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By ANTHONY DiMAGGIO
http://counterpunch.org/dimaggio07132011.html
The Obama administration is committing political suicide with its debt negotiations, and it’s not entirely clear that there should be much of a protest from the American people. Obama’s center-right attempts to “compromise” by seeking major cuts to Social Security (a program that is currently not in financial trouble, but in fact running a surplus) and Medicare (in which hundreds of billion in cuts are being sought) will inevitably harm the American middle and working classes. Obama claims that the “sacrifices” (which he will not be forced to endure) are necessary in order to come to an agreement with Republicans over deficit reduction. He is wrong. If he continues to push this agenda, we should organize around an alternative, progressive candidate for 2012.
Obama’s proposed cuts concede far too much to the Republicans. He supports ending tax loopholes for the rich and reducing the Bush tax cuts (for the wealthy) in a package that would see less than $1 trillion in total revenue savings from these sources. Compare that to the additional $3 trillion in cuts he’s seeking over ten years – much of which will come from popular social programs – and one begins to see that he really is “bending over backwards” to placate Republicans’ elitist agenda, as he complained in his recent national address. Such cuts go far beyond the compromise supported by Democrats, in which sacrifices by the masses would equal half of the total revenue increases, and the closing of tax cuts for the wealthy would include another half. Obama’s proposed cuts even go beyond those cuts pushed by Republicans, as they had not originally mentioned Social Security payment reductions as part of their demands.
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