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John Boehner, Barack Obama and Harry Reid
Despite winning re-election on not cutting Social Security and Medicare and pushing back on plans for austerity President Obama still apparently wants those cuts.
President Barack Obama said he wants to reach a “big deal” on the budget that will cut the nation’s deficit without slashing spending on education and research that is needed to ensure future growth.
Obama said negotiations with congressional Republicans over avoiding the $1.2 trillion in automatic, across-the-board spending reductions set to begin March 1 shouldn’t push aside the effort for a broader plan to cut government debt.
“I am prepared, eager and anxious to do a big deal, a big package that ends this governance by crisis,” Obama said at the annual House Democratic retreat at Lansdowne Resort in Virginia, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Washington.
The eagerness for this “big deal” is puzzling given the lack of an actual debt crisis. Many now understand the focus on the debt is essentially a misdirection strategy from other issues, the Republicans are running out the clock on the Obama presidency.
But what actually happens if Congress embraces austerity? Paul Krugman writes.
Start with a basic point: Slashing government spending destroys jobs and causes the economy to shrink.
This really isn’t a debatable proposition at this point. The contractionary effects of fiscal austerity have been demonstrated by study after study and overwhelmingly confirmed by recent experience — for example, by the severe and continuing slump in Ireland, which was for a while touted as a shining example of responsible policy, or by the way the Cameron government’s turn to austerity derailed recovery in Britain…
But aren’t we facing a fiscal crisis? No, not at all. The federal government can borrow more cheaply than at almost any point in history, and medium-term forecasts, like the 10-year projections released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office, are distinctly not alarming. Yes, there’s a long-term fiscal problem, but it’s not urgent that we resolve that long-term problem right now. The alleged fiscal crisis exists only in the minds of Beltway insiders.
Despite an electoral mandate and compelling evidence to the contrary, President Obama seems determined to push for austerity. Why remains unclear.
Photo by White House under Public Domain
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“Despite an electoral mandate and compelling evidence to the contrary, President Obama seems determined to push for austerity. Why remains unclear”.
Uh, because that’s what his real constituency has ordered him to do. And they will pay him well for doing as he is told.
I think it’s worse, it smacks of legacy shopping which leads every president down the road of idiocy.
legacy yes but it still pays well to do the bidding of his corp. puppet masters.
Veni, vedi, cassi.
Idiocy, indeed.
Seems like the goal is to demoralize the public so severely that they give up voting. If Obama is the best we can do, what’s the point. When is his next ‘inspirational speech.’
There would be no mystery surrounding the rationale between what our corrupt “leaders” in D.C. do if we simply replaced terms like “President, Secretary, Senator,” etc with the more accurate “Servant of Goldman Sachs et al.”
Ah yes. Are we all awake today?
The MSM is trying to isolate Krugman by not including other economists in the discussion. As if he stands alone. So, it’s Krugman against The Prez. Where are the Republican economists who’ll defend austerity? Trot them horses out, please. This is just another example of Washington’s false equivalency. Put Krugman and The Prez on TeeVee and let’s have a debate with charts and graphs. Also, a polygragh machine for the MSM moderators.
But to eviserate Social Security and Medicare, the crown jewels of the Democratic Party, is a villainous legacy indeed.
yes, i agree, medicinecat; the banksters haven’t gotten the socsec funds yet — george calin nailed it 6 or more years ago: “they’re coming for your social security next.”
the dismembering of the USPS –the last great u.s. community service that is a visible benefit to citizens– has continued during o’s first term and is now being implemented.
“shock doctrine, phase 2″ is underway with a vengence.
Yes, and he seems to get a sort of sadistic enjoyment everytime he kicks the base of the Dem Party in the balls.
the corporate power structure will rule thru domination of the demacratic party while waiting for the republicans to return to popularity. obama is bought and paid for-doing what he is happy to do. the washington post is consistant in printing propaganda on behalf of consrvative,corporate, neocon objectives. got to love the idiot writers on this site who repeadly write how they wonder if this is some mistake or on purpose. when something happens over and over it is not a mistake.
