Take it with a grain of salt because it's the Politico, but don't fully discount it just because it's the Politico - there is a real story here...or at least there might be at some point soon:
Left silent on Social Security, Medicare
By: Ben Smith
February 10, 2009 04:46 AM EST
President Barack Obama plans a busy February. The new administration hopes to have a stimulus package passed by Congress, a new plan in place to shore up ailing banks and, by month's end, to hold a "fiscal responsibility" summit.
If the stimulus and banking bailout weren't controversial enough, the summit fills some entitlement reform critics with dread, as they fear it could speed calls for cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Strikingly, however, Obama appears to be getting unusual room to maneuver on entitlements by most of his liberal allies. On the subject of entitlement reform, in fact, Obama's honeymoon continues - at least in the unlikely precincts of the Democratic left, a counterintuitive development that has buoyed the spirits of reformers who would like to see drastic changes in the way Social Security works.
A few weeks ago, Obama seemed to suggest that he wants to focus deficit reduction efforts solely on Social Security and Medicare, but he didn't explain what he actually meant by that. At the time, I said it while it could be cause for concern, it's entirely possible Obama defines "reform" as, say, lifting the regressive payroll tax cap so that wealthy folks pay more Social Security taxes. And the Politico makes this point as well:
Despite Obama's rhetorical suggestions that he's open to Social Security and Medicare cuts to prevent a crisis, he has long opposed anything like the Bush plan.
Instead, during the campaign, Obama suggested the relatively modest step of increasing Social Security's revenues by raising the cap on Social Security taxes, which would make the income tax system more progressive and bring more money into the program.
At other times, he's also adopted the liberals' central talking point: that Social Security needs just minor tweaks and that Medicare's problems are bound up in the broader woes of the American health care system.
I think this is a potentially dangerous situation in that conservatives may be looking to seduce Obama into an innocuous sounding "summit" or "blue-ribbon commission" - one that tries to lull the country into thinking that entitlement cuts are the only way to go. We know that's the right's objective, of course - but we also know Obama has made concrete pledges about protecting Social Security and Medicare.
So while it's probably not a great idea for the left to simply sit back and trust that Washington will do the right thing, it's also entirely possible that Obama will use his bully pulpit to redefine entitlement "reform" as making the payroll tax more fair and passing universal health care. If that happens, it would be fantastic.
For each DVD you purchase, Brave New Films will donate $5 to OpenLeft.com to support our various projects. Please click on the buttons above to make a purchase.
SEIU will donate $1 to OpenLeft for each individual who signs up for their campaign to pass health care for all Americans. Sign up here.
