O will win the debt debate because Americans are not ready to cut social services, spare wealthy

O will win the debt debate because Americans are not ready to cut social services, spare wealthy

New York Daily News ^ | Thursday, April 14th 2011 | Joshua Greenman

Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2011 12:44:29 PM by presidio9

President Obama is going to win the debt debate with House Republicans, for one simple reason:
As troubled as Americans are about the ocean of red ink in which we're treading, as ready as they are to make some sacrifices, they are not willing to make major upfront cuts to valued pieces of the social safety net while sparing the wealthiest among us the slightest tax increase.
And they're not willing to make such cuts while completely sparing the defense budget from the conversation.
Yet that's what Rep. Paul Ryan's plan would do.
Voters are especially not prepared to make these cuts while reducing income taxes on the wealthiest Americans from 36% to 25%, as Ryan would have us do.
Not when, as of 2008, about one-fifth of all income was received by just 1% of earners.
Not when the top 1% of Americans by net worth hold about a third of the country's wealth.
Not when Wall Street bonuses keep rolling in.

Not when median incomes in recent years are flat or falling.
Call this class warfare if you like - it's just basic politics, and what Democrats will call fundamental fairness.
The vast majority knows that the fortunate few can pay a bit more and in the process take the edge off growing pains for the rest of us.
Yes, the debt is a huge problem - and liberals who pooh-pooh the mind-blowing $14 trillion we owe and want to keep borrowing and spending at current rates are delusional.
Liberals who say any reduction to Medicare and Medicaid amount to criminal assault on grandma and apple pie are being histrionic.
But it's just as delusional to believe that the problem can be solved almost entirely by targeting health spending on seniors and the poor.

It's just as histrionic to suggest that a modest tax increase on the wealthy - to Clinton-era levels - will kill jobs, which is exactly what House Speaker John Boehner said yesterday.
None of this means the road for Obama will be easy.
In the coming weeks and months, he and fellow Democrats will have to explain exactly how their plans will slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid over time.
The President was vague on this point.
And he was unfair to suggest that Republicans want to choke off all investments in the country's future. Even under the Ryan plan, there would be plenty of spending on lots of important priorities.

Come 2012, Obama will be debating a real candidate, not a straw man.
But politically speaking, he got the broad strokes right:
Do not spare the defense budget entirely; we can make modest cuts that preserve our ability to protect ourself. Lean a little more heavily on millionaires and billionaires.The core message will resonate with independents. It will carry the day.