The NYT confirms the news we first learned last night -- the President is going to propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Yes, the GOPers are getting from Obama what they could not get from Bush -- and it's not altogether clear what the GOPers are giving in return, if anything. Think about that:
The president’s renewed efforts follow what knowledgeable officials said was an overture from Mr. Boehner, who met secretly with Mr. Obama last weekend, to consider as much as $1 trillion in unspecified new revenues as part of an overhaul of tax laws in exchange for an agreement that made substantial spending cuts, including in such social programs as Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security — programs that had been off the table.So, the President is cutting his own deal with Boehner -- and cutting out the Hill Democrats. I'm sure the geniuses at the White House have concocted some rational for the President's latest scheme, which none of the rest of us will ever understand. But, we'll get to see if Democrats in Congress stand up for their beliefs and values -- even if Obama won't.
The intensifying negotiations between the president and the speaker have Congressional Democrats growing anxious, worried they will be asked to accept a deal that is too heavily tilted toward Republican efforts and produces too little new revenue relative to the magnitude of the cuts.
Congressional Democrats said they were caught off guard by the weekend White House visit of Mr. Boehner — a meeting the administration still refused to acknowledge on Wednesday — and Senate Democrats raised concerns at a private party luncheon on Wednesday.
House Democrats have their own fears about the negotiations, which they expressed in an hourlong meeting Wednesday night with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner.
At 11 AM, the President will be meeting with Congressional leaders (Reid, Durbin, McConnell, Kyl, Boehner, Cantor, Pelosi and Hoyer) to discuss the debt limit.
