QOTD: Dan Pfeiffer
by digby
"This chained CPI that’s being referred to here, it is something the president will only accept on two conditions," he said. "One, it’s part of a balanced package that includes asking -- closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest, and two, that it has protections for the most vulnerable, including the oldest seniors."
You'd better hope you have absolutely nothing when you are 90 or this "oldest, most vulnerable" protection won't help you.(And it will only help you by making up a small amount of what you would have lost, and only for a couple of years.) Even people who bring in as little as $1500 per month will be hit.
Also too: "closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest."
Hahahahaha. That's just so cute. Because they'll never, ever figure out how to create some new ones. Ever.
What a deal!
Update: So, now that the president has made his opening bid, the Republicans are coming back with theirs. Here's Lindsey Graham this morning:
"The president's showing a little bit of leg here. He showed some leadership," Graham said. "That puts the burden on us."
Graham said that the cuts weren't deep enough, however, and that he'd like to see "four to five trillion" in cuts over a "30-year window." He also said he wanted to see the retirement age raised, a plan he referred to as "harmonizing the age for retirement."
Why not? And if it doesn't happen in this round, we have a new starting point for future negotiations so that's good.
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