Ha ha! Just kidding. Here’s the transcript of his remarks today:
Obama: Well this is not just a matter of Social Security checks, these are veterans checks, these are folks on disability, their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out —
Scott Pelley: Can you guarantee as President those checks will go out on August the 3rd?
Obama: I can not guarantee those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.
Obama’s no fool. He knows to get this deal done he has to threaten people with no money to protect those who have it.
The Kabuki dance continues into the night. Obama and Boehner are tired, as acting is a grueling profession. They are leaning into each other, barely able to shuffle their feet in make-beleive dance, whispering to one another, uncertain as to who gets to be on top tonight.
Piece of Mindful 
He’s lying, of course. And Pelly is little more than a Democrat stooge for not asking the follow-up question. Additional borrowing from the Chinese has nothing to do with Social Security revenue streams. Nobody believes that federal payouts immediately drop to zero if the debt ceilng isn’t raised. If Social Security checks don’t go out, Obama will be held responsible for showing he, and he alone, cares nothing for retirees who worked their entire lives to fund Obama’s wars, and his tax break extensions for billionaires, and the likes of Exxon, GE and the Wall Street bankers. Obama’s whistling that old familiar triangulation tune, while walking into the same blind alley Jiminy (The Cricket) Carter found himself in — much too late to escape. Sooooo retro.
LikeLike
This is an interesting analysis by Lawrence O’Donnell.
http://thelastword.msnbc.msn.com/
LikeLike
But Mark, haven’t you always told us that SS was solvent?
LikeLike
oy vey… Swede, this is all very confusing for you, isn’t it.
(Face palms)
LikeLike
Here’s what you said Mark.
“Likewise, private pensions are weak sisters of government cousins. The notion of a “defined benefit,” which is the basis of Social Security, was discarded decades ago. The system was gradually converted to defined contribution – the 401K,s IRA’s and SIMPLE’s which are subject to annual fees that drain at least a quarter of their reserves over the long haul (Social Security: 3%.) Once a worker relies on his 401K for retirement, he is daily confronted with the possibility that it will be drained before he dies. “Security” does not exist in private pensions, whose funding is rarely secure for twenty-five years. Libertarians and Randians decry inter-generational transfer, but they have not a leg to stand on in offering secure alternatives. It may offend their senses, but they ought to do as most religious people do – worship on Sunday and live in the real world the rest of the week.”
Security doesn’t exist in private pensions?
Can a Pres. can stop you drawing out of your 401K? Now?
LikeLike
There is less security and higher costs (much highers costs) associated with private pensions. Management fees pull of 25% or so of the cash flow over the long haul, versus maybe 3% for Social Security.
And Social Security is “defined benefit” meaning that you get a check for as long as you live. I don’t know of too many in the private sector whose IRA’s and 401K’s are going to last as long as they hope to be alive. There is tremendous insecurity in private pensions.
The “I” in Social Security stands for “Insurance”, which includes survivor benefits, disability and retirement. There is nothing in the private sector that can touch it without costing arm + leg. It’s inter-generational transfer, of course, but that does not bother me in the least.
And the program is solvent. Reagan promised us that if we Boomers paid in extra, which we did to the tune of $2.6 trillion, that it would be there for us when we retired. It’s a promise, the money is there, so pay up goddam it.
Obama is using scare tactics to threaten SS beneficiaries into supporting him as he guts the program. But I don’t suppose it does any good to tell you that it’s called “triangulation,” does it. Two parties are one.
LikeLike