When it comes to cutting entitlements, Obama is to the right of Romney and not that different from Paul Ryan.
Obama channels Reagan on welfare
On August 7, Mitt Romney did not slam Barack Obama for presiding over a welfare system which leaves the poor to sell their blood. Barack Obama did not skewer Mitt Romney for touting a post-reform status quo that drives women back to their abusers. Instead, the president and his Republican challenger accused each other of coddling the poor.
Neither candidate cares much about the poor, the disadvantaged, or the retired (except when retired can send them money.) The presidential campaign is just now heating up and we no doubt will be treated to endless demonizing of the other side and the poor with no genuine discussions of the issues allowed. John McCain is right. This will be the most vicious presidential campaign ever.
Obama to include Republicans in hard-hitting convention
This is part ploy and part because Obama is generally way more conservative than his party, even as liberals in particular pretend otherwise.
Paul Ryan and Obama’s grand bargain
Democrats need to remember all year what Obama told the New York Times: He particularly believes that Democrats do not receive enough credit for their willingness to accept cuts in Medicare and Social Security.
Nothing like ceding the fight before it’s barely begun.
And since Ryan’s star selling point has been his proposal to abolish Medicare, to exploit that the Obama campaign will need to defend Medicare in some way or another. Which they hopefully will do aggressively, because it’s one of the Democrats’ best programs and most popular ones.
This is liberal delusion. Congress and the president have shown little enthusiasm for defending Medicare.
The ideal situation would be for every Democrat in Congress in December to be in fear that a vote for the Grand Bargain would be the end of any political future for them in the Democratic Party. And it should be the end for anyone who votes to cut benefits on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
And maybe this time will be different and liberals won’t be betrayed again. But they probably will get fooled again.
The real problem is that neither party is beholden to the people but rather are controlled by and part of 1% special interest groups.