of people, adopted the CFC recommendations of raising the wage cap, etc., I'd CONSIDER a cut. Why, because I'd still be better off in many ways (if not financially), and so would a lot of others.

And, yes, I would have appointed Simpson. I've seen the same thing done in other political organizations and corporations. Take someone is is bitching about the something like the deficit and put them on a COMMISSION. And, I think the actual recommendations of the CFC were a good place to start negotiating some plan that will improve our deficit and debt issues. So, are you opposed to considering cutting the military budget $100 Billion per year as proposed by the draft CFC report? It might ought to be 200 or $300 Billion, but let's start at $100 Billion and work upward. There are other recommendations that should, and very likely will, be considered for 2 seconds, denied, and then they'll move on to the next item.

Point is, if we work out something that makes a real dent in the debt situation and our future, yep, I'd consider a cut in SS because the country will be better off.

If the worst that you expect materializes, Obama -- or anyone else -- screws with it so the country is not better off, he'll be moving back to Chicago in 2012. But, I don't think it will happen. I do think people will keep griping no matter what happens.