Great fight... but clearly there's more to come

[Alison H]

So the new proposal for how to run the country was - elect legislators, pass laws, have the supreme court verify them and then after all that ask the Tea Party if they approve - REALLY glad we defeated that

 

I happened to talk to an investment professional just after the Republicans dropped their demands yesterday... Inspired me to read the Wall St Journal and remind myself that all this just covered up their real fight which is massive cuts to existing social programs... remember when the sequester cuts were shocking and short-term?  With all this Tea Party drama most people barely remember them any more.  Many think this was a prelude to cuts to social security, medicare, schools, etc.  So more fights to come, but you knew that...

 

Robert Reich fills in the details below.

 

Alison

 

The war isn’t over. It’s only a cease-fire.

The President and the Democrats have made it clear they’ll protect Obamacare at all costs. Which means the real action between now and January 15 will be over the federal budget.

We know the parameters of the upcoming budget debate because we’ve been there before. The House already has its version — the budget Paul Ryan bequeathed to them. This includes major cuts in Medicare (turning it into a voucher) and Social Security (privatizing much of it), and substantial cuts in domestic programs ranging from education and infrastructure to help for poorer Americans. Republicans also have some bargaining leverage in the sequester, which continues to indiscriminately choke government spending.

The Senate has its own version of a budget, which, by contrast, cuts corporate welfare, reduces defense spending, and raises revenues by closing tax loopholes for the wealthy.

Here, I fear, is where the President is likely to cave.  Full article at: http://robertreich.org/post/64282449366.