Got an email from the DCCC tonight with the subject line "Off the table":
I need your urgent help. Republicans are gearing up enact their radical plan to balance the budget on the backs of seniors, women and people with disabilities.We've got bigger problems than Boehner. President Obama put Social Security and Medicare on the table.
At this moment, Speaker Boehner is crafting a deficit deal that would gut Medicare and Social Security, while slashing benefits for senior and the middle class in order to make sure he protects tax breaks for millionaires. This is unacceptable and House Democrats will not stand for this....
Sign our petition right now and join me in telling Republicans that Social Security and Medicare cuts are off the table. [emphasis added]
And, the DCCC needs to meet James Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House. He too said today that Social Security is on the table:
"When you say Social Security is 'on the table,' it's been on the table all the time," Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told The Huffington Post. "In the Biden talks we talked about whether we ought to do something like raising the caps. If you raise the caps it's a whole lot different than raising the retirement age."Yep. Third-ranking Dem. in the House. Hearing this kind of talk makes us very nervous.
Clyburn opened the door to means-testing, which would reduce or eliminate benefits for wealthy individuals based on income levels.
"That's the kind of stuff we ought to look at," he said. "Don't get nervous about Social Security being on the table -- that could very well be what the president is talking about, and I hope that's what the president is talking about."
This shouldn't come as a complete surprise since Clyburn is an honorary co-chair of Third Way, the corporate, conservative group that's always trying to undermine the Democratic agenda. Apparently, Clyburn's more loyal to Third Way than the Democratic agenda. Bil Daley used to be on the Board of Third Way, too. That group is gleeful that Obama put Social Security on the table -- almost as gleeful as the GOPers who couldn't achieve such cuts under Bush. Since Third Way is undermining the Democratic base, maybe the group's staff should do all the volunteer outreach, lit drops and phone-banking for the 2012 reelection campaign. Wait, they can't. They've got no constituency except for their corporate benefactors. But they've apparently got a seat at the same table the Social Security cuts are on.
Can't wait to see the DNC, DSCC and DCCC fundraising emails if Democrats actually sell out on Social Security cuts.
