Obama aiming to cut Social Security
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You need to provide a proper link to the article, what you gave is the home page of the website.
I looked up other random articles on it, and quite frankly I'm getting the impression that this was likely the only way Obama could appease the GOP. Yes, I don't really consider it right,but in general the first programs to go during cuts besides education are always the social ones, and while democrats have always been staunchly against cutting to programs like Medicaid, social, etc... I have a feeling that if he hadn't proposed the cuts the budget itself would have been DOA because Republicans in congress would have blocked it from passing. He was going to have to compromise on some front to get the budget passed, though now I wonder if it even will be passed because while it appeases the republican side I doubt it will appease the dems. Side. In all honesty, I'm just neutral about it as I don't have a strong opinion on either side though.
<p>That&;s a mix, he contends, that will provide long-term deficit reduction without harming the economy.
....</p>
<p>"It&;s a compromise I&;m willing to accept in order to move beyond a cycle of short-term, crisis-driven decision-making, and focus on growing our economy and our middle class for the long run," Obama said.
Here are a link to a few sources that explain the situation:
[Url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/05/obama-budget_n_3019281.html]Huffington Post[/url] [Url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/06/obama-touts-budget-with-balanced-approach/?iref=allsearch]CNN[/url] New York Times And in the interests of a balanced discussion: [Url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/06/obama-proposed-budget-not-my-ideal-plan/]Fox News[/url]
So essentially Obama has compromised by changing the inflation formula for social security payments in relation to cost of living, to enable him to compromise to cut tax breaks for the very wealthy? While certainly it is not ideal, there are not going to be any ideal measures to cost cutting or increased taxation.
There is no possible way to please everyone, and while it is lamentable that older populations who generally have higher medical costs will probably suffer under this new plan, modifications have to be made. Medicare and social security as it is is not financially sustainable. Reforms to the system have to be made, and universal health care is a part of that.
If Obama has to compromise with this to allow for increased taxation of the wealthy, then so be it. People cannot expect that the system can remain the same and expect the deficit to magically right itself.
To also be noted, this plan is conditional upon Republican support for reducing tax cuts for the wealthy.