Cuts and Guts

Mascaro/LA Times

""President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are continuing to work on a deal that would allow a debt-ceiling increase, even as both sides denied reports Thursday that an agreement was imminent.


According to a Democratic congressional aide, discussions have centered on a version of the so-called grand bargain the two leaders have sought -- minus a key element, new tax revenues, that has been rejected by Republicans. The White House told congressional Democrats about this proposal during the last 24 hours.


The deal would amount to as much as $3 trillion in spending cuts, and would likely be deeply opposed by rank-and-file Democrats who have insisted that any package that includes cutbacks in Medicare and Social Security must also include new tax revenue.


For both sides, a deal of that sort would also amount to a bet on the next election, because the tax cuts enacted under George W. Bush expire at the end of 2012.


Republicans want to renew those tax cuts, while Obama has promised to allow taxes to go up on higher-income Americans when the current rates expire.""

Many of the dipshit nanny-staters with emotional disorders Dinkocrats still don't understand the COLA mechanism. The Labor-stats boys (and politicians favoring the chained CPI) want to alter the stats used to calculate inflation, slightly, over the next few years . It's not a large amount of money-- the elderly poor might lose 40-50 bucks per quarter (not monthly IIRC). This will increase projected tax revenues, supposedly (then ..how accurate are prognostications of future inflation rates?) . The regular SS payouts per FDR's original program are still in place, but there could be possible lower COLA checks WHEN THEY GO OUT, WHICH IS RARELY (under Barrytown, none have gone out AFAIK). Got it? Read the Labor stats page for starters.