The great Charles P. Pierce
nails it, of course.
Quite honestly, the president's willingness to tinker this way with
Social Security marks his presidency in a way that nothing else ever
will. There is no economic need to do this to Social Security at all.
There is no need for the program even to come up in the discussions.
This locks Social Security forever into being defined for all political
purposes as an "entitlement," and we all know that "entitlements" need
to be reformed because everybody this president considers his primary
constituencies say they must. It sets the stage for more concessions
down the line by any Democratic president who doesn't possess the
political momentum that the current president seems hellbent on
squandering. This is that most horrible of Beltway concoctions — a deal
for a deal's sake, a demonstration for the courtier press that
Washington "works." (Chris Matthews last night said that he wanted a
cliff-avoiding deal so that "Washington" could prove it can work again.
He framed it around the events in Connecticut and gn control. These
people think ... strangely.)
If John Boehner brings home this deal, his
caucus should name him emperor. If that caucus turns him down, they all
should be placed in a locked ward for the duration of the president's
second term. Meanwhile, David Gregory just had an orgasm you could hear
on Mars.
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