Rep. Raul Grijalva on National Debt Debate and Proposed Cuts to Social Security and Medicare

DemocracyNow.org - As President Obama tries to broker a compromise budget deal that would allow Congress to raise the national debt ceiling before an August 2 deadline, he may appease Republicans by cutting funding for Medicare and Social Security. Congressional Democrats say they have ruled out any gutting of Social Security, but there are concerns the cuts could still be achieved through a back-handed approach. Retiree benefits are set by the Consumer Price Index, which is used to calculate cost-of-living benefits. Obama and top Democrats have left open the possibility of readjusting the CPI, which could effectively amount to a cut for Social Security recipients. For more on this debate, we speak with Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which has sent President Obama a letter calling for the protection of Social Security and Medicare under any deficit deal. "It has nothing to do with the fiscal policy," Grijalva says. "It has to do with ideological positions on social programs and domestic programs and how you dismantle and get rid of them. I think the American people see the smoke and mirrors.

For the complete transcript, to download the podcast, and for additional coverage on the national debt debate, visit http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/12/debt_lock_will_obama_make_cuts

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• amy goodman
• democracy now
• democracynow
• juan gonzalez
• raul grijalva
• national debt debate
• spending cuts
• social security
• medicare
• consumer price index
• progressive caucus
• arizona

[callouschristian]

$1-15,000 ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF (TBT)

$1-15,000 iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (TIPS)

$1-15,000  WisdomTree International Basic Materials (DBN)

$1-15,000 SPDR S&P Metals & Mining (XME)

These are securities Cantor bought in Betting Against America. Eric Cantor stands to make money from the economy failing. How dare you, Mr Cantor! And why in the world is this not all over the news???

[KingRyltar]

Do not touch the Entitlement programs unless you are adding to it, or increasing the payouts, Social Security is no different then a Pension Program. Apart from it being a mandatory pay into program. The government continues to dip into the trust fund, and lower payments to the recipients. This must end, and the payments need to be increase to what they should be. Adding back the decreases done in the past, and raising them to meet the cost of living increases. All done to make up for the past.

[myfist01]

@callouschristian I agree, great point but I did see this somewhere. I do not watch American MSM rather all the other alternative media and DN.