Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)
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Boehner, Speaker of the House, revealed why it's politically naive for
the President to offer up cuts in Social Security in the hope of getting
Republicans to close some tax loopholes for the rich. "If the President
believes these modest entitlement savings are needed to help shore up
these programs, there's no reason they should be held hostage for more
tax hikes,” Boehner said in a statement released Friday.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor agreed. He said
on CNBC he didn't understand "why we just don't see the White House
come forward and do the things that we agree on” such as cutting Social
Security, without additional tax increases.
Get it? The Republican leadership is already
salivating over the President's proposed Social Security cut. They've
been wanting to cut Social Security for years.
But they won't agree to close tax loopholes for the rich.
They're already characterizing the President's plan as
a way to "save” Social Security - even though the cuts would undermine
it - and they're embracing it as an act of "bi-partisanship.”
"I'm encouraged by any steps that President Obama is taking to save and preserve Social Security,” cooed
Texas Republican firebrand Ted Cruz. "I think it should be a bipartisan
priority to strengthen Social Security and Medicare to preserve the
benefits for existing seniors.”
Oh, please. Social Security hasn't contributed to the
budget deficit. And it's solvent for the next two decades. (If we want
to insure its solvency beyond that, the best fix is to lift the cap on
income subject to Social Security taxes – now $113,700.)
And the day Ted Cruz agrees to raise taxes on the wealthy or even close a tax loophole will be when Texas freezes over.
The President is scheduled to dine with a dozen Senate
Republicans Wednesday night. Among those attending will be John Boozman
of Arkansas, who has already praised Obama for "starting to throw things on the table,” like the Social Security cuts.
That's exactly the problem. The President throws things on the table before the Republicans have even sat down for dinner.
That's exactly the problem. The President throws things on the table before the Republicans have even sat down for dinner.
The President's predilection for negotiating with
himself is not new. But his willingness to do it with Social Security,
the government's most popular program - which Democrats have protected
from Republican assaults for almost eighty years - doesn't bode well.
The President desperately wants a "grand bargain” on the deficit. Republicans know he does. Watch your wallets.
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