The folks that give him the support he as a politician and future marketable ex President values most, $$, support austerity. Thus, Obama supports austerity.
As Jon Stewart said yesterday, he’s done everything but take out a billboard.
DSW, you write:
I and the other commenters here are in agreement on the “why.”
The goal is to break the middle class and make the poverty class larger. There was the opportunity to fix things for the better when o was elected, but the signal went out when he chose rahmbo as his cos. Again I say, this is a victory for the lote voters. Many of these voters, even here, say “now I’m through with him>.” What good does that do now? Weren’t they paying attention over the last pres term?
Despite an electoral mandate and compelling evidence to the contrary, President Obama seems determined to push for austerity. Why remains unclear.
Why? Because that is what he has intended to do all along. Obama is doing what the people who selected him for president wants him to do, he just needed our votes to do it. WS knew that an attack on the social safetynets from a republican would be met with fierce resistance by progressives, so they found someone to pretend he was a progressive to do their dirty work for them.
juliania, he has taken out a billboard. Every time he speaks and is shown on TV or radio or newspapers is the biggest billboard possible.
Exactly!
Krugman is wrong. Period. End. There is no long term debt problem. There can never be since we are the soverign issuer of the currency. When in heavens name will we learn that.We.can.never.become.insolvent.
He is absolutely right about what happens when we enact spending cuts at this time. We will likley have another recession.
Love how he keeps reminding and rubbing that in. (not)
Obama is a fool. I find myself almost wishing he gets what he wants so his legacy is shit. No I man SHIT.
If you are so perplexed as to why obama wants a grand bargain … aka cuts to ss and and/or medicare … recall all the wonderful things that the big corporate lapdog bill clinton helped do for our rulers … nafta, repeal of glass-steagall, welfare “reform”, grow our burgeoning police state and prison population, allowe the mega-media mergers that have led to our wonderfully consolidated media that is primarily owned by just a few crooked hands, etc., etc., etc. … and take a look at the post-presidency wealth that came his way and ask yourself why the current lowlife scumbag who infests our oval office appeases the same power structure as the dem-hero billy boy did.
No one in our government wants to cut ss as much as the current head pr man for the establishment … no one has worked harder at it, no one has been diligent or is more resolute about it … becoz no one will benefit as much as scumbag obama will, who incidentally already has something like $12M in total wealth and the ability to make plenty more no matter how well he serves our rulers.
Z
“got to love the idiot writers on this site who repeatedly write how they wonder if this is some mistake or on purpose. when something happens over and over it is not a mistake”
B I N G O! They are not all like that of course, but this one is more than willing to drink the common dc “wisdom” koolaid. Sure, obama is all concerned about some ethereal concept such as legacy and that’s why he is defying the vast majority of the population’s wishes. Oh, Lord!
Z
“But to eviserate Social Security and Medicare, the crown jewels of the Democratic Party, is a villainous legacy indeed.”
Especially when you’ve done all that obama has to restore our rulers’ wealth by forcing public to bail out the bank and hence the markets.
Z
All good comments here but remember everyone this isn’t a conspiracy of evil genius’ it is the result of unfettered greed and mentally infirm uber wealthy people solving their short term needs with no real long term plan. Soon it will fail and we need to be ready to step in. Obama is just a tool as is almost all the beltway boobus americanus.
Which begs the question, will HE thrice refuse the crown?
This and the Geithner story above have grabbed MY attention.
Bingo Bob.
He has dissappointed me more than Bush.
I didn’t expect anything but damage from Bush and that’s exactly what he delivered. Oh how our “hope and change” has devolved into disallusionment and dismay.
Let’s call a spade a spade (the bridge metaphor).
Obama is afraid that the other side is going to say that anything progressive he does is “typical ni***r”.
Look at his pot policies.
He is legacy shopping; he wants to be the first black prez, but is afraid that the racists are going to use anything progressive as “see, we told you they can’t be trusted”.
‘Got news for ya Berry…they are doin’ it anyway, and you are wasting your legacy trying to appease people that will NEVER give you any credit. Why not be brave and let history prove YOU right instead of them.
Being right is much more powerful than appeasing the other side.
Translation: “I want to show the public once again that the GOP does not want to end governance by crisis.”
If the sequester is invoked, he has much more than the fabled $4 trillion in deficit reductions.
Meanwhile, there is a raise Social Security benefits movement gaining steam (thanks Atrios).
Settle back. Get your popcorn. Or your wine. And enjoy the kabuki. And the drinking game.
He’s a usurper.
Well,they were listening to progressives like VanJones,NormanSolomon &THom Harthman who were telling’em to “vote for Obama & hold him accountable”.
Remember that ? hold him accountable after he won re-election to his 2nd & final term…..
Exactly, proud to have “wasted” my vote on Stein.
Oh, what a bunch of psycho-babble obama apologist bullshit. First of all, about him wanting to be the first black president, I don’t think that the republicans can take that away from him no matter how hard they try … I think he’s already got that one clinched and doesn’t have to act like a black george bush to be recognized as our first black president, his pigment carries the day on that one.
Next, in regards to ss, I don’t think the vast majority of the public … even the kkk enthusiasts …. think of ss as being some “ni**er” program. He doesn’t have to do ss cuts in order to defend his pigmentation for God’s sake.
Also, he put himself pretty far out there to pass a healthcare bill that is anything but socialist, but could easily be portrayed by the right as being such and it didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest as long as he served the interests of his corporate sponsors.
And lastly as far as kissing our rulers’ asses in some sort of attempt to leave the door open for another establishment-servient black president, he doesn’t appear to be the slightest bit concerned over the plight of black americans, whose support he has largely taken for granted … again, look at his pot policies. Blacks have been damaged by his policies probably more than any other group, except Mexican-Americans.
Z
No. There are many, many ways to create a legacy. Why choose the way that makes many people of both parties hate you?
This is something Obama planned on doing before he won in 2008.
The people who voted for him twice don’t get to have it both ways. They just don’t.
I keep telling you: the man is a flaming neocon.
Obama wasn’t the best we could do. Dr. Jill Stein was.
That’s why a vote for a trojan horse like Obama is a vote for the greater evil, not the lesser.
Obama has made clear what he wants for his legacy. He wants to be a transformative President like Reagan, and points with praise to the 1983 “bipartisan” deal to cut SS benefits by 19%. Other aspects of his legacy to which he seems completely committed include the transition from the rule of law to the rule of the secret ruler, and the continuing upward transfer of wealth and income.
The only question is whether this legacy will be viewed by future generations as good or bad. That will depend on who writes the history books.
I think Stewart is as smart and funny as it gets, but it’s a little late for him to take a stand against Obama, isn’t it?
Fool? He gets whatever he wants. How is that foolish?
Evil, maybe, but not foolish.
So, Obama is in discussions with a serial killer. The serial killer wants to kill 20 people, and the public, of course, wants him to kill zero.
Obama says, “We can compromise on this. You can kill 10.”
Obama’s own mother remarked that she despaired he would ever develop a social conscience. I personally don’t think he has a conscience at all.
What is this “other side” of which you speak?
“The eagerness for this “big deal” is puzzling”
As others have noted, can you spell l-e-g-a-c-y. To which I answer schmegacy. If there isn’t a crisis in the making on which to work your legacy magic, well just pretend there is. That’ll get you up into the Lincoln, or FDR territory.
Sorry, but O already had his chance to use his position to really something to turn the economy around, and he didn’t. But perhaps he feels that if Bob Rubin and a bunch of Wall Street surrogates write enough books saying he did, well maybe history will be kind.
If O really wanted to find a solution to governing by crisis wrt the budget, all he needs to do is look at what Jerry Brown has done in California…raise taxes on the rich. Sooooo simple.
(No, I don’t like that Brown made a bazillion cuts, too. I’m just sayin’)
The only hope is that Democrats in Congress who want to be re-elected stop him.
However, he did his damage the minute he said publicly that entitlements had to be cut. No one can unring that bell.
Every President, nay, every politician and media whore from now on can say, “Everybody, Democrat and Republican, knows that the cuts are necessary, but politicians just don’t have what it takes to do the right thing for the county.”
My point exactly.
And: “apologist”.
Thought I was doing exactly the opposite.
Well,marym in IL,we know who are the ones writing the draft of his legacy now….Just take a look at who controls the 6 major news agencies…..
About, 1yr into Obama’s Presidency,Rachel Maddow(another so called Progressives) who works for 1 of the major news outlet was already proclaiming Obama,one of the best American presidents.
So there,the die is cast…
Note,Folks who represent Corporations like Maddow & Sharpton etc,etc who are called progressives,are not progressives.You can’t advocate for corporations and then on the same hand claim to be progressive.However,these people are able to get away being paid by Corporations and then be accepted as stalwart progressives.
Why so many exotic explanations for Obama’s behavior that involve legacy, race, his childhood, etc?
Why not just choose the simplest and most realistic: That Obama does what he is told to do by very wealthy, powerful people because they have promised him a reward?
I just wonder how much history will be allowed to be written in the future that will not come from scrubbed documents. I keep seeing Winston Smith working feverishly to rewrite the public documents every time there is a change.
Some of the other commenters agree with me that once back in office, o was now unencumbered with “accountability” to the voters. Voting for Jill Stein was my feeble protest against this lawless wh admin. There are many, some here under the umbrella of FDL, who feel that if o does it, it’s OK, but if a repug does the same, it’s a crime against humanity. Those who defended o over the last four years and continue to do so, especially voting for the lote, are willfully blind.
Bingo!
My parents always said that it really didn’t matter who got in, they all wound up doing exactly the same thing for various reasons . Not the least of which was the prez really isn’t the one who makes the decisions on the major issues.
Both were ex-FBI and my mother at one time listened into about 20% of J.Edgar Hoovers personal phone calls (to have a witness that he really didn’t “blackmail” whomever).
There is no question he will be rewarded big time once he leaves office & have screwed ordinary Americans.
Just like how BClinton was rewarded and still is being compensated.When Clinton left the WH he couldn’t even afford the down- payment on a home in Westchester County,NY..
A yr after BClinton had about 50 million in assets.the last figures I saw put his wealthy at about 170 million….Those trade deals & Glass-Stegall repeal could make a body flush with wealth.
And/or: this is the way it is anymore.
Does it matter who the figurehead is? I don’t think any of these bozos that we can SEE has much of a say… maybe a little bit.
It seems to me that KKKarl Rove’s vote rigging got rigged itself to put O in office. Bc O is putatively “liberal” or a “Democrat,” the masses are having a few crumbs ‘n bones tossed at us… mainly to keep us shut up. Not to belittle LGBT rights & the right to marry, but anymore, I’m just thinking that the 1% had calculated how long to “hold out” on that Civil Right, whilst ginning up the TeaBags agin it (and pandering to them). Now that the “SocialistNazi” O is in “power,” why toss out LGBT Civil rights. And then continue the rapine, pillaging, tax rip-offs, blah blah blah…
I’m not sure that it matters one iota who the 99% votes for. The PTB behind closed doors duke it out in private, and then we see what we see.
Why waste time (other than for shits ‘n grins) speculating about O’s “reasons.” O is a figurehead. The end. As far as gutting Soc Sec & Medicare are concerned, that is one of the FEW Things that O has been qutie *consistent* & most *transparent* about. O has ALWAYS promised to cut Soc Sec. ALWAYS. Since he first got in office in 2009. This is NO surprise. This is what he’s *promised.* IF anyone voted for O to “save” Soc Sec, then you were simply NOT paying attention. This is NOT bait & switch. FYI.
Vilifying Obama or Bush is what the .1%ers want us to do. OWS started the American Spring and as austerity is rolled out (by whomever the 1% assign that duty to) the 99% will revolt (peacefully I hope) and substantive change will occur.
As a kid I had a hobby of watching the “history” of WWII evolve. In my observations, less self gratifying information shows through from time to time, but the “official” narrative tends to reassert itself in the end.
Yeah I voted for Dr Stein… I knew it was pretty useless, but as a protest vote… whatever. I don’t think it matters, really.
Anyway, my “take” is that KKKarl Rove got pwned by some sort of Palace Intrigue amongst the 1%. I think KKKarl truly thought he had rigged & gamed the system enough to have lock on RMoney winning. THAT, to me, was the most interesting aspect of the last election. KKKarl was truly surprised that his dirty tricks & pay-offs didn’t pan out.
Was it the same MasterMinds who effected the ouster of Gen Petraeus, and who are now *inflicting* Brennan upon us?? Make no mistake, Brennan will be affirmed. He is the Cleaner after Gen Betrayus.
Some say the Occupy Movement – at least segments of it – have been infiltrated and made useless and turned into False Flag operations. Most likely. Some segments of it are doing good, such as after SuperStorm Sandy.
Just saying… can’t trust much these days.
Exactly. A distraction. At the end of the day, there’s little difference.
I probably meant not “who writes the history” but who survives the end of the empire, and goes on to build whatever comes next. But even if that’s the 99%, we’re losing our history and heritage every day. It was one of the most moving aspects of Occupy that one of the first things the Occupiers did in many locations was build a library.
I voted for Jill Stein too.
Tomlins Law again. Can’t blame you; that is how I look at the PTB but not how I look at Humans ( Hurricane Sandy response is a good example).
I have seen a lot of suspicion lately that Anonymous’s supposed latest big thing is actually a counterintel operation. They are wide open to this kind of thing since anyone can claim to be Annon.
Yes
Oh yes he does! And his legion of flaks are out selling cuts as a “liberal alternative” (to similar republican plans), some of them in blog posts right here on FDL. Imagine that.
Was that bit about his mom in one of his books?
> The only hope is that Democrats in Congress
> who want to be re-elected stop him.
What’s to prevent the Dems from shouting “Asshole! Asshole!” at him over and over at any of these meetings with The High Lord Global Executioner until he turns tail and runs home to talk to Ronnie’s official portrait and have a good think about matters? What’s preventing them from kicking his lame neoliberal conman ass out of the party? Of turning themselves into an opposition party from the left? Of giving him all the marching orders?
Exactly nothing.
If more of us had voted for Dr. Stein it would have helped push them in that direction. Lost opportunity.
Lion of progressivism, Alan kabuki monster Grayson will be calling in very sick the day the chained CPI vote takes place. Meeow Alan. Meeow.
I think we may still have some time for course correction.
I think that one of the above posters said it best though. We need to focus on Congress at this point too. We need to make it absolutely clear to the Democratic Party that anyone who votes for cuts from our side will lose their seat. It does not matter who they have running against them(and if they don’t have a primary we’ll LET THEM LOSE to the GOP), that the Democratic base will pursue the nuclear option if any cuts are made.
This is the one time that the fact we didn’t get filibuster reform works to our advantage so we should positively make this work on our behalf.
Good God, Obama doesn’t car about anything. Neither do democrats. Did we not just witness a mass murdering psychopath loved by Obama get loving approval from fellow democrats yesterday? Theft of everything is the goal of both Ds and Rs alike. There is no lesser evil. Theft and now murder of the lessers is good to go.
Could you clear up your comment for me, please? I’m not sure of your reference point nor am I sure the posters to whom you are referring.
Well, Obama wants to create a legacy and he sees cuts to SocSec and Medicare as his hommage to St. Ronnie.
Plus, he can destroy the Democratic Party and its brand.
He really wants a totally Republican Congress to enact his Republican Corporatist agenda